[John 070]

Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8

I have owned 3 generations of Maxima's and all three needed expensive transmission rebuilds right around the 100k mark and AC compressor failures are also common and expensive. Great cars, but they too can have issues. I come from a Nissan family and they are reliable but the worst thing about them is resale.

Mine is a 5-spd, 4th gen, original clutch and tranny, no issues.

AC is still ice cold @ 250k (mine is low miles I saw 479k on the forum, and 300's all day long).

What's resale, it's been a DD for 18 years. The car has every option except automatic, and cost $22k new, worth it imho. My buddy got a 323i around the same time, and as you can guess, that car was scrapped many years ago. Body was mint, just everything else went to ****,,,,

[9krpmrx8]

Consider yourself lucky, I was involved with maxima's for many many years. My last one was a supercharged 2001 SE. Great cars but they come with their issues for sure. No problems yet with my 2011 335i.

[Kolyan2k]

I actually ended up getting M235i

[Taskmaster]

ISF

[9krpmrx8]

Have you driven an ISF? I test drove one a couple years ago and was unimpressed.

[John 070]

M2 is the answer...without even knowing the question...

[dannyle27]

Lets see... I bought the car last July bone stock with 63k. Some of this MAY be caused by the modding but I doubt it... Car has 69k now. FBO, Pure Stage 2, yada yada...

Bought Car July 2015- Started modding the very next week
Immediately- Exhaust flapper loose vibration (Disconnected, open)
August- Turbo oil return line leak (R&R)
September- Oil filter gasket leak (R&R)
Sep-Dec- Did not drive- deployment
February- Coolant expansion tank leak (R&R)
April- Valve cover/pcv valve squeal (R&R)

Not sure if I'm unlucky, but every other month, something comes up. Hopefully it ends here! *crossing fingers*

[John 070]

Originally Posted by dannyle27

Lets see... I bought the car last July bone stock with 63k. Some of this MAY be caused by the modding but I doubt it... Car has 69k now. FBO, Pure Stage 2, yada yada...

Bought Car July 2015- Started modding the very next week
Immediately- Exhaust flapper loose vibration (Disconnected, open)
August- Turbo oil return line leak (R&R)
September- Oil filter gasket leak (R&R)
Sep-Dec- Did not drive- deployment
February- Coolant expansion tank leak (R&R)
April- Valve cover/pcv valve squeal (R&R)

Not sure if I'm unlucky, but every other month, something comes up. Hopefully it ends here! *crossing fingers*

The DSC hydro pump failing will be a nice one....

[delmarco]

Originally Posted by bman5150

My n55 just got a replacement HPFP. Fixed the long extended starts that were becoming more and more frequent.

Vanos recall, battery recall, lighting module failure, lower steering shaft failure, oil filter housing gasket failure, air bag recall (current), radio/GPS unit failure....this is just the stuff I recall from memory. Fortunately, all items were replaced under the factory warranty or the CPO warranty. It has not been a reliable car. I love the look of the car though, and I'm hoping most of the bugs are worked out as my warranty expires in December. I just ordered a set of Bilstein HDs to help improve the very un-BMW like xdrive suspension. I think the only major concern I have left is a water pump failure. That hasn't bit the dust yet. Car has around 65,000 miles and is bone stock.

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!

That is a lot of issues.

Going from the responses in this thread it seems the N55 won't give you issues if you don't drive it like The Transporter and tune it out like Fast & Furious.

But I always wondered why is the N55 more stable in a 5 series or X5/X3 or just about every other car with an N55 than the E90!???

You just never hear these issues on those forums that we hear here! Even the current 2016 Z4 E89 still uses a bombproof N54 and you never hear those drivers getting stuck on the side of the road.

So what is it with the E90 3 series?

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8

Have you driven an ISF? I test drove one a couple years ago and was unimpressed.

Yes. I liked it. Might not be as sporty as even 235 but I always wanted na v8

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by John 070

M2 is the answer...without even knowing the question...

Wanted to save some money....paying MSRP or above for m2 is not my style (my wallet is not fat enough)

[Brettb1234]

Originally Posted by delmarco

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!

That is a lot of issues.

