[joekitch]

there's an e91 wagon for sale about 104 miles from me, about a 2 hour drive.
its manual, 2006, 325xi, blue with tan interior. It doesn't have the sport package or idrive BUT it does have comfort access and xenon headlights, which is great! in fact its the only comfort access manual wagon for sale in the country right now.
however its at a small dealership, which is usually a bad thing, but these guys seem reasonable and not sleazy

i have already had it inspected by an indie bmw mechanic nearby, and here's what he found

-bent rear rims causing humming noise at speed, costs 500 for replacements, 60 for labor to balance and align them
-code for steering angle sensor 94BB, halting, it could just need 1 hour labor for realigning the steering, or $350 for a few hours labor to tear down the steering column to replace the sensor
-passenger seat airbag, code 93C3
-steering locking system, code A116, steering lock malfunction.
-bluetooth "not working", radio network malfunction of some kind
-40% left on front brakes
-mechanically fine otherwise, no oil leaks or suspension weirdness, clutch is fine
-the mechanic asked me to ask the dealer if the 90k service has been done, because it costs $800.

i'll be fixing all of this myself DIY if i can, so costs wont be that much.

considering these issues, and also considering how rare this particular configuration is, is this worth buying?
they're asking 13k but the black book trade in value is 10k for a "very good" one, so i'm going to offer 10.5k and maybe go up to 11k

EDIT; i'll probably be getting this car TOMORROW so it's be best to get as much opinion as possible before then

[NGEE]

I tap that in a heart beat.

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by NGEE

I tap that in a heart beat.

well that's a rather glowing endorsement

[Frost17]

Make sure that airbag light isn't caused from the passenger occupancy sensor. I had that problem on mine. Looks like everything else checks out.

[drilla2212]

Idk man I used to have a 06 325xi sedan and that car gave me so many problems. I'd stay away from an on and at least opt for a 328xi they fixed the issues the 06 had. A simple oil pan gasket took me 12 hours to and I have access to a shop with a lift. Btw the car had 50k when I sold it. Not saying you are going to have the same problems I did. But considering the price is slightly high I'd offer 10 and see how it goes.

[joekitch]

did some digging and it looks like;
-steering wheel angle sensor can be fixed by just cleaning the plastic disc it reads and possibly reflowing any bad connections to the IR led causing intermittent shorts. look for "the $0.02 fix". permanent fix if you clean it well

-the steering lock malfunction can be fixed with a steering lock emulator you can install in 30 minutes. it lies to the computer about the status of the steering lock actuator and never actually engages it. permanent fix

-passenger seat airbag code can be fixed with a little bypass module you plug into the seat in 5 minutes. i think it just trips the sensor to always be on so it always deploys the passenger side airbag in an accident

-the bluetooth not working doesnt really matter since i'll be using a tablet with an AUX connection as my head unit, and using an app which routes all calls and texts through the tablet over bluetooth

[ctuna]

You did your homework pretty much.
Good move on getting it checked.

There is a recall on the passenger seat sensor
number 13V-564 the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle
safety Act says they need to replace it.
I got the notice for mine in February.

There is a DIY on cleaning the steering lock mechanism
in the DIY subforum here.

Steering Sensor problem could just be dirt on the Sensor.

You should probably get new rims or get the stock ones
repaired.

If you can change the fluids and the plugs yourself it
will cost you a lot less.
I doubt if BMW would even change all the fluids.
I would see what they are going to do for that 800
bucks.
Google Mike Miller BMW for the old school maintenance
schedule.
It might need a water pump and thermostat soon.

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by ctuna

You did your homework pretty much.
Good move on getting it checked.

There is a recall on the passenger seat sensor
number 13V-564 the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle
safety Act says they need to replace it.

There is a DIY on cleaning the steering lock mechanism
in the DIY subforum here.

Steering Sensor problem could just be dirt on the Sensor.

You should probably get new rims or get the stock ones
repaired.

