[9352e90]

The n52 is one of, if not the best, NA inline 6's BMW ever built. I have two examples over 200,000 miles. One in my 2006 325i (230,000) and one in my 08 X5 3.0si (201,000). Both engines run perfect and have never thrown codes. I have followed BMW recommended intervals between 10,000-14,000 between changes and had them all done at the dealer. Yes, I've replaced valve cover and oil filter housing gaskets but other than that these engines are pretty much bullet proof. The n55 in my 2014 535i xdrive is great too and packs much more punch but I doubt I will see 200,000 with out some big bucks dumped into it at some point. Honestly, if I can find a low mileage, good shape 06' 330i I would buy it as part of the perment collection, that car was the best modern BMW that came off the line.

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

This was it at CarMax in 2014

Man the proportions are so great. How was CarMax purchasing experience? Did you get a fair price, did they let you negotiate?

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Fritzer

Man the proportions are so great. How was CarMax purchasing experience? Did you get a fair price, did they let you negotiate?

Never buy a BMW from CarMax.

Their 100 Point inspection is complete BS. They missed:

-Noisy throwout bearing (they refused to repair it)
-Replaced the battery with the wrong-sized case (it wouldn't fit the smallest clamp position) and did not replace the vent tube (it was missing)
-Low coolant
-Mouse nest in air box
-Cabin air filter full of debris
-Crease in right front fender (PDR fixed it)
-Door dings under right mirror (PDR fixed it)
-Oil change done with aftermarket filter and God knows what oil (I changed it when I got home after an initial 200 mile ride)


CarMax does not negotiate. They were in cahoots with the BMW dealership across the street (where I actually bought my E90 in 2006) to say the throwout bearing noise was "normal". That dealer said the only noise they heard was the serp belt tensioner and recommended replacement (BTW, it's still on the original belt and tensioner 70,000 miles later). The other BMW dealer near my office I took the Z4 to diagnose the throwout bearing noise within the 30-day warranty period said the "transmission input shaft bearing was bad, but the trans had to be pulled to make sure". 70,000 miles later I'm still on the same input shaft bearing and the rattling throwout bearing is still rattling (I have the parts to drop the trans and swap it out - just no time)...

CarMax and BMW dealerships are all fucking crooks. They think everyone is automotively illiterate.

But the E86 Z4 Coupe is such a great car, it was worth the hassle.

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

CarMax and BMW dealerships are all fucking crooks. They think everyone is automotively illiterate.

The reason I asked is because I actually purchased my E90 from CarMax as well. They really are worthless. It was my first car purchase and I did it on my own. I didn't really know any better. I got a decent price, but they certainly missed some things that I didn't even notice, and the salesperson had the gall to contact and inform me a couple days before the 30 day warranty to let me know about some things that they "forgot to tell me", and by the time I could bring it in it was expired and they tried to charge me for the items. Very frustrating.

I did purchase the extended warranty which was actually used quite a bit thanks to my Indy. However when my starter died a couple months after I purchased the car, I was in the same neighborhood as the CarMax I bought it from so I had it towed there. Once I got it there they told me that "it would take two weeks to get looked at", and they couldn't give me a loaner car until they could "look at it". So I had it towed two blocks to BMW of San Diego and they took the car in and gave me a brand new F30 loaner and it was fixed under the extended warranty in a couple of days.

I really dislike CarMax as well, my experience with them was nothing but worthless and troublesome, I know for a fact I would have had a better purchasing experience going through some guy on Craigslist. Zero security and horrible customer service. I love my car so I'm in the same boat as in it was worth it in the end, but in retrospect I am fairly confident I could have gone a better route going elsewhere. I will never do business with CarMax again. One of the most condescending things I have dealt with is people in this industry treating customers like they are automotively illiterate, I guess to an extent they have good reason to as there is a lot of dummies out there. Regardless it is just a shitty business practice and puts a bad taste in my mouth.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Fritzer

The reason I asked is because I actually purchased my E90 from CarMax as well. They really are worthless. It was my first car purchase and I did it on my own. I didn't really know any better. I got a decent price, but they certainly missed some things that I didn't even notice, and the salesperson had the gall to contact and inform me a couple days before the 30 day warranty to let me know about some things that they "forgot to tell me", and by the time I could bring it in it was expired and they tried to charge me for the items. Very frustrating.

