[jeremicium]

Bought my 09 335 new a little over three years ago, now it has roughly 47,400 miles on it. That leaves me with about two months until i'm running without a warranty...or until I drop a few thousand for an extended warranty. I've been pondering a tune for a few years, but with my car having run flawlessly since the original hpfp died at 4,800 miles, I have been a bit hesitant to meddle with a good thing.

I've spent a little time looking at common problems with various tunes...primarily misfire issues it seems, related to injectors, intake valve carbon buildup, and perhaps more fuel pump issues. My misguided thought process at this late hour is telling me to pick up a Cobb AP and see how things play out over the next 2,600 miles. I know i'll be pleased with the performance boost, but maybe i'll also expedite the wear on some items (injectors and mucked up valves), and get them to give me problems before my warranty expires. Purchasing the Cobb could actually save me money if my all original injectors and dirty valves are coming close to needing to be replaced/cleaned. Is this crazy talk? Or does it make some sort of twisted sense?

On another note, i've been unable to determine from searching the rough likelihood of encountering engine problems after a tune...it certainly seems more likely, but it would be nice to see if for example 20% of people running COBB experience new problems...or whether its 50% or more. Anyone seen any stats on this?

Regarding my question in the title, these factors my be relevant: this car is my daily driver unless its snowy or below freezing (I have a 4runner for shitty days that has cost me about $50 in unscheduled mx in 146,000 miles of ownership) . I intend to keep the car for another three years and will get rid of it before 100k (at which point i'm finally getting an S2000 or Elise for a real sports car and leasing a new 335 for my DD) The only other engine related mods that I intend to do are eisenmann exhaust, and maybe DCI.

Done with this rambling post.

[straightcashhomie]

My thoughts before you get the Cobb would be to replace your spark plugs, clean OR replace injectors / and walnut blasting for carbon build up. I'd also have the intercooler cleaned for oil that may be inside, perhaps install an OCC, and you should be good to go with no misfires... You're right, tuning will perhaps put more stress on various parts, but at the same time you said it's your daily, and I'd imagine you don't intend to beat the crap out of your car light to light. If you're still taking it easy, you shouldn't have any reliable/expensive concerns to worry about, and even if something were to go wrong, most of the expensive things, HPFP/Turbo/wastegate are covered anyways. Everything else (spark plugs, injectors, coil packs) can be purchased at a cheaper (than stealership price) from Tischer. Hope this helps...... Now the decision on COBB, I'm still lost myself between COBB Vs JB4

[douwe22]

not sure if it will save you money, the only thing i would trade my cobb for would be a m3, lol. been running aggressive map for 15.000 km now, no misfires yet, no bad codes, just had spark plugs replaced before install, i love the extra power from the tune on onramps to hwy. i never regret getting my cobb, just my 2cents, lol

[PsychoSlug]

Great timing jeremicium - I'm in the same boat and we took delivery right around the same time. Mine has 33,000 miles on it so far. I'd love to give it a boost in power to carry me over until that new M3 comes out.

Subscribed.

[jeremicium]

I remember tracking our cars across the pond three years ago dpratt, funny. How has your car been reliability-wise?
Gunnnzzz, my spark plugs were just replaced about 2,000 miles ago so i'm good there. I'm confortable doing coil packs myself, that leaves injectors and intake valve cleaning. I would taek a stab at doing injectors myself, I understand that the injectors should be coded and that can be tricky finding a way to get that done without paying stealership fees. Have yet to look into cost of valve cleaning, but i'm pretty sure i'd steer clear of doing that job myself.

I'd love to start one of those inane tuner wars with one of my posts, but it seems like all of the common tunes have merits, and all of them have lots of proven miles...as well as people that have CEL, limp mode, engine problems. My primary reason for choosing COBB is their track record with Subarus. I know a number of people that have had years of relatively trouble-free operation with COBB, and they have been doing this for a long time. If it weren't for that, i'd be equally considering JB and PROcede (I know PROcede has a bit more proven record outside of BMW, and may be, at least from a tuner-theory perspective, a more sound approach at tuning).

[PsychoSlug]

Aside from a few weird noise quibbles, I have had no problems with it. I had the HPFP replaced during the recall, but it never gave me problems. Door seal creaks and brake noise are my only beefs.

Hard to believe our cars are over 3 years old already!

[straightcashhomie]

Originally Posted by jeremicium

I remember tracking our cars across the pond three years ago dpratt, funny. How has your car been reliability-wise?
Gunnnzzz, my spark plugs were just replaced about 2,000 miles ago so i'm good there. I'm confortable doing coil packs myself, that leaves injectors and intake valve cleaning. I would taek a stab at doing injectors myself, I understand that the injectors should be coded and that can be tricky finding a way to get that done without paying stealership fees. Have yet to look into cost of valve cleaning, but i'm pretty sure i'd steer clear of doing that job myself.

I'd love to start one of those inane tuner wars with one of my posts, but it seems like all of the common tunes have merits, and all of them have lots of proven miles...as well as people that have CEL, limp mode, engine problems. My primary reason for choosing COBB is their track record with Subarus. I know a number of people that have had years of relatively trouble-free operation with COBB, and they have been doing this for a long time. If it weren't for that, i'd be equally considering JB and PROcede (I know PROcede has a bit more proven record outside of BMW, and may be, at least from a tuner-theory perspective, a more sound approach at tuning).

Bro, I say take the stab at it and go for the tune. Our cars are notorious problems with or without tunes, depending on how the owner maintains the vehicle. If you're doing Oil changes at every 6-7k miles, plugs at every 25k ish miles, fluids at I'd say 50, and not tracking it every single damn day, you're fine. How much is a 3rd party / extended warranty? I honestly would say if its 3-4k save the money and pay out of pocket (if things do go bad) as stated HPFP and Turbos are already covered... (edit, you probably should get the walnut blasting done soon, since I see you're nearing 50k miles)

[jeremicium]

Originally Posted by gunnnnzzz

Bro, I say take the stab at it and go for the tune. Our cars are notorious problems with or without tunes, depending on how the owner maintains the vehicle. If you're doing Oil changes at every 6-7k miles, plugs at every 25k ish miles, fluids at I'd say 50, and not tracking it every single damn day, you're fine. How much is a 3rd party / extended warranty? I honestly would say if its 3-4k save the money and pay out of pocket (if things do go bad) as stated HPFP and Turbos are already covered... (edit, you probably should get the walnut blasting done soon, since I see you're nearing 50k miles)

My car has been mechanically flawless for the last 43,000 miles, maybe i'm one of the lucky ones.

Spent some time talking to my service advisor and some local independent shops just trying to get a broader spectrum of opinions on common problems to be expected after 50,000 miles. After talking to the different shops and my SA i'm left with pretty much the same outlook as I get from the forums. That is; most common problems being VANOS solenoid, turbos/wastegate, injectors, intake valves, plugs, and coil packs. Those are all manageable risks to me, well except for the turbos, but those are covered until 84,000 miles so no worries.

Pretty unlikely that i'm going to go for any extended warranty as all of those problems can be remedied for cheaper than any warranty.

Also talked to a guy at COBB surgeline in Oregon, he said that they do not see many problems with tuned 335s, he only mentioned spark plugs and coil packs, though they don't see the volume of BMWs that other tuners do.

[PsychoSlug]

Sounds like you'll have a new toy soon! Let us know how it goes. I'm on the fence, and you may push me one way or another.

[Z3->WRX->335]

I'd get the AP now and drive the piss out of it for the mext 2,XXX miles