[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by lolololol

Had mine done by TWG. Top lads !!!

Has it made a noticeable improvement?

[raptor_f22]

+1 for TWG, hands down best indy IMHO.

[Dann]

Good to see that others give them a good rep.

Just looking at plugs and coils now to get it up to full health, ready for remap after the walnut blasting.

[BMW Steve]

I got such a big hole in my pockets, so big its going to swallow me along with my bank account,,,,,

over the last 4/6 weeks,,,,
New Coils Bosh - £126
new plugs Bosh - £65
new lambda sensor Bosh £93
Rocker cover gasket £48
Map @ Reidy Tuning £270

that's £602

I also need a new rocker cover as mine has a hairline crack as its still leaking oil so possibly need another set of plugs and coils.......If they are contaminated

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by BMW Steve

I got such a big hole in my pockets, so big its going to swallow me along with my bank account,,,,,

over the last 4/6 weeks,,,,
New Coils Bosh - £126
new plugs Bosh - £65
new lambda sensor Bosh £93
Rocker cover gasket £48
Map @ Reidy Tuning £270

that's £602

I also need a new rocker cover as mine has a hairline crack as its still leaking oil so possibly need another set of plugs and coils.......If they are contaminated

Seems you've had quite a bit of luck with yours since you bought it, unfortunate most of it seems to be bad

[djgandy]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

Seems you've had quite a bit of luck with yours since you bought it, unfortunate most of it seems to be bad

I nearly bought that car. From that sounds of it, it would have now cost me more than my M3!

[BMW Steve]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

Seems you've had quite a bit of luck with yours since you bought it, unfortunate most of it seems to be bad

Unfortunately its an issue I inherited with the car but was not in your face,,,, It became apparent when it went in for a map,,,,, I knew there was an oil leak of sorts but not where until the plugs were removed,

As its a weekend / summer days car I don't mind taking my time sorting it out, its just frustrating and annoying that the last owner hasn't taken much care with looking after the maintenance although it had full service history, things cant be helped but it will be sorted soon

[raptor_f22]

I'm finding it really frustrating car hunting because I refuse to buy cars without a documented service history.

90% of cars I've come across in the last few months have stamps/dealer stamps in a book but no paperwork to go with it. To me, if I'm getting a performance or prestige car its a non starter. I want one that's as well looked after as I kept mine.

But, I find that concept is lost on most people. Dealers get pissed off because of course, how dare I question their "full service history" strapline. In their eyes "what do you need that for, it's got the stamps" . And most private sellers go from BMW servicing to Halfords which makes me cringe with horror anyway.

Anyway my point is I feel for you BMW Steve, inheriting expensive maintenance problems is really putting a halt to my next purchase.

[Chappers 71]

Yep we've all been there with expensive maintance/repaires.
Steve seems to have been unfortunate in that repaires & mods have happened within a short period of time & not long after having bought it.
But then the next expensive issue for most of us is usually only a matter of when not if.
Even when all is going well there's insurance, tax, tyres or some twat causes some panel damage.
I've been fortunate with mine in that I haven't had to replace turbos, injectors, rocker cover or sump gaskets & at 103k it's running very nicely.
There are still jobs that could be done though, drivers door has a scrape that the missus did a couple of years ago, the same door has some damage where a shopping trolley was rammed into it. The rear bumper has some light damage where it was hit by a uninsured driver & the wheels could do with a refurb & there's the usual spattering of stone chips on the bonnet & front bumper. But now that I've had it nearly five years I just think yeah it'd be nice to get these bits sorted but I just can't really justify spending a grand or so getting them done.
Going to need to replace rear pads soon, but that's a nice easy little job.
I do occasionally think of selling the old girl but it's not worth much & what would I replace it with? Then whatever I replaced it with I would need to spend on that to get it how I'd want it.
I am tempted by a m235/40i but I wouldn't want to spend the kind of money they are going for at the moment.

[Dann]

I've done the rocker cover on mine.
£350 for a new one.

Your lucky though that its only messed up plugs and coils. My one killed two injectors

[jamherber]

Originally Posted by raptor_f22

I'm finding it really frustrating car hunting because I refuse to buy cars without a documented service history.

90% of cars I've come across in the last few months have stamps/dealer stamps in a book but no paperwork to go with it. To me, if I'm getting a performance or prestige car its a non starter. I want one that's as well looked after as I kept mine.

But, I find that concept is lost on most people. Dealers get pissed off because of course, how dare I question their "full service history" strapline. In their eyes "what do you need that for, it's got the stamps" . And most private sellers go from BMW servicing to Halfords which makes me cringe with horror anyway.

Anyway my point is I feel for you BMW Steve, inheriting expensive maintenance problems is really putting a halt to my next purchase.

As I found though, even finding a car with the full history including the invoices (which is what my 330i had when we bought it last summer) is no guarantee of avoiding expensive problems - within 2 months of purchasing I had NOx sensor fail, both lambda sensors, low pressure fuel sensor and one injector fail, best part of £2k. These cars can throw up expensive bills very quickly even having been looked after.

[russ9898]

Originally Posted by jamherber

As I found though, even finding a car with the full history including the invoices (which is what my 330i had when we bought it last summer) is no guarantee of avoiding expensive problems - within 2 months of purchasing I had NOx sensor fail, both lambda sensors, low pressure fuel sensor and one injector fail, best part of £2k. These cars can throw up expensive bills very quickly even having been looked after.

