335i N54 opinions

[77Canada77]

Hey there I'm new to the car scene because I'm a truck person (love my Toyotas). So I've always liked BMW cars and owned a couple 73 2002s in the past and now bought a 2009 335i Coupe. Very nice machine with low kms, sport pack, executive blah blah, pretty pimp with 83,000 kms and 6 speed auto. It was a CPO from a dealership and I did opt for the third party extended warranty, due to what I've read about their reliability and I think it was the smart choice. My trucks never left me high and dry so maybe I've been spoiled with Toyota reliability, but I'm curious to hear if these N54s are as spotty as everyone seems to make them out to be. Haven't had more than 45 mins of seat time because the weather here is toilet and it's going to be my fair weather machine, this said, I really like it so far. Please share experiences as I'm a research type of person.

[PTFunk]

One of the biggest issues has been the high-pressure fuel pump, but this is now under extended warranty by BMW once they acknowledged how unreliable the early ones were. Newer (replacement) versions seem to be fine.

I'd advise combing through the E90 sub forum to learn more about this and other issues such as the need for walnut blasting of intake valve area after xx,xxx miles, etc.

There's even an N54-centric forum, if you want to focus on engine performance (incl. mods): N54tech.com

[BeastM5NYC]

They always felt under powered to me but I have never been in one that was tuned.

[bighorns]

They always felt under powered to me but I have never been in one that was tuned.

Under-powered compared to what? 328 feels under-powered, but even stock, 335 is decent. With a tune they are a beast. Here is a quote from an E39 M5 owner: 2002 e39 m5 vs JB4 335i 6MT

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So i raced my buddy who has a stock 335i 6MT from a 40 roll and i demolished him, the next day he gets a jb4 chip and e85 tune and my car stayed with him in 2nd but 3rd he just pulled on me.

[auaq]

The other thing to look out for is carbon build up because of Direct Injection technology.

[pimpstaty5y]

Mines running strong at 108k. Been tuned/fully bolted its' whole life.

[Beemerboie]

I have question on my 335i, ON the ignition mode the service engine soon light is coming up after the installation but when I start the car it goes away. But I'm not sure if that's normal or not. Thank thanks

[Beemerboie]

Did anyone experienced this before?

[SpeedsterBek]

post a video

[BimmerBreaker]

The check engine light should flash on before the car is started and go away once running...

[Beemerboie]

uploadfromtaptalk1426707935087.jpeg

[Beemerboie]

This is the light stays on ignition 2 mode....

[SpeedsterBek]

that's normal, you should start worrying if it doesn't go away once the engine is running

[Beemerboie]

Oh, thank God... And there is a weird notice from the turbo side. The tick tick tick noise. Is that normal. I've always had this noise but it's loud only when the hood is opened. Is my turbo planing to give up on me?

[BimmerBreaker]

Turbos don't make tick tick tick noises unless they have already basically failed... you are probably just hearing your valvetrain...

[Beemerboie]

Alright, then I'll just have that checked out.

[Beemerboie]

Do you guys know why the engine light pops up over 200 km. Main just did and I shut the car off and turned it back on and it's gone but I don't know why it poped up but I had the maps on 0 since I didn't want to use it. But I still have the gear slipping problem I haven't fixed it yet because it drives normal and it only slips when I push the gas altheway to the floor. Is that related to this light.

[BimmerBreaker]

Do you guys know why the engine light pops up over 200 km.

Yes, because there is something wrong with the engine triggering the light to come on. You need to get the codes read. I recommend just taking your car to a mechanic...

[Beemerboie]

They said it's not giving any code. But I have no clue. It just came on and now it's gone. I'm just going to drive around with the scanner.

[d21spike]

They said it's not giving any code. But I have no clue. It just came on and now it's gone. I'm just going to drive around with the scanner.

The loud ticking is most likely your injectors, pull the plastic cover off of the valve cover and see how loud it gets (almost scared me the first time). As far as the light, you mentioned you were on map 0 so I assume you're running JB4. If that's the case, why not use the built in code reading function since it will give you both the generic codes and stored BMW codes?

[Beemerboie]

I'm going to give that a try. How often do I need to change the coils because my car was at the dealer from day one according to the paperwork and I bought it after 130k on it and I didn't find any service for the coils...

[d21spike]

I'm going to give that a try. How often do I need to change the coils because my car was at the dealer from day one according to the paperwork but I didn't find anything for coils...

That's a subjective question. For example, on a stock motor (no tune) you're expected to replace the plugs around every 25k. Once you up the boost, that number decreases due to the added stress (actually pretty amazing what direct injection does to the plugs). So it falls on you to determine the right mileage for the plugs, whether it be 20k or what.

Coils fall into a grey area, where you will have people run them until they start misfiring and others will replace them as a preventative maintenance for example like when they do a walnut blasting. All in all that falls on you and your mileage, as for me I'm nearing 100k and have no idea when they were done (dealer receipts don't mention them) but I plan on doing a walnut blasting relatively soon and will replace coils as well (plugs were done not too long ago).

Whatever you decide, keep in mind it's an FI engine and things will wear quicker especially when you're pushing it harder than it was intended from factory.

[Beemerboie]

Does these indicated in the information screen inside because I didn't touch anything yet. I'll just change them to be in the safe side. Do you know how much would it be. The coils

[d21spike]

Does these indicated in the information screen inside because I didn't touch anything yet. I'll just change them to be in the safe side. Do you know how much would it be. The coils

The iDrive screen is more of a reminder than anything. Think of it this way, you just bought a car and the previous owner reset the intervals without telling you. Now it looks like you have quite a few miles left when in reality they have been in there for a while. It's just a set mileage interval in the system with no indication of the condition of the parts (except oil).

As far as where, that's kinda up to you to shop around. I personally use FCPeuro and amazon for discounted OEM parts (I think amazon had a set well priced, but you also have to check on part numbers on amazon since there are multiple revisions). There has also been talk of people using the N55 coils as well as looking into the part numbers for the new M3/M4. There are other places to look like ECSTuning and Pelican parts to name a few.