[s54_guy]

Where do I even start... So I am currently an owner of not 1, but 2 Dieselgate VW's. I'm looking at staying with diesels and being that I don't foresee VW selling any diesel's again for some time, I'm going to be in the market for a replacement. That leaves me with either an older generation TDI or make the switch to BMW.

I've owned an 335i e90 in the past and I have owned a E46M for 3 years now (weekend car) so I'm no stranger to BMW. However, I'm torn between a E90 335d or the newer F30/31 328d. I'm not looking for ridiculous power but I'm certainly not opposed to it. What are some of the things I need to look for when I start looking for a used 335d? Should I avoid the higher mileage cars? I'm used to the level of care my e46m has needed throughout the years, but since these are diesel's I'm expecting much higher reliability. I haven't really been a fan of the newer F30/31/8x chassis since they came out so I'm a bit more inclined into sticking with the E90. Just hoping I could get some input from you guys and maybe get a couple guys to point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!
My old E90

[Persian Whisperjet]

Interesting just how little discussion of the 328d there has been on this message board. I just don't think the enthusiast crowd has warmed up to them. I have the 335d and it produces smiles like Peach Bottom produces kilowatts. To my mind the stuff you take off for reliability is more important than the things you add for more power. The 328d is a nice car and the mileage is off the charts. I had one as a loaner until they changed it out for a 535d (yes that would be fine!) and it felt much more like an appliance, light steering, a bit more rumbly, obviously nowhere near the power. If I was looking for a competent car like a Camry and had some extra money to blow for amenities, I'd certainly consider one. One great thing about the 328d is you can get it in a wagon. That is very cool.

[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by BsantosEuro

... but since these are diesel's I'm expecting much higher reliability. I haven't really been a fan of the newer F30/31/8x chassis since they came out so I'm a bit more inclined into sticking with the E90.

Welcome! My dieselgate VW is sitting in yard as well and just recently picked up a 335D. Unless you plan to modify the 335D, I'm afraid your expectations will be disappointed. Carbon build up and SCR and related Injector issues are main factors. That said the car is a beast and I picked one up knowing this. My best advice is to grab a coffee this am and read this board...you are in right place with super helpful people. Issues can be dealt with, and the car has potential (multiple here with 150K miles +) but being a DIY person helps tremendously.

My car is on jack stands now...working egr, dpf and exhaust

[Pierre Louis]

As much as I may want a newer car, perhaps one with better reliability and fuel economy, I am loathe to part with mine. I have contributed to these boards with a slightly different view, which also makes me not really believe a used 335d would be quite as good.

In other words, I feel that I take better care of mine than the majority on these boards. I know this sounds a bit self-serving, but I take great care of my machinery. Over the years my cars have been in outstanding condition at high mileage (150,000 plus miles) and as a result very economical. I only buy new.

My current 335d has 94,000 miles on it and only had a couple of things fixed under warranty, namely contaminated catalytic converters (bad fuel or additive - I used a fuel conditioner right before) with two new NOx sensors. Many of these cars needed to have the AC compressor replaced as well as the belt that goes to it.

So if I was in the market for a new car, and continued my diesel preference, I would look hard at the new Jaguar 2.0d and the 2016 535d. The 328d leaves me cold with its numb steering, its Bosch CP4 fuel pump, and it is overpriced.

PL

[s54_guy]

Originally Posted by Persian Whisperjet

Interesting just how little discussion of the 328d there has been on this message board. I just don't think the enthusiast crowd has warmed up to them. I have the 335d and it produces smiles like Peach Bottom produces kilowatts. To my mind the stuff you take off for reliability is more important than the things you add for more power. The 328d is a nice car and the mileage is off the charts. I had one as a loaner until they changed it out for a 535d (yes that would be fine!) and it felt much more like an appliance, light steering, a bit more rumbly, obviously nowhere near the power. If I was looking for a competent car like a Camry and had some extra money to blow for amenities, I'd certainly consider one. One great thing about the 328d is you can get it in a wagon. That is very cool.

The Mileage is why I want to stick with diesels. The 335d isn't as good but still offers great mpg's compared to most gas cars. Especially when you look at it from a performance stand point. I'd love a 328d wagon but they're out of price range unfortunately. I've been able to find pretty affordable 328d sedan's but most used wagon's are still over 30k

Originally Posted by Zugzwang

I had a wagon 328d as a loaner too. Nice peppy little diesel. But no grunt next to mine. Not even close. I wonder how well it performs against the diesel jaguar? The 328d and the xe diesel carry similar numbers.