I did purchase the extended warranty which was actually used quite a bit thanks to my Indy. However when my starter died a couple months after I purchased the car, I was in the same neighborhood as the CarMax I bought it from so I had it towed there. Once I got it there they told me that "it would take two weeks to get looked at", and they couldn't give me a loaner car until they could "look at it". So I had it towed two blocks to BMW of San Diego and they took the car in and gave me a brand new F30 loaner and it was fixed under the extended warranty in a couple of days.

I really dislike CarMax as well, my experience with them was nothing but worthless and troublesome, I know for a fact I would have had a better purchasing experience going through some guy on Craigslist. Zero security and horrible customer service. I love my car so I'm in the same boat as in it was worth it in the end, but in retrospect I am fairly confident I could have gone a better route going elsewhere. I will never do business with CarMax again. One of the most condescending things I have dealt with is people in this industry treating customers like they are automotively illiterate, I guess to an extent they have good reason to as there is a lot of dummies out there. Regardless it is just a shitty business practice and puts a bad taste in my mouth.

In my opinion, CarMax is no better than any other used car dealer. They find decent low mileage cars, shine them up, say some bullshit about a 100-point inspection by "their" experts, and put the car on a car lot with a nice shiny, clean showroom and a no-haggle price. They've just managed to turn the used car buying experience into something resembling a new car purchase experience, except it's no hassle price negotiation because there is no negotiation. What a joke. I fell for it... once.

When I finally get a round to replacing my throwout bearing, I'm going back down to the CarMax, walk in the service department, drop the used bearing on the counter and walk out.

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

When I finally get a round to replacing my throwout bearing, I'm going back down to the CarMax, walk in the service department, drop the used bearing on the counter and walk out.

Ahahaha

[BrianPlum]

My '08 328i has 210K miles. I've been driving it about 200 miles/day over the last year for business. I just started reading this forum to get an idea how many more miles I can squeeze out of it. It now gives me hope. The engine still runs smooth and consumes about 1 quart of oil every 9500 miles.

[dakine_surf]

This thread gives me a lot of hope for my e91, it really feels barely broken in at 113k. Hopefully the PM pays off and I can see many more miles... the n52 really is quite the charmer

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by dakine_surf

This thread gives me a lot of hope for my e91, it really feels barely broken in at 113k. Hopefully the PM pays off and I can see many more miles... the n52 really is quite the charmer

113K on a Cali car? Shit, it is just barely broken in. No corrosion to deal with. It might out live you. Just sayin'.

[dakine_surf]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

113K on a Cali car? Shit, it is just barely broken in. No corrosion to deal with. It might out live you. Just sayin'.

Seriously true, the underside of my car still looks new... so glad I don't have to deal with salted roads

[BrianPlum]

In the interest of sharing information about the reliability of the e90, here's what I've needed to do to maintain and repair it up to this point.

I got my e90 new with the N51 engine, 6-speed manual, and the Sports pkg in 2008. Up to almost 200K miles, I just followed the BMW computer-based maintenance schedule. It's currently at about 210K miles.

Spark plugs were replaced at 60K and 160K miles. Two ignition coils went bad at 160K as well and were replaced.

Brakes and rotors replaced at 140K miles.

OHG leaked oil at about 155K miles. It was replaced along with the serpentine belt and belt tensioner.

Crankcase sensor went bad about 185K miles and was replaced -- it was causing engine stutter and CEL lights and threw a fault code.

MAF sensor went bad about 190K miles and was stalling the engine when idling after a cold start - it threw fault code 2D06. After failing to fix the problem by cleaning the sensor, I tried replacing it with a sensor from the junk yard -- that fixed the problem; I didn't want to spend the money on a new sensor without knowing that was the underlying cause.

The original water pump finally started throwing fault codes 2E81 and 2E82 about 205K miles and was replaced.

The valve cover gasket started leaking oil slowly into spark plug wells in cylinders 3 and 4 around 180K miles. I wasn't ready to undertake the work to replace the gasket. Instead I tried Mobil 1 High Mileage with gasket conditioner. It has pretty much stopped the leak so far.

There was a very slow leak of differential fluid around 185K miles. I drained and refilled the diff fluid and keeping an eye on it so far.

I drive with my cell phone app monitoring a few vital signs via OBD2 Blutooth in order to catch any failing symptoms early. I also scan the car's fault memory with Rheingold about once a week. Everything is clean so far. Functional aspects of the car still work like when it was new except for the side-view mirror memory, which seems to lose their positions slightly after 2-3 days.

