[sharepointalex]

Hi All,

I am planning on sell my G20 M340i shortly to free myself from the monthly payments and leverage the equity in the car to pick up something used.

I've got my heart set on an E90 330i and I'm waiting to hear from a specialist dealership who have one coming in to get some more details and pics. It's Le Mans blue with 77k miles. It doesn't have many options but it's got full history, low miles and this particular specialist will have it detailed and all alloys redone.

Unfortunately the car isn't local to me so I need to get as much detail remotely as possible before I reserve the car (if it fits the bill!).

Anything I should be looking at particularly? It's the N52 engine and this particular dealer knows a lot about that engine. I'm told it's one of the most reliable too.

Any help appreciated so I know what I should be checking to make sure it is indeed a good example.

I reckon it will be snapped up quickly if I don't get on it, they've just sold two of them recently as they are getting rarer now - good ones anyway!

Cheers!

[jacbo]

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1517476

this goes into great detail but is US based.

The N52 is very reliable as long as it's been maintained. Few guys on this forum have got them to 300-400k miles.

Electric water pump seems a common failure and due to access labour costs can be high. OFHG common failure too just like most BMWs of that era.

Worth checking struts or seeing if they have been replaced as even low mileage break due to age and terrible UK roads. Battery is a grey area as at that age they can get bad but i have a 11 year old original still putting out perfect values.

Realistically if it's been serviced and hasn't been crashed or something then it should be solid.

[sharepointalex]

Originally Posted by jacbo

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1517476

this goes into great detail but is US based.

The N52 is very reliable as long as it's been maintained. Few guys on this forum have got them to 300-400k miles.

Electric water pump seems a common failure and due to access labour costs can be high. OFHG common failure too just like most BMWs of that era.

Worth checking struts or seeing if they have been replaced as even low mileage break due to age and terrible UK roads. Battery is a grey area as at that age they can get bad but i have a 11 year old original still putting out perfect values.

Realistically if it's been serviced and hasn't been crashed or something then it should be solid.

Legend thank you - I will enquire about these things to see what has/hasn't been done.

[Markos ZimZimma]

Pretty solid cars, other than what's been mentioned there's not much else to add. The latch cover on the boot floor of E91s often goes missing which is no biggie, but slightly more of an issue would be the sleeved wiring can crack where the cables go from the roof to the top of the bootlid, so check all electrics at the back are working ok. The boot hinges can shatter too so make sure they are moving freely when you open/close the tailgate. Le Mans blue is a nice colour and the miles sound good: wishing you well when you view it 👍

[sharepointalex]

Update - I purchased the car

I'll post some pics in this thread soon.

Loving it so far, amazing condition for the age and already got some mods planned.

I actually prefer driving it to the M340i, the engine has so much more character and just more involving to drive IMO.