Never really looked into Jag. I'll have to do some research

Originally Posted by dmanb2b

Welcome! My dieselgate VW is sitting in yard as well and just recently picked up a 335D. Unless you plan to modify the 335D, I'm afraid your expectations will be disappointed. Carbon build up and SCR and related Injector issues are main factors. That said the car is a beast and I picked one up knowing this. My best advice is to grab a coffee this am and read this board...you are in right place with super helpful people. Issues can be dealt with, and the car has potential (multiple here with 150K miles +) but being a DIY person helps tremendously.

My car is on jack stands now...working egr, dpf and exhaust

Definitely planned on getting rid of the emissions equipment (for off road purposes only of course )

Originally Posted by Pierre Louis

As much as I may want a newer car, perhaps one with better reliability and fuel economy, I am loathe to part with mine. I have contributed to these boards with a slightly different view, which also makes me not really believe a used 335d would be quite as good.

In other words, I feel that I take better care of mine than the majority on these boards. I know this sounds a bit self-serving, but I take great care of my machinery. Over the years my cars have been in outstanding condition at high mileage (150,000 plus miles) and as a result very economical. I only buy new.

My current 335d has 94,000 miles on it and only had a couple of things fixed under warranty, namely contaminated catalytic converters (bad fuel or additive - I used a fuel conditioner right before) with two new NOx sensors. Many of these cars needed to have the AC compressor replaced as well as the belt that goes to it.

So if I was in the market for a new car, and continued my diesel preference, I would look hard at the new Jaguar 2.0d and the 2016 535d. The 328d leaves me cold with its numb steering, its Bosch CP4 fuel pump, and it is overpriced.

PL

I'm all about maintenance first, performance second. I learned the hard way being an owner of an E46M lol

[floydarogers]

Originally Posted by Persian Whisperjet

Interesting just how little discussion of the 328d there has been on this message board. I just don't think the enthusiast crowd has warmed up to them...

Originally Posted by Pierre Louis

As much as I may want a newer car, perhaps one with better reliability and fuel economy, I am loathe to part with mine.

Most of the 328d discussion has taken place in the main F30 forum. Also a lot over on bimmerfest, both in the F30 and diesel subforums. This forum has remained pretty focussed on the E90 335d and X5d, especially wrt mods.

I'm just short of 110K, my CEL went on (4bac/4d16) and just today went back off. Time to look into cheaper alternatives to a whole new DEF tank assembly - the VW Toureg level sensor fits... Pierre and I still have all the emissions equipment on; seems to get expensive around 100K or so. Engine is solid.

There are a few tuning options for the 328d (and Dinan is evidently working on one); if I had to replace my 335d, I'd probably end up with a 328xdt with a tune. Or I might buy a crazy Alpina B6...

[caiken]

Do the 335d! I came from VW too.

[ASBSECU E93]

Originally Posted by BsantosEuro

Where do I even start... So I am currently an owner of not 1, but 2 Dieselgate VW's. I'm looking at staying with diesels and being that I don't foresee VW selling any diesel's again for some time, I'm going to be in the market for a replacement. That leaves me with either an older generation TDI or make the switch to BMW.

I've owned an 335i e90 in the past and I have owned a E46M for 3 years now (weekend car) so I'm no stranger to BMW. However, I'm torn between a E90 335d or the newer F30/31 328d. I'm not looking for ridiculous power but I'm certainly not opposed to it. What are some of the things I need to look for when I start looking for a used 335d? Should I avoid the higher mileage cars? I'm used to the level of care my e46m has needed throughout the years, but since these are diesel's I'm expecting much higher reliability. I haven't really been a fan of the newer F30/31/8x chassis since they came out so I'm a bit more inclined into sticking with the E90. Just hoping I could get some input from you guys and maybe get a couple guys to point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!
My old E90

Your situation and my situation are almost identical.

Bought a 2.0 Jetta in 2011 and a 3.0 Touareg in 2015 (Literally 60 days before Dieselgate broke). I've sent all my documents into the VW wen site for the buy back on the Jetta. I expect the Treg settlement to happen sometime late 2017.