Likewise when I bought my 325d, full BMW service history, only 43k on the clock, yet within 3 months of buying it required an egr cooler, glow plugs and controller, accelerator pedal and new rear control arms. Thankfully I took out a BMW warranty which covered all bar the wheel alignment so only cost about £150 inc excess payment.

I kept the warranty until I owned the car for 12 months and then cancelled, since then I've been really lucky and had no expense other than the usual tyres, discs, pads etc as well as a full oil and filter service.

[old grey steve]

BMW Steve feel for you, I found with mine yes I went through the pain barrier of replacing/repairing this that and the other and I accepted this.

As I ususlly see with these vehicles (and I have over 100 on my books) once you go through replacing certain items like water pump's, turbo's, coils, pressure converters etc. things seem to calm down a little and the car in terms of being a happier ownership expierience seems to be that little bit more pleaseurable and you'll end up just dealing with general service items/wear tear items such as brakes and suspension arms and bushes.

Still for me the biggest thing with these cars is the fact that they do seep money from your account (that seem to be repetitive with 335i's in terms of nature) all too often.

They cost money and that is the big thing some people move for say a 330i to a 335i and I've seen it and buy in tothe more power side of things yet cannot stomach the increase in upkeep when they go wrong and are quite frankly shocked or simply cannot afford to repair the car when repairs are required.

When I look at say an M3 for instance sure on servicing these cost more than a 335i yet look at repair costes between the 2 and overall M3's are more rpbust than the 335i's sure if a throttle body or an idle actuator fails on the M3 they are big money but overall compared with a 335i from my epxierience overall they seem to be more robust(but that's not to say they don't go wrong and cost big money) but my point is for many the 335i is a overall a car that you need to be aware can/may/could consume money at an alarming rate.

Things like service history for instance are nice to see but service history is service history in terms of oil, air, pollen and spark plug servicing but that's it in terms of how fit the car is, it won't give the buyer any grounds to feel 100% re how the car drives are there any oil leaks are there any issues re suspension and the how fit the cars engine is interms of any faults such as injector issues, rocker cover leaks, oil filter housing gasket leaks etc.

How fit the individual car will be will be down to who's been looking after it and to a degree the vehicles current owner's take on what needs to be done as advised and as I see all too often after a car has changed hands how much has been spent on ensuring things that need to be attended to due to the fact that issues had been spotted have been addressed. Usually once th cars purchased and it visits somewhere for a good look these things come to light and its something sadly I see all too often. I have seen main dealer cars with all sorts of issues yet have full history issue sthat cost money to correct issues that can sour the ownership expierience.

Best advise I can give is if a problem is there or brewing deal with it, its painful but in the longterm if you can stomach the cost of repairing and moving forward its the best way.

Would I buy another one well to be honest I would as it always put a smile on my face while owning it even with the issues it had they are a great car to own and as many know if you want to up the power so tunable.

[Dann]

Another £100 for me this month.
Bloody Waterpumps

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by Dann

Another £100 for me this month.
Bloody Waterpumps

Atleast it's not £900 , just the £100 warranty excess

[mjn77]

Maybe tempting fate with the end of the month still a few days away.....just the VED at £210 for March.

[Dann]

Just got off the phone to BMW.
Got them to check the turbos too whilst they were under the bonnet and.......

2 new turbos and waterpump being fitted under warranty and thermostat I've got to pay for!

Winner!

[Chappers 71]

That's a result Dann & as its all under warranty happy days

What was wrong with the original turbos?
Personally I think bmw just replace turbos willy nilly. Twice I've been told by bmw dealer that my turbos needed replacing & twice its turned out to be something else, had I had a BMW warranty I'd now be on my third pair of turbos as if I hadn't had to pay for them I wouldn't have questioned the diagnosis.

Am on 103470 miles now & turbos are fine, no wastegate rattle, hardly uses any oil I topped up 1 litre last week since oil change at 100k & the old bus can still keep up with a AMG 63 coupe ( until the missus started getting scared)

March almost over now & another month with no costs other than fuel

[Dann]

They rattle on deceleration and acceleration.
There's about 2mm of play in the rear actuator and once its shut you can still move the wastegate assembly around, so basically it's worn out.

[BMW Steve]

This weekend, a new rocker cover,,, £340.00

[Calluhan]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

That's a result Dann & as its all under warranty happy days

What was wrong with the original turbos?
Personally I think bmw just replace turbos willy nilly. Twice I've been told by bmw dealer that my turbos needed replacing & twice its turned out to be something else, had I had a BMW warranty I'd now be on my third pair of turbos as if I hadn't had to pay for them I wouldn't have questioned the diagnosis.

Am on 1003470 miles now & turbos are fine, no wastegate rattle, hardly uses any oil I topped up 1 litre last week since oil change at 100k & the old bus can still keep up with a AMG 63 coupe ( until the missus started getting scared)

March almost over now & another month with no costs other than fuel

Ring Guinness Chappers you may have the first 335i to have exceeded 1 million miles

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by Calluhan

Ring Guinness Chappers you may have the first 335i to have exceeded 1 million miles

Ha ha well spotted, I'll edit accordingly