About to buy 335i 2008. What to check?

[hbrandon1987]

Any way to check for high pressure fuel pump and turbo issues? Car is at BMW of Dallas and drove great.
https://www.bmwofdallas.com/used/BMW...1865b13b3b.htm

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[NeedForBoost]

Well, the add says money back guaranty so how could you go wrong? If the HPFP recall was done the dealer would have record of it and/or the sticker would be underhood indicating recall performed.

AJ

[hbrandon1987]

Well, the add says money back guaranty so how could you go wrong? If the HPFP recall was done the dealer would have record of it and/or the sticker would be underhood indicating recall performed.

AJ

I don't see anything about the recall in the Carfax. Should I ask the dealer? Seems like most maintenance was done at that same dealer

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[hbrandon1987]

Looks like the high pressure fuel pump was just replaced last month. Guess that was the previous owners final straw and he traded it in. Done under extended service contract.

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[hbrandon1987]

There's a 90 day warranty that seems to cover quite a bit. I'm going to really pay attention to everything the car does that may seem odd, and I'll take it in if needed. Other than that, haven't driven it much but is a huge upgrade over my e46 330ci.

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[hbrandon1987]

Just took about an 80 mile drive, man this car is awesome. What rock have I been under?!?!?!

Hoping to not have any major issues and keep this for 2 to 3 years, then move on to a 440 or so when the prices come down. I couldn't see that the spark plugs have ever been changed on this so I will likely have that to do first.

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[NeedForBoost]

Make sure you buy the special spark plug socket from a vendor that knows the N54 engine. I bought a standard 14mm 12 point socket at an auto parts store but it had to be extensively modified to work, much easier to start with the correct tool. I did not do the coil packs at the same time but should have, I had one fail just a couple weeks later and essentially had to do the job twice RockAuto has the OE Bosch coils for $19. ea.


AJ

[hbrandon1987]

Make sure you buy the special spark plug socket from a vendor that knows the N54 engine. I bought a standard 14mm 12 point socket at an auto parts store but it had to be extensively modified to work, much easier to start with the correct tool. I did not do the coil packs at the same time but should have, I had one fail just a couple weeks later and essentially had to do the job twice RockAuto has the OE Bosch coils for $19. ea.


AJ

Thanks. One thing I did notice is that there was a bit of an odd smell after doing a 40 to 90 acceleration. Hope it's not the cat. Odd that a cat would be going out at 88k, is that common?

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[RocketSurgeon]

Cat problems are rare, but oil leaks onto the outside of the cat aren't. Does it smell like burnt oil or unburnt fuel?

[hbrandon1987]

Doesn't smell like oil. Unburnt fuel maybe... Which is why I was wanting to do plugs. They might be the originals.

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[RocketSurgeon]

You might take a look at the downpipes and see if somebody swapped them for catless ones. It's a fairly common power mod. You should be able to see them looking down the exhaust side of the engine from the top. Factory pipes are big and bronze colored with stamped BMW logos on them.

[hbrandon1987]

I'd guess they're stock downpipes, car seems to be unmodified and very well taken care of.

Looking for some opinions here... It came with the continental runflats and they have about 20,000 miles on them. Tread still looks good but I have some Cooper Xeon RS3 all seasons on my 330ci (far currently for sale) and those Cooper's are only a few months old. Should I put the Cooper's on my 335i since it's the same size? All 4 Coopers are 225 45 17. I'm just looking to save some money in the future this way if at all possible as I'm not sure how long the run flats will go for.

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[Mango Bob]

Don't bother checking the color of the oil on the dipstick.
Guess what?
There is no dipstick. The joke's on us.
They must get some good chuckles out of that in Bavaria.
How else can they screw with the customer? Let me count the ways.

[hbrandon1987]

Don't bother checking the color of the oil on the dipstick.
Guess what?
There is no dipstick. The joke's on us.
They must get some good chuckles out of that in Bavaria.
How else can they screw with the customer? Let me count the ways.

Haha... Yeah I was aware of that. Dealer changed oil while it was in their possession last month. I ended up making a list of everything and dropped it off yesterday. Will see what they cover under warranty.

Nothing too major though there is a strange rattle sometimes from the engine at cold startup that doesn't go away until it's been driven for 5 or 10 minutes. Also it seems kind of high strung... For example when sitting at a light with it in drive I feel a lot of vibration and the motor sounds loud even though it's only at 600 or 650ish rpm... Just doesn't seem luxurious. Could be motor mounts, I guess we will know soon enough. Could just be the nature of the n54 and age of the car?

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[NeedForBoost]

Haha... Yeah I was aware of that. Dealer changed oil while it was in their possession last month. I ended up making a list of everything and dropped it off yesterday. Will see what they cover under warranty.