If you can change the fluids and the plugs yourself it
will cost you a lot less.
I doubt if BMW would even change all the fluids.
I would see what they are going to do for that 800
bucks.
Google Mike Miller BMW for the old school maintenance
schedule.
It might need a water pump and thermostat soon.

hmm, i'll have to see if the pump and thermostat have been replaced already though.
if they have not, i'll probably get an aftermarket one and modify it with extra cooling along the back side (where the electronics are), since pretty much all electric water pump failure is because of the electronics slowly dying from occasionally overheating. Keep it cool with fans and it'll run forever (in theory)

[ctuna]

There is no substitute for the BMW electric water pump.
The first year they used it was 06 and there have been several
versions. Its a common failure in all years on this board .
There was a giant poll on it here and it seems to fail between 60k and 90k.
most often. still there have been people that have gotten over 150k on it. Also its usually a sudden fail don't drive further
it it goes bad.
Water Pump and Thermostat should be changed in tandem
because of location a difficulty of change.
Also the first ones had plastic impellers that disintegrate
I have read. The later ones are metallic.

If you want diagnostics and coding ability you can get
a Kcan cable and Inpa ebidas and ncsexpert plus dis57
on ebay for about 50 bucks but you needed and older computer running 32 bit xp last time I looked.



The following is a list of the sub boards

http://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16

the DIY and maintenance ones are pretty useful.

[OmidHariri]

Careful with small dealerships. They may give charge you a 20 percent rate if you finance the car.

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by joekitch

well that's a rather glowing endorsement

Because e91.

Actually, several reasons...

1 - you've done your homework
2 - car is not without issues, but you seem to know what you're doing
3 - price is right, if you talk them down to your number
4 - e91 is the quintessential New England car
5 - e91 is sssexxxy

[joebattle1]

I just bought an 06 325xi with 56k miles for $17250 here in the Bay Area from a Buick dealer (go figure) It's a 6 speed manual which as you know are hard to find in a wagon. I only bought it because it showed up locally for sale. I was not looking for a car. I immediately sold my 2004 Audi A4 wagon with 95k miles. I had to replace front A arm bushings right when I got it home. Im still chading a rattle in the front end. It is a base model with gen 1 Idrive. I jumped on this car cause it was a fairly low mile stick shift in my market. Hope that gives you some perspective.

[Efthreeoh]

My two cents from a long-time (26 years), high mileage BMW owner (over 660,000 miles combined - three 3-series 161K, 249K, 256K).

You are trying to find a very rare bird, E91 with a manual trans. All 2006 E91 were x-drive. The sport package in the x-drive models was seats and steering wheel; xi's don't have a sport suspension. So you have a very limited choice.

It sounds like you are an experienced DIY'er so that's VERY good in the world of high mileage BMW ownership. Parts are easy to get and the cars are pretty easy to work on. Sounds like you've done your homework on the one. BMWs are rewarding ever at 200K - trust me I know. 104 miles on this one, heck it's just breaking in. Get the wheels repaired and painted for $100 each, or upgrade to some 18's.

There is a post somewhere around here in the last few days where the OP found the active steering sensor is not available as a separate part. I checked and don't see it on realOEM.com either. May be a concern there.

Good luck with it!

[Bamaben]

Sounds like vehicle was beat on (bent wheels) and neglected (all those codes ) it's entire life. I would keep looking or look for something else , personally.

[Mardio]

I would get the dealer to pay for these issues, stick it to them.

[Delta0311]

How many miles does the car have?

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

There is a post somewhere around here in the last few days where the OP found the active steering sensor is not available as a separate part. I checked and don't see it on realOEM.com either. May be a concern there.

Good catch. Is this the sensor this OP is talking about, or is he talking about the angle sensor at the steering wheel? Anyway my understanding of active steering is that there's a button on the dash to turn it off, so the active steering sensor going bad would be like just pushing that button. But then what the hell do I know

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by Bamaben

Sounds like vehicle was beat on (bent wheels) and neglected (all those codes ) it's entire life. I would keep looking or look for something else , personally.

it seems like if it was neglected there would be more serious mechanical issues, these various problems might have just been unknown to the owner or related to an almost-gone battery

suffice to say, if they cant make that 10.5k price work i'm going to walk

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by NGEE

Good catch. Is this the sensor this OP is talking about, or is he talking about the angle sensor at the steering wheel? Anyway my understanding of active steering is that there's a button on the dash to turn it off, so the active steering sensor going bad would be like just pushing that button. But then what the hell do I know

its the plain old steering angle sensor, if it goes bad cruise control doesnt work anymore unfortunately, among some other annoyances

[joekitch]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

How many miles does the car have?

the wagon has 96,000 miles

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by joekitch

the wagon has 96,000 miles

How much for the wagon and how much for the sedan? Both are 328s?

[roadkillrob]

2 hours to go 104 miles - you can't be from mass - that is only an hour and a half drive around here!