[Ste133]

Afternoon all,

So here goes my first post.

Ok, so I'm looking at purchasing a 335D coupe in the new year.

I've been looking around the forums for a few weeks now and there is plenty of information to digest.

At the moment I'm leaning towards the 335D SE model. I'm trying to understand what I should/should not be looking for on one of these cars. It looks like the BMW warranty is something that a lot of people talk about.

I've noticed that the second hand value of the cars without the Sat Nav/in dash display are a little cheaper. I will have around £18-20k to spend and I know I will be looking between 40-60K miles on one of these.

I'm in no rush to find a 335D, so I can take my time. I'm only looking at keeping the car for 12-18 months before I part with her and then I will be investing into a flat/house.

I'm looking forward to spending some more time on the forums.

All advice is welcome!

Cheers,
Steve

[Bungle009]

Im sure you have worked this out but 335d is auto only, and the (335d) Se has lots of the m-sport extras as standard, ie sports seats, suspension. The 335d is pretty robust, but finding a car with BMW warranty would definitely be a big bonus.

[Falmouthboy]

How many miles do you plan on doing? Only reason I ask is that if you are keeping it for such a short period, you may be better off with a 335i.

[davyk31]

Stick to the 335d rather than 335i for resale, any metal is hard to shift at the moment but the petrol ones seem very slow movers. If you do not necessarily want nav there are certainly some bargains to be had.

As regards warranty you can buy private and still get the BMW warranty if you buy a car that someone has extended the warranty on. This often is paid monthly and the new owner simply takes this over, in my case it costs about £35 per month.

[dxb335d]

You will love the 335d. A very capable car. Fast & reliable.

[briers]

Dealers are jacking the prices right up, i wouldn't pay over the odds at the dealers as come trade in you will get shafted.

Keep looking at the private market for a good example, low-ish mileage (under 60k) and put a BMW extended warranty on it. That way you will be covered and also minimise your depreciation.

Bear in mind the warranty gets more expensive when a car is over 60k.

Nothing much goes wrong on the d's. Perhaps the red flexi hose seals go, easy cheap fix, maybe the vacuum lines split or the pressure convertors on the turbo's sieze but should be covered under warranty, or a £600 bill. Apart from that just usual stuff.

[davyk31]

With that budget you won't have to go anywhere near 60k miles, I am currently thinking and looking around at selling my 2007 SE Coupe with 38k miles and you would get a lot of change back from your budget!

[acerboo]

Originally Posted by Ste133

Afternoon all,

So here goes my first post.

Ok, so I'm looking at purchasing a 335D coupe in the new year.

I've been looking around the forums for a few weeks now and there is plenty of information to digest.

At the moment I'm leaning towards the 335D SE model. I'm trying to understand what I should/should not be looking for on one of these cars. It looks like the BMW warranty is something that a lot of people talk about.

I've noticed that the second hand value of the cars without the Sat Nav/in dash display are a little cheaper. I will have around £18-20k to spend and I know I will be looking between 40-60K miles on one of these.

I'm in no rush to find a 335D, so I can take my time. I'm only looking at keeping the car for 12-18 months before I part with her and then I will be investing into a flat/house.

I'm looking forward to spending some more time on the forums.

All advice is welcome!

Cheers,
Steve

im thinking of selling mine as you cant pm if you call me 07704311507 i can give you the details

[uzi9mm]

isnt he looking to buy in the new year?

[acerboo]

Originally Posted by uzi9mm

isnt he looking to buy in the new year?

im not in a rush to sell

[Ste133]

Afternoon all,

Thanks to all who have replied. It's certainly an active forum.

I wasn't aware that there is a new nav system on the newer models. Is this a software difference only?

I will probably be doing less than 15k miles in the 18 months that I plan on having the car. My plan is to keep the car for up to 18 months, but I'm a little worried that I wont want to sell it.

davyk31 - Thanks for the info on the warranty.I think the warranty is definitely something I would look into for peace of mind.

Acarboo - thank you for your offer. I may try and give you a call this weekend if that's ok?

I'm still browsing the forums whenever I have a few minutes, but how easy is it to source a rear 'lip' spoiler (are these M3 spoilers)?

Also, are there any statistics anywhere for these cars? - How many 335D's have been made, what colours they have been made in etc etc...

Thanks,
Steve

[BGM]

Originally Posted by Ste133

Also, are there any statistics anywhere for these cars? - How many 335D's have been made, what colours they have been made in etc etc...

this is a good question, someone posted a great website recently where you can find cars that are about to go 'extinct'

[E902717]

Originally Posted by BGM

this is a good question, someone posted a great website recently where you can find cars that are about to go 'extinct'

http://howmanyleft.co.uk/

[Falmouthboy]

Originally Posted by Ste133

I wasn't aware that there is a new nav system on the newer models. Is this a software difference only?

I will probably be doing less than 15k miles in the 18 months that I plan on having the car. My plan is to keep the car for up to 18 months, but I'm a little worried that I wont want to sell it.

Steve

With the LCI BMW went to a Hard Drive for the Professional i-drive. This includes the ability to stor music in the car but you can't update the nav with a £30 disc bought off the internet any more! This also saw a 'sea change' in the user friendlyness of the system with the introduction of separate menu buttons around the main joy stick thingey. I have a 130i with the 'old' i-drive and a 330d with the 2009 version - a massive improvement! In terms of software, this is constantly being updated and a current car's i-drive has caoability that mine doesn't.

