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Thread: Potential E92 328i Purchase

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
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    Potential E92 328i Purchase

    I'm considering purchasing an 328i coupe and just have a few questions for you experts out there. This will be my first BMW, so I'd like to have as good an understanding as I can of just what I'm getting myself into. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Aluminum Bolts
    I understand most if not all of the bolts that screw into the engine block are made of aluminum in order to avoid corrosion with the magnesium block.

    • What are the main issues with these bolts?
    • How often do they break when being removed?
    • Do they always need to be replaced whenever they are removed?
    • Can replacements only be obtained from the BMW dealer?


    Water Pump
    I understand the electric water pump on these cars usually needs to be replaced every 60,000 miles or so.

    • Can replacement water pumps only be sourced from BMW?
    • Are there 3rd party manufacturers that offer a more reliable unit?


    Gaskets
    I understand it is common for the valve cover gasket, Oil Filter Housing gasket, and the oil pan gasket to fail on these cars. Do replacement gaskets hold up better than the factory gaskets or do these gaskets just need to be replaced every 40K miles or so?

    2010-2012 VersionsI know the E92 cars got a substantial update around 2010.

    • Were any of the common issues mentioned above addressed on those cars?
    • Were any new issues introduced with the update?


    Tools
    I know some of the bolts and fasteners are unique in BMWs. At a minimum what tools beyond a standard SAE/Metric tool set and torque wrenches would I need to acquire to perform the above fixes?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Bellevue, WA
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    2,403
    My Cars
    335d, 328xd (had 330xi)
    Quote Originally Posted by automan25 View Post
    I'm considering purchasing an 328i coupe and just have a few questions for you experts out there. This will be my first BMW, so I'd like to have as good an understanding as I can of just what I'm getting myself into. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Aluminum Bolts
    I understand most if not all of the bolts that screw into the engine block are made of aluminum in order to avoid corrosion with the magnesium block.

    • What are the main issues with these bolts?
    • How often do they break when being removed?
    • Do they always need to be replaced whenever they are removed?
    • Can replacements only be obtained from the BMW dealer?


    Water Pump
    I understand the electric water pump on these cars usually needs to be replaced every 60,000 miles or so.

    • Can replacement water pumps only be sourced from BMW?
    • Are there 3rd party manufacturers that offer a more reliable unit?


    Gaskets
    I understand it is common for the valve cover gasket, Oil Filter Housing gasket, and the oil pan gasket to fail on these cars. Do replacement gaskets hold up better than the factory gaskets or do these gaskets just need to be replaced every 40K miles or so?

    2010-2012 VersionsI know the E92 cars got a substantial update around 2010.

    • Were any of the common issues mentioned above addressed on those cars?
    • Were any new issues introduced with the update?
    Do they always need to be replaced whenever they are removed? - Always
    Water pumps don't always break at 60K. Many last 120K. You replace them when they break, with anything you want.
    I've never replaced a gasket, and I have 133K on my M57. Besides, you can add quite a bit of oil for the price of a gasket that leaks a quart every 50K miles.
    328i had no updates (N54 was replaced by N55 in 335i, but N52 wasn't changed much) other than head mods to fix a rattle due to lifter leak-down.

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