Buying a 335i plan on modding it couple questions

[Jason84]

Been looking at 335i's lately my problem is I've never owned a BMW before mostly Audi's and DSM's that I've done a lot to. Few years ago I started a new job which caused me to get rid of fun cars and I bought a 2014 Mazda 6. Well now I started a new job in town so no more 2+ hours of driving anymore.

so the 335i put a spark in my eye. I searched a lot and did some research but didn't find much. I live in Wisconsin and will be driving the car in winter so first question is the Xdrive does it handle a lot of power ? And every Xdrive I see is auto do they not offer it in a manual ?

I've seen you can put a decent amount of power down with these but the local people with them all have RWD manuals so that kind of tells me the autos can't handle the uprades possibly ?

I did read about fuel pump problems which is pretty much the same as my A4 I had basically same fuel setup. But are there any other major problems I should be looking for ?

[dallasfan824]

Been looking at 335i's lately my problem is I've never owned a BMW before mostly Audi's and DSM's that I've done a lot to. Few years ago I started a new job which caused me to get rid of fun cars and I bought a 2014 Mazda 6. Well now I started a new job in town so no more 2+ hours of driving anymore. so the 335i put a spark in my eye. I searched a lot and did some research but didn't find much. I live in Wisconsin and will be driving the car in winter so first question is the Xdrive does it handle a lot of power ? And every Xdrive I see is auto do they not offer it in a manual ? I've seen you can put a decent amount of power down with these but the local people with them all have RWD manuals so that kind of tells me the autos can't handle the uprades possibly ? I did read about fuel pump problems which is pretty much the same as my A4 I had basically same fuel setup. But are there any other major problems I should be looking for ? I put down 400hp with an auto. No problem

Each car is different. Oil filter housing gasket. Wastegate rattle. Sometimes the wAter pump.

[Jason84]

So autos are pretty tough on these cars ? I'd rather have an auto most newer ones are faster now days and to lazy to drive a manual anymore lol.

[d21spike]

Nothing wrong with auto on these cars if that's what you want. Unless you plan on going single turbo, I don't anticipate that you will have any issues. I believe on DCT's you are fine till you get close to 600 whp and then you might run into slip issues. Yes these cars are also available in manual and if you find one with DCT, there is a flash option available for certain years. The xi would be a good platform and haven't heard of many people complaining about sacrifices with the exception of the added weight and ride height.

[cant catch me]

I bought my 335 xdrive e92 a couple months ago. You'll definitely want it since we live in the Midwest basically. Snow hasn't been bad yet, but it will. Also I have the auto but got my car coded so I also got the Alpina trans flash. It was worth it since it shifts fast when using the trans gear or paddle shifters.

I'm not planning to add the JB4 or Cobb till early summer time so I can't comment on if it can handle the power.

[Ian1973]

Why own an auto when a manual is available?

Either will handle the power just fine. I may have a Cobb for sale shortly if people are interested, waiting to see if the new owner of my car has any interest in it.

[d21spike]

Why own an auto when a manual is available?

Either will handle the power just fine. I may have a Cobb for sale shortly if people are interested, waiting to see if the new owner of my car has any interest in it.

Heavy traffic areas, drag times, significant other's being able to drive ... a lot of reasons can be a factor. Personally I agree, manual for the best experience (at least while they are still around)

[nafddur]

Another advantage of an xi (and yes, they are out here with MT's - just that you have to search a bit for them), is that the non-staggered tires can be rotated. I bought my 08 335xi 3 years ago with 35K miles (and new tires) on it. Now, 40K miles later and after rotating the tires at each oil change, those same tires (unfortunately, run flats that I can't wait to replace with `real' tires) still have lots of life left in them. I'm estimating they will go at least 20K more.

[trohde78]

Another advantage of an xi (and yes, they are out here with MT's - just that you have to search a bit for them), is that the non-staggered tires can be rotated. I bought my 08 335xi 3 years ago with 35K miles (and new tires) on it. Now, 40K miles later and after rotating the tires at each oil change, those same tires (unfortunately, run flats that I can't wait to replace with `real' tires) still have lots of life left in them. I'm estimating they will go at least 20K more.

Sounds like the non-staggered tires might be a disadvantage then. :-)

In my opinion you only need x-drive if you live out in the country. A good set of snow tires gets me everywhere that I need to go, and I have a 60 mile round trip commute.

[Jason84]

Thanks for the info guys ! Guess I will start looking around at a few options.