Turning to mileage - that's not many miles for the 'diesel/petrol' equation to come down on the side of diesel. Don't get me wrong - as my post history will show I am constantly amazed by our 330d and 335d will be better still. However, you will get far more 335i for the same money/or the same car as a 335i for far less. OK - a 335d may be easier to sell privately, but if you plan on trading it in that won't be an issue - yes the price you are offered will be lower, but will have been reflected in a lower purchase price in the first place so I wouldn't mind betting that overall the cost will be less (or no more). I'm not trying to change your mind, just ensure that you have not discounted a 335i out of hand without realising that it may be just as cost effective in the long term.

Also - these big diesels hate lots of short trips - if those 15k miles will not be represented by a short daily commute - fine.

[dxb335d]

They are not as bad on short trips as people say. Just long term the DPF may clog.

[acerboo]

Originally Posted by Ste133

Afternoon all,

Thanks to all who have replied. It's certainly an active forum.

I wasn't aware that there is a new nav system on the newer models. Is this a software difference only?

I will probably be doing less than 15k miles in the 18 months that I plan on having the car. My plan is to keep the car for up to 18 months, but I'm a little worried that I wont want to sell it.

davyk31 - Thanks for the info on the warranty.I think the warranty is definitely something I would look into for peace of mind.

Acarboo - thank you for your offer. I may try and give you a call this weekend if that's ok?

I'm still browsing the forums whenever I have a few minutes, but how easy is it to source a rear 'lip' spoiler (are these M3 spoilers)?

Also, are there any statistics anywhere for these cars? - How many 335D's have been made, what colours they have been made in etc etc...

Thanks,
Steve

one things for sure once youve driven a 335d you wont want to sell it! there are a variety of boot spoilers available for the e92 but i prefer to stick to bmw oem but you can look on ebay to see whats available i have sat nav in my 330i but prefer the tom tom

[Orchun]

Originally Posted by acerboo

im thinking of selling mine as you cant pm if you call me 07704311507 i can give you the details

hi there,
u still selling the car?

[SelSol]

My 335d is an early 2007, sat nav, xenons, 19's and I bought it with 37k for £19,995 (reduced from £23,995) back in feb from Coopers in Croydon, the BMW dealership there.

I wouldnt even consider a car like this from anywhere other than a main dealer, and for all those who say "yeah but you'll save at least a grand going private", consider that after a new diferential, new turbo, two sets of boost hoses, a new boost solenoid, rear alloy and several hire cars later, mine would have set me back some £7000....... so pay the premium, go to a dealer, get the AUC warranty.

Now I seem to have got a bit of a lemon, but after the first few weeks of grumbles, its now done another 8k issue free. So I cant help but think all the turbo issues were related and not solved correctly in the first instance.

As for the short trips, sounds like bollocks. I drive into cambridge everyday and then pootle about the town centre zipping from job to job, often only a mile or two at a time. Economy wise, if I drive it like I stole it (which is actually more difficult than you'd imagine because a brief squeeze of the loud pedal shoves it waaaaaaay past the legal limit) then it gets 28/9, but mostly I see 35/6. Thats a 20 mile commute into cambridge, and then about 40 miles daily of pootling about around town / suburbs.

As for the sat nav, meh, yes its a little slow and clunky as its DVD-ROM based, but the upshot if you're coming from a windscreen mounted one, is that you can easily drive and set it, so the fact it takes longer isn't really an issue.

For rear spoilers, have a look at SSDD, I bought their lip spoiler, pre-painted, and it was absolutely perfect. Six months down the line its still as good as OE.

Wierdly enough, I was all set up to buy a near identical car from Elms BMW in cambridge that had also been dropped from £24k to £20k the very same week. So its either co-incidence, or when cars get to X age the dealerships just cull them. £20k does seem to be the low point at which you'll find 335D's at dealerships, but they are there, so be patient.

What I would say, 19's, runflat tyres and M-sport suspension is fucking stiff. Stiff to the point that when you hit a pothole you pull that long face that says "fuck me that sounded expensive". I'd probably look at 18's instead.

[acerboo]

Originally Posted by Orchun

hi there,
u still selling the car?

yes but depends on price

[Ste133]

Hey guys,

Thanks again for all your advice.

I'm constantly on autotrader and pistonheads keeping an eye on what's available and how far my money might go in the new year.

SelSol - I appreciate your advice, thank you. I will keep it in mind that you may have had a bit of a lemon, but it's still an expensive car should anything go wrong. Depending on funds, I think buying from a dealer may still be the 'safer' option. However, I'm sure I could also buy private and there be nothing wrong with the car.

Is there a good time to buy from the dealers? End of the month when they are trying to hit their targets?

Time to go and spend some time browsing the forums....

Cheers,
Steve

[BGM]

buy it at xmas time, it's when i like to buy my cars

[SelSol]

Originally Posted by Ste133

SelSol - I appreciate your advice, thank you. I will keep it in mind that you may have had a bit of a lemon, but it's still an expensive car should anything go wrong. Depending on funds, I think buying from a dealer may still be the 'safer' option. However, I'm sure I could also buy private and there be nothing wrong with the car.

As an aside, if you go private, go over the alloys with a fine tooth comb, especially the 19's on the inside edge. cracking is all too common, and at £450 a throw for OE ones, it ain't cheap to replace them.....