335xi owners - what's your maintenance experience?

[consultant]

Honestly, wondering what 335xi owner's experiences have been who have had their cars at least 5,000 miles.

I went from Acura TL to Volvo S60R. S60R a lot more fun to drive and rare on the road, but only trips to the dealer with the Acura were for oil change and S60R, there seems to always be some minor annoyance. Want to go back to the low-maintenance ownership experience. Time is just too precious to be wasting in the service dept waiting room or driving around some crappy loaner.

In the Volvo R forums at Swedespeed you could post this question and immediately 10 people could give you a bullet list of all the issues. Not that there are tons of them, or that most of them are very significant but over time you see the same issues coming up again and again. At least this model is in what it's 3rd production year so hopefully BMW has got most of the kinks out.

I'd really appreciate it though if someone, especially a car nut that has owned a bazillion cars, could give a reality check for me on this and give me an idea what I can expect if I decide to pull the trigger on a 335xi.

Already ruled out Cadillac CTS due to build quality issues (American Manufacturers still haven't quite got there yet as far as build quality/relibility, maybe Ford is pretty close though.) Steller ownership reviews from owners of the new Acura TL of course, but that rear of that car is FUGLY. I know I would enjoy driving the 335xi best since performance is on par with my Volvo, but only if I wouldn't have to be taking it in to the dealer 3-4+ times a year (aside from scheduled maintenance.)

Thanks much in advance for you insight.

P.S. I've read the biggest complaint is the ride of the run-flat tires. I definitely want the M Sport Package. I assume the run flats comes with that package so I'd need to buy new tires.

[ceb]

...and BMW is no different. Most glitches are fairly minor and don't require a separate trip to the dealer (except for things like the fuel pump)

...my Audi S6 required exactly one unscheduled trip to the dealer at about 16k miles where the power steering fluid miraculously disappeared. It was topped off, no leak found and it was still fine when I sold the car some 80k miles later. These are the types of issues that I expect from most German cars - the ones that make you scratch your head and say "wtf?"

If you want bulletproof reliability then look at Infiniti - the G37x is a pretty nice car. If you want a BMW, then you might want to look at the 328ix as that one doesn't have the fuel pump issues of the 335...

[Tipstall]

6000 miles and not one issue and I'm hard to please.

[mryakan]

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=955481

[mryakan]

If you want bulletproof reliability then look at Infiniti - the G37x is a pretty nice car. If you want a BMW, then you might want to look at the 328ix as that one doesn't have the fuel pump issues of the 335...
Infiniti is not that highly reliable either. The GM in my previous work had his G35 stranded in Ottawa for 1-2 months while they diagnosed, ordered parts and repaired/rebuilt his engine. He lived in Texas and drove it here and had to fly back without his car. All cars have issues, cars are more complex these days and problems are inevitable.

[StigNV]

28,000 miles over a year and a half with no complaints. The occasional TPM reset is all I have to do. It usually goes off on really lousy stretches of road like I-80 betwen Davis and Vallejo in Ca. The road is so bad now. you are doing a comfortable clip at 80 or so and then wham, you hit a maintenance spot without warning. Usually a hit of 1/2" to 3/4" of uneven pavement, with no warning. It sounds like the undercarriage was ripped out. I had to stop and visually inspect everything to make sure it was okay. I thought I might have bent a rim with the low profile tires. Fortunately it didn't leak any air. I have backed off my speed on that stretch of road lately, the price of driving through a bankrupt state with a huge defecit I guess. Amazingly no alignment issues with the car.

[drgonzal]

24k miles and the only unscheduled trip to the dealer was at around 8k miles or so for the Fuel Pump. They seem to have fix the problem with them though, and extended the warranty to 10 years/120k miles if I'm not mistaken. No complaints what so ever.

[Bonds 25]

I have owned my 335xi Coupe for what would be (2) years this november. 19,000 miles and I've had ZERO problems. Also....I beat the shit out of my car.....and she loves me for it. ;)


I will miss her as in ~ 3 weeks I will be picking up my '09 M3 Coupe. :alright

[Bru]

335ci 11km 2 years, my only complaints have been inaccurate speedometer and now a creaky seat back. There is a differential whine but the dealer said it is normal.

[mryakan]

335ci 11km 2 years, my only complaints have been inaccurate speedometer and now a creaky seat back. There is a differential whine but the dealer said it is normal.
Only 11 kilometers in 2 years? :eek: (sorry Canadian joke ;))

[Bru]

sad isnt it