[Hyadum]

Hello,

I joined this forum 6 months ago, after I bought the E92, but haven't posted before, only read hundreds of posts

Last winter I bought this black 2007 325i (EU) E92 2.5 manual. As far as options go it's the CCC iDrive, no sunroof, sport suspension, black partial leather with electric sport seats and aluminium trim. It's almost exactly as I wanted, except the iDrive. Couldn't find any 2.5 manual black E92 with sport seats without during my 8 months of searching. As you can tell I spent a lot of time trying to find a car that would be perfect for me, bone stock. The car had no damage, all original paint, service history at BMW AG from 0 to 75k km, and then some Bosch service until 140.000 km. I found the car in the very south of Germany and brought it back home some 3000 km away to Bucharest.
The previous owner bought the Style 230 19" BBS OEM rims from the 335i, and they look very good on the E92. I have also the stock 17" wheels with winter tires on. I got a set of Continental Sport Contact 6 (225 front 255 rear) for the summer, as I found them to be the best gripping tires I was able to find that are still street legal, don't make much noise and will hold for at least 3 seasons.

So far I find the car very smooth and pleasant to drive outside of town, especially in the twist's. It is dead silent inside and out with the stock exhaust. I have the feeling I drive an electric car, there is only some mild whine from the engine, and nothing from the exhaust. In city driving it's not much fun, especially since the car is rather low and the pavement sucks in Romania, and I live in Bucharest, the first most traffic congested city in Europe, 5th in the world.

What I don't like about the car is the oil consumption and higher than normal fuel consumption. Even though I've switched from Mobil 1 5W-30 to Motul BMW Specific LL-04 5W-40, and I change the oil every 8000 km (unlike the germans who wait until 20.000km ) the oil consumption is still high. The message that it needs 1 liter of oil comes on every 2-3 months, and I only drive on the weekends. Fuel consumption is 14 l/100km in city driving and 8.5 l/100km in very gentle steady 110 km/h highway driving. I have a work colleague that has the exact same car with same specs, and has 10.5 city and 6.8 at 110km/h....Something is not right and I don't know what.

I will not bore you with all the details, but I'm free to questions if you have any. I will let some pictures speak for themselves.

[Hyadum]

The file manager for pictures is so restrictive, only managed to choose 1 small picture.

Edit: resized some pictures, trying again, hope for no errors.

"Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing or mismatched." ....

[Underground6t9]

Nice

[Sayek]

Nice car.
I have E92 SE black colour.

I found the SE steering wheel very poor grip and hard. I replaced it with a used Msport version. The Airbag is same so wheel is direct swap.
A used steering wheel can be found fairly cheap and you will not regret it.

Those 19 inch alloys look great but be ready for cracks and eye watering tire cost. I kept my 17s and fitted with non-runflats for comfort

I like the front aero kit added to your bumper. I was considering that too but I was lucky some idiot on the road damaged my front bumper and paid for the repair. Used that chance to swap the SE to Msport bumper.

[Twin_Snails]

Nice Really love the oem 230's.

[Hyadum]

Thank you!
The steering wheel is a bit hard, but I haven't found it lacking grip, at least not with dry hands.
I hope not to crack the rims, especially since they are spotless and not a single scratch on them. The tires have been really expensive indeed (about 850$, when the average salary reported in the country is 557$) but so far seem to worth it. I don't like runflats either.
The lip was added by the previous owner and I like it so I haven't take it off. But the shadowline grill I didn't like, and swapped it for the OEM chrome grill.
I really should be taking some good quality pictures of the current state.

[oli3]

Why do run 5W-40 oil? I have the N52 engine and use Castrol Edge 0W30 oil. 5w40 does not sound like the right oil for this engine.

[Hyadum]

Hi,

Because it says so in the manual:

Selecting the appropriate SAE class depends on the regional climatic conditions in which you normally drive your BMW. Approved oils belong to the 5W-40 and
5W-30 classes. These oils can be used for driving at all outside temperatures.

Since 5W-30 is too light and gets burnt easier, I switched to 5W-40. This is BMW Specific LL-04 approved oil.

[Hyadum]

So no one knows any good reason why not to use 5W-40 LL-04 oil?
I will try to check several things like the PCV or CCV, head gaskets, piston rings, valve seals, the usual. But if everything is ok, and still it burns oil, it could be a design flaw with the rings.

[jt335i]

To consume 1 liter of oil in 2 or 3 months is high. Definitely check under the car for oil leaks (i.e. oil pan leak, seals), as well as, in the engine (VCG, OFHG, rings, etc.).
I have to 2010 335i which I bought new and at 86,800+ miles I haven’t had any issues with oil consumption that requires me to add oil.

As for 5W-40, that is fine to use as long as it is BMW LL-04 which you say you are using.
Go to the link and it will take you to a thread which lists all the BMW approved oils (LL-04/01 US/CAN), and respective grades, for use in their engines.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=478346

I see Motul Specific LL-04 5W-40 is in the list so I am guessing that is what you are using which is A-OK.

[Hyadum]

Thank you for the reply. I have checked the oil before swapping and found it to be approved. I was only curious why it would not be recommended. I know 5W-30 is better for friction losses, but thinner means it is eaten faster.
I have checked the plastic cover under the oil pan. I took it off and put the car on the elevator. The engine is dry, there are no oil stains or leaks. The oil is burnt most likely, but slowly as there is no smoke, cold or hot. I will have to do a compression test, but I guess I would feel a lack of power or hesitation if one or more cilinders were bad. There is no hesitation and the power is there.

[Hyadum]

This is the new look (back to stock).