[Phil325i]

Brian you might find this useful for your mirror issue:

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...2#post20487962

[austin.tillison]

181k on my 2006 325i 6 speed manual
just did the oil pan gasket, new power steering pump, new DMF and clutch, trans and diff fluid
it sounds like it might be a good idea to do the water pump soon...
i bought the car with 90k on it 5 years ago and have put another 90k on it myself
I've replaced the starter and the radiator, some hoses, the battery and some other small stuff. the engine runs great but my interior is a little rough. my head liner started to droop years ago so i just removed the fabric completely, and my door panels are all sagging and its driving me crazy
hoping to hit at least 250k!
I love the car

[rplayer]

Daily driver; 6-spd manual, no mods, still running strong!

[BrianPlum]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Brian you might find this useful for your mirror issue:

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...2#post20487962

Wow, the description in that thread fits my problem exactly -- perhaps my problem shows up with less frequency. I almost feel like I'm nitpicking if this is the biggest issue for a car with the age and mileage of mine.

[shanes]

I now have 186,000 miles on my 2011 328i xDrive..The car has been %100 reliable so far. I’ve done a bit of preventative maintenance along the way.
So far I’ve replaced water pump and t stat at 150k.. it showed no symptoms, bu felt I was on borrowed time.
On my 3rd set of thrust arms, replaced tie rods and all other front and rear arms at 160k
While under CPO at around 95k had the pan, valve cover, OFHG and radiator replaced as well as AC evaporator, coil packs and rear diff replaced as well as a couple front diff seals.. all these things were done during the last 10k of CPO not necessarily because they failed, but because of small seepage that I noticed during my own inspection and so it all got done.
I recently replaced the alternator pulley and regulator while I had the alternator out for pulley replacement. RDC module recently crapped out and purchased a used one off eBay and that resolved that issue. Just had the rear guibo replaced and about to do RTAB bushings and a new set of rear skins.
Car has been great as far as my costs go, but thank god warranty covered most of those known to happen repairs.
The BMW Indy who replaced the guibo this past weekend said that my car should make 300k pretty reliably with the way I take care of it. The only concern is the GM auto tranny, which has had 2 fluid and filter changes will hopefully keep going strong.
PS.. after writing this.. I realized I wrote a post in this thread when I was at 165k 😂

[minaret]

I'm at 282,000 now and everything is still good. Had a periodic CEL for misfire in #5 cylinder; replacing the injectors solved that. Did a NASA track event at Buttonwillow 10-days ago. Temperatures hovered around 99 degrees. Had a CEL for transmission control module later in the day-probably heat related. Cleared up on its own 2-days later.

FWIW, I had a 1987 Mazda 626 with 3,000 mile OCI and got 397,500 miles out of it and the original clutch.

I've started looking at N52 low-mileage engines and 6AT at auto dismantle sites just in case something happens. Confident preventive maintenance will prevail.

[Gamb1t]

Wow! Your e90 high milers make my 126k km 330i feel like toddler mileage wise!

[Greyfox]

Currently at 282k and still climbing.

At some point this summer it's going to go up on cribbing and the front underside dismantled to replace the oil pan gasket.

[leif20]

A couple people here with auto trans x-drive cars chiming in! That's quite rare. Obviously with proper maintenance these cars are near bulletproof.

2006 330i automatic with 131k miles or 211k km. I love this car, want to keep it going all the way to 300k km or more. My engine is in fantastic shape, new plugs at 160k km and a couple of coils. Valvetronic motor went at 140k but was replaced before I bought the car. I think they also did the ESS at that time. I'm not worried about the engine in this car.

glacious Greyfox minaret

Those of you with high mileage auto transmissions. Have you ever had any gear slippage or issues? What steps were taken to fix those issues?

Since couple weeks ago i've experienced some slip on 4-5 upshift. Issue is not present under normal driving conditions but only under hard throttle in 4th above 4k rpm, spirited driving. This is ~130kph or 85 mph, so I guess you wouldnt see this issue on-track much (minaret).

Pan filter and fluid and adaptations done at 120k miles (first time). Recently replaced all seals to mechatronic as first step. Next plan is to do solenoids to see if issue rectifies itself. If I can get this issue sorted out I'd love to keep the car! But I'd be hesitant to push the car in a spirited manner... unlike mr. minaret who's tracking his million mile automatic

[Greyfox]

Originally Posted by leif20

Those of you with high mileage auto transmissions. Have you ever had any gear slippage or issues? What steps were taken to fix those issues?

Knock on wood.... no I haven't. But I've changed fluids three times and filter once and use my scanner to reset the transmission wear indicator and other stuff. ie... fluid change, filter & fluid change, fluid change.

[bthomas518]

Still trucking.

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