Going from the responses in this thread it seems the N55 won't give you issues if you don't drive it like The Transporter and tune it out like Fast & Furious.

But I always wondered why is the N55 more stable in a 5 series or X5/X3 or just about every other car with an N55 than the E90!???

You just never hear these issues on those forums that we hear here! Even the current 2016 Z4 E89 still uses a bombproof N54 and you never hear those drivers getting stuck on the side of the road.

So what is it with the E90 3 series?

I think a combination of the following:

People that drive 3 series are more likely enthusiasts and more likely to post on sites like these with their problems as opposed to people that drive 5 series, X5/X3, etc.

There are probably also a lot more 3 series cars are there with N55's than there are Z4's or even X series, not sure about 5 series. This is just my speculation of course.

I've had my N55 for a year and have had no issues other than the engine shutting off for no reason while idling at a stop in neutral, just turned it back on...

[maddmatth]

Had mine for nearly a year, and done just over 10 000km. Bought it at 128 000 and it's passed 138 000 now.

Few months in I got software updates and had the PPK flashed. I also noticed a slow coolant leak. Goes from the max marker to min within 4 weeks.

Few months later the charge pipe blew up (couldn't handle the PPK I guess). Went into the shop to have the chargepipe installed (well, the aftermarket warranty company needed to believe the shop installed it, they wouldn't be happy knowing I did).
I got them to track the coolant leak, they had to leave pressurized overnight. Found a small leak from the WP so replaced it and the thermostat.

Over the next few months I have noticed it is still losing coolant at the same rate. So nearly 1 year with this little leak, who knows how long it's really had this.
I also noticed one of my shocks is leaking, but that's aftermarket anyway (KW V2 coilovers)
So I've got her first service scheduled in mid June, where they will try to track down the coolant loss again, and rebuild the damper if I can get the parts from KW.

So, not too bad I guess. The blown up charge pipe did put me in a crap situation as it was 2.5 hours from home as I was heading out for a long weekend trip with my girlfriend. Left it at a workshop out there and booked a rental.
After the weekend I tried to source a new charge pipe with my car still left out of town. Nobody in New Zealand had one. So I drove all the way back out in the rental car, with some duct tape, struggled to patch it up, and limped it back home. It popped off once on the way home so pulled into a petrol station to apply more tape.

Ordered a BMS/CPE pipe online which arrived a week later. Damn lucky I found the c-clip behind the engine on an undertray so didn't need to find a new one. Installed it without the o-ring because they don't include one and mine was gone. And guess what, nobody in NZ has them in stock either, and no the oil filter one doesn't fit.
So ordered one from the local BMW dealer who had to order this one measly o-ring from Germany, so 2 weeks later it arrives and I take everything apart to install a damn o-ring.

So yea some issues, one of which was a pain in the ass, and some fun times.

[Frost17]

Owned my n55 for two years now. Reliable, no complaints.

[danayoub]

I drove a Cayman S MT the other day - extremely fun car

[maxihari]

good opinions good reasoning.

I love my 335i, though I've only had it for a short time.

As far as next fun car,
new Camaro V8, new Mustang V8.
Stick shift again.

[Kolyan2k]

When do you replace your plugs people? Do they really last 60k on N55?

Also what about manual tranny and diff fluids? BMW saying LSD are lifetime fills....

[aohus]

Am i an outlier?

Aside from the HPFP issue (which pretty much every N54 has had issues with), the car has been flawless. Not one iota of an issue. Granted I've been running it stock for 5.5+ years and had only 57k miles on it but it's been working fine for me thus far.

[9krpmrx8]

I have not had any problems with mine other than normal wear and tear such as brakes, and battery. Oh wait, my coolant reservoir started leaking but that was $100.00 at the dealer and took all of 10 minutes to replace.

[5tony]

I have two 2011 e90s. One with the n55 and one with an n52. Both cars have similar miles on them. The n55 has been totally reliable. The n52 has had codes pop up for misfires requiring new coils and spark plugs and for the eccentric shaft sensor, requiring removal of the valve cover to replace.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Like a brick shithouse engine wise. Don't ask me about my hardtop

[mashimarho]

Still going strong