2 weeks ago - I picked up a 2010 335d with M-Sport package, one owner (sold and services at the same dealer for the life of the car) with a complete service history. Has 85k on the clock.

Both Carbon and Walnut blasting done before I took possession.

I also own a E93 M3 with a blower kit. I'll say - I haven't thought about driving my M much in about two weeks

Next Friday - I am taking the car to Raleigh NC for 'the works'....stage II+ tune, DPF/SCR delete, water/meth tank for the trunk.

Most will tell you a complete service history is a must to make sure the car has been maintained. If Carbon and Walnut blasting have not been performed - consider this cost when buying.

Couple other troublesome items to look for:

Injectors
SCR tank issues

Good luck with your search.

[terry335d]

These are generally nice cars to drive, but with a tune the torque is addictive!

[s54_guy]

Originally Posted by ASBSECU E93

Your situation and my situation are almost identical.

Bought a 2.0 Jetta in 2011 and a 3.0 Touareg in 2015 (Literally 60 days before Dieselgate broke). I've sent all my documents into the VW wen site for the buy back on the Jetta. I expect the Treg settlement to happen sometime late 2017.

2 weeks ago - I picked up a 2010 335d with M-Sport package, one owner (sold and services at the same dealer for the life of the car) with a complete service history. Has 85k on the clock.

Both Carbon and Walnut blasting done before I took possession.

I also own a E93 M3 with a blower kit. I'll saw - I haven't thought about driving my M much in about two weeks

Next Friday - I am taking the car to Raleigh NC for 'the works'....stage II+ tune, DPF/SCR delete, water/meth tank for the trunk.

Most will tell you a complete service history is a must to make sure the car has been maintained. If Carbon and Walnut blasting have not been performed - consider this cost when buying.

Couple other troublesome items to look for:

Injectors
SCR tank issues

Good luck with your search.

Yeah, I think I'll end up getting one. The wife drives the Jetta and I have a Golf. I've considered keeping the Golf and getting her the 335d. I certainly can't imagine us both having e90 335d. That would just be weird. And expensive with walnut blast lol.

Are you going to BPC? I'll be there in a week or so to have my M3 tuned with them. I'm only about an hour away from them.

[ASBSECU E93]

Originally Posted by BsantosEuro

Yeah, I think I'll end up getting one. The wife drives the Jetta and I have a Golf. I've considered keeping the Golf and getting her the 335d. I certainly can't imagine us both having e90 335d. That would just be weird. And expensive with walnut blast lol.

Are you going to BPC? I'll be there in a week or so to have my M3 tuned with them. I'm only about an hour away from them.

When you say about an hour from BPC - North, South, East, or West.

I'm in the Triad area. I hope to take my girl down this week and then come back down for their Octoberfest Dyno day and pick her up

What year M? I had my S/C installed at BPC.

[s54_guy]

I'm in Sanford so south. My M is an 02. I'm getting a top end rebuild with cams and a few other goodies. Hopefully my car will be ready by Dyno day

[pbdm4k]

Originally Posted by dmanb2b

Welcome! My dieselgate VW is sitting in yard as well and just recently picked up a 335D. Unless you plan to modify the 335D, I'm afraid your expectations will be disappointed. Carbon build up and SCR and related Injector issues are main factors. That said the car is a beast and I picked one up knowing this. My best advice is to grab a coffee this am and read this board...you are in right place with super helpful people. Issues can be dealt with, and the car has potential (multiple here with 150K miles +) but being a DIY person helps tremendously.

My car is on jack stands now...working egr, dpf and exhaust

Truth be told, any car that incorporates direct injection is going to succumb to carbon buildup and require walnut shell cleaning.

It happens to all manufacturers and is a problem that comes with this technology to save fuel. I'd hardly be surprised as time goes on and the new 328d and 535d cars start needing walnut shell cleanings too.

Beauty of the 335d is that they've been on the road a number of years now and a lot of owners who have kept their cars have flushed out a lot of these long term ownership problems.

328d and 535d are still fairly new and we may not see some crazy issues just yet.

Personally, I love the 335d, lots of guys/tuners here have figured out how to address the major issues and for the amount of power this car has, the fuel mileage is great! I think I double the fuel mileage of a gas car with comparable power.