Nothing too major though there is a strange rattle sometimes from the engine at cold startup that doesn't go away until it's been driven for 5 or 10 minutes. Also it seems kind of high strung... For example when sitting at a light with it in drive I feel a lot of vibration and the motor sounds loud even though it's only at 600 or 650ish rpm... Just doesn't seem luxurious. Could be motor mounts, I guess we will know soon enough. Could just be the nature of the n54 and age of the car?

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When you say 'high strung' does it kinda surge off the line when you go to pull away from a light with easy throttle? Mine did that, a tansmission fluid change with 12quarts of B&M Trickshift fixed that. I made a thread on complete transmission flush about that

AJ

[hbrandon1987]

When you say 'high strung' does it kinda surge off the line when you go to pull away from a light with easy throttle? Mine did that, a tansmission fluid change with 12quarts of B&M Trickshift fixed that. I made a thread on complete transmission flush about that

AJ

Not quite... Let me try and explain. It "sounds and feels" like the motor is at like 1000 rpm when in drive and brakes engaged, when in fact it's at 650 or so. It just sounds louder than I'd expect and feels a bit of vibration. Could be that I'm just used to my e46 5 speed manual and having it in neutral while at lights. There was not really any load on the drivetrain while in those types of scenarios.

I do know that the transmission was recently replaced with another used one, for what it's worth. Who knows!

BMW of Dallas has had the car since Wednesday dealing with a list of items I've asked them to inspect while I still have my 90 day warranty. Hopefully they will get me an update soon... This X1 loaner is awful to drive!

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[hbrandon1987]

You might take a look at the downpipes and see if somebody swapped them for catless ones. It's a fairly common power mod. You should be able to see them looking down the exhaust side of the engine from the top. Factory pipes are big and bronze colored with stamped BMW logos on them.

Just got an update. Apparently the valve cover gasket is leaking and making the smell when I accelerate. Surprise surprise. They will be replacing that under warranty along with the oil pan gasket.

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[hbrandon1987]

Regarding the car feeling a bit rough and loud from the interior, it was the injectors. All 6 replaced along with plugs under warranty.

Unfortunately now I have a boost leak after tuning, and no way to prove to dealer (code only appears when the software tune is in place, and when I uninstall the Cobb, it deletes any codes).

Any advise on getting some attention to my boost leak issues from the dealer? I have tried and tried and can't get it to throw a code in factory software form.

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[RocketSurgeon]

You could cause a boost leak.....that would throw a code.
Under boost doesn't necessarily mean a boost leak, it could be a boost solenoid or vacuum line preventing the turbos from making boost. Didn't you remark on another thread that your car seemed loud? My e92 seemed MUCH louder than my e90. Turns out I had a bad boost solenoid, so the wastegates stayed open (LOUD), and the car didn't make boost. You might want to check that out. My car is bone stock and did not throw a code.
I would suggest replacing all of your vacuum lines, they are going on 10 years old and probably have splits. For $20 in hose and an hour of your time, you can replace them all. You need 15 feet of 3.5mm vacuum hose to do them all. I selected platinum-cured silicone.
Testing for boost leaks wouldn't be a bad idea either. The most common leaks are the chargepipe to throttle body connection, and the diverter valve to charge pipe connections.

[hbrandon1987]

You could cause a boost leak.....that would throw a code.
Under boost doesn't necessarily mean a boost leak, it could be a boost solenoid or vacuum line preventing the turbos from making boost. Didn't you remark on another thread that your car seemed loud? My e92 seemed MUCH louder than my e90. Turns out I had a bad boost solenoid, so the wastegates stayed open (LOUD), and the car didn't make boost. You might want to check that out. My car is bone stock and did not throw a code.
I would suggest replacing all of your vacuum lines, they are going on 10 years old and probably have splits. For $20 in hose and an hour of your time, you can replace them all. You need 15 feet of 3.5mm vacuum hose to do them all. I selected platinum-cured silicone.
Testing for boost leaks wouldn't be a bad idea either. The most common leaks are the chargepipe to throttle body connection, and the diverter valve to charge pipe connections.

Thanks will continue to change more lines and possibly one or both boost solenoids when I have the funds for the solenoids. Will do lines today.

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[RocketSurgeon]

You can test the boost solenoids with a vacuum gauge. Or you can log your wgdc.

[hbrandon1987]

You can test the boost solenoids with a vacuum gauge. Or you can log your wgdc.

Well, I may have messed things up myself. When I was initially looking at the vacuum lines, I removed the vacuum canisters. I broke a connector on one, so epoxied it back. Thought it would hold as it seemed sturdy, but I noticed today that a lot of air is leaking from there. So itigjt have been broken this whole time I've been replacing a few other hoses. I'm replacing the canister connectors with metal fittings today, will see how that goes. 24 degrees outside right now

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