[lnxguy]

Originally Posted by pbdm4k

Truth be told, any car that incorporates direct injection is going to succumb to carbon buildup and require walnut shell cleaning.

It happens to all manufacturers and is a problem that comes with this technology to save fuel. I'd hardly be surprised as time goes on and the new 328d and 535d cars start needing walnut shell cleanings too.

All diesels are 'direct injection' they've been like this since the beginning. The M57 doesn't have to work very hard at all to get the car going or to get it up to speed. If it saw daily high rpm driving, it would most likely have a lot less build up. Compared to smaller 4cyl diesels that see on average higher rpms during daily driving (Like the VW TDIs). If you want to blame anything for all the build up, blame the EPA and CARB (Emission requirements). There's a reason why you don't see this issue once the EGR is deleted from the scenario. Anytime you introduce hot exhaust gas and air filled with oil vapour (CCV and from the turbo) you'll end up with this issue (for the most part).

Walnut blast it, delete the EGR, vent your CCV to the atmosphere and you should never have to clean it again.

[s54_guy]

Originally Posted by lnxguy

Walnut blast it, delete the EGR, vent your CCV to the atmosphere and you should never have to clean it again.

That's the plan. Going to be looking for one with the service recently performed! How much on average are you guys spending for the carbon service?

[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by pbdm4k

Truth be told, any car that incorporates direct injection is going to succumb to carbon buildup and require walnut shell cleaning.

It happens to all manufacturers and is a problem that comes with this technology to save fuel. I'd hardly be surprised as time goes on and the new 328d and 535d cars start needing walnut shell cleanings too.

Beauty of the 335d is that they've been on the road a number of years now and a lot of owners who have kept their cars have flushed out a lot of these long term ownership problems.

328d and 535d are still fairly new and we may not see some crazy issues just yet.

Personally, I love the 335d, lots of guys/tuners here have figured out how to address the major issues and for the amount of power this car has, the fuel mileage is great! I think I double the fuel mileage of a gas car with comparable power.

Yeah, I understand that well, and don't get me wrong, I love my D too, but our engine and US emissions design is not working so well...there are just too many incidences over roughly 10,000 cars sold in the US. There are plenty of modern CR TDIs that have gone 200+K miles with no CBU cleaning necessary. My D clogged up from CBU at 47K, per service records on the original owner. If I laid out $50K on a new car that had to have a significant cleaning done at around 50K and knew that in advance...I'd likely spend my money elsewhere.

Making the car less prone to CBU...is a $2k+ investment. Call it price of admission...again I love the car, but this is not a money saving vehicle. It would take me years to recover that investment over mpg based savings....but 500+ ft/lb of TQ....puts a smile on my face.

[Thecastle]

I had a VW GTI with APR intake, Down Pipe, K04 turbo, etc. It was awesome and a lot of fun to drive and reliable.

My car clogged up with CBU @ 21K miles. Since then I've had 3 EGR coolers installed (1 broken, 1 defective, 1 broken by the dealer), 2 MAF sensors, 1 EGR valve, 2 Exhaust Pressure Sensors, Exhaust pressure hoses, vacuum hoses, 1 Differential Pressure Sensor, 2 NOx Sensors, 1 DEF Tank, 1 Red Boost Hose. But other than that its been reliable. My car had more repairs related to emissions before I owned it.

Some cars run great and last a long time others need a lot of BMW TLC. I recently drove a 2010 X5 35d and was impressed how good the engine and tranmission ran with 170K miles.

My recommendation is plug the EGR, and remove the SCR tank when it fails. I plan to leave the DPF/DOC on mine as they aren't terribly failure prone, keep it from smoking and stinking, and don't subtract more than about ~10hp, on a modded car.

[s54_guy]

Originally Posted by Thecastle

My recommendation is plug the EGR, and remove the SCR tank when it fails. I plan to leave the DPF/DOC on mine as they aren't terribly failure prone, keep it from smoking and stinking, and don't subtract more than about ~10hp, on a modded car.

Not a bad idea at all. I do like the idea of getting rid of the emissions equipment with there being even less issues and more power as well as possibly more fuel economy. That's why I love my e46m. Yes it has a large maintenance bill but the simplicity of the car in itself is really attractive. Less technology, the better imo so I wouldn't mind cutting out the emissions equipment.