[nycibbyryder]

Hey Guys,
I know this has been beaten to death, but most of the threads are 3-5 years old on this topic, so I'm hoping for some fresh advice now that the N55 has been out for a few years.

- How does the N54 compare to the N55 as far as Maintenance and Reliability?

- What kinds of things can you expect to go wrong from 40,000-100,000 miles?

- And finally, should I buy a 2009 335i 6MT (N54) with 40k miles on it now, or should I wait to buy a 2011 335i 6MT (N55)?

I'm hoping that with newer aftermarket parts out now, I could replace whatever goes wrong on the N54 with better, more reliable parts that won't break down. I do know the HPFP has a 120,000 mile warranty on it, and since this is at 40k it should have a warranty still.

HELP ME DECIDE

[jeddo45]

OP it really depends on what you plan on doing with the car. If your happy with 300 HP and don't plan on modding it too much, I'd say go for the N55 335i. But if your looking to do some major mods for power gains, the N54 335i no doubt. Depends on what you want.

[Unknown_Car]

Originally Posted by jeddo45

OP it really depends on what you plan on doing with the car. If your happy with 300 HP and don't plan on modding it too much, I'd say go for the N55 335i. But if your looking to do some major mods for power gains, the N54 335i no doubt. Depends on what you want.

Agreed. Even tho n55 can make some power, but nothing like a n54.

[Sgop335]

N(54)o brainer

[Rsoxs19]

N54 all the way

[techwhiz]

N54. The car will be less expensive and save the money so you have it if something goes wrong.

[nycibbyryder]

I'm really interested in reliability. I'll most likely do a tune and charge pipe but that's about it (at least for now). I'd want something that's gonna last til 100k without me replacing injectors. I have no problem doing my own work though for maintenance. I have a 2011 328i now that I'm gonna give to my girl once I decide which 335i to get.

[nycibbyryder]

A CIC iDrive will likely happen, unless I say screw it and just throw in a Dynavin N6. But that doesn't have anything to do with the motor.

[nycibbyryder]

What have you had to fix, and what motor?

[Eddien123]

N55. You don't plan on modding that much. No need to buy the older, less reliable engine.

[EB89]

N55 is better in all ways except 2

1 - It's more expensive as it's newer
2 - Not as much high end performance potential

That said power wise you can stick with stock power, go FBO or put a big single, it's not like you can't have a huge power N55 car. You just won't have the biggest.

The car is newer, headlights, tail light, interior, CIC iDrive etc are all better.

It's more reliable, lots of the N54 problems were fixed, it still has problems as all cars do.

Honestly with N55 MHD and the variety of Turbo upgrade now available for N55, the whole "N54 is faster" arguement is becoming weaker and weaker.

Of course, if you want a cheap fast car and want to dump money into performance, an N54 is the choice to make, big power for small cost.

335is with the LCI body and N54 engine is best of both worlds

[EB89]

Originally Posted by nycibbyryder

I'm really interested in reliability. I'll most likely do a tune and charge pipe but that's about it (at least for now). I'd want something that's gonna last til 100k without me replacing injectors. I have no problem doing my own work though for maintenance. I have a 2011 328i now that I'm gonna give to my girl once I decide which 335i to get.

I would get an N55 335i M-sport or an N54 335is

And go 2012 or newer

You won't like the step back to a pre LCI car in terms of the interior and iDrive
No reason to step back if FBO is your goal

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Originally Posted by EB89

N55 is better in all ways except 2

1 - It's more expensive as it's newer
2 - Not as much high end performance potential

That said power wise you can stick with stock power, go FBO or put a big single, it's not like you can't have a huge power N55 car. You just won't have the biggest.

The car is newer, headlights, tail light, interior, CIC iDrive etc are all better.

It's more reliable, lots of the N54 problems were fixed, it still has problems as all cars do.

Honestly with N55 MHD and the variety of Turbo upgrade now available for N55, the whole "N54 is faster" arguement is becoming weaker and weaker.

Of course, if you want a cheap fast car and want to dump money into performance, an N54 is the choice to make, big power for small cost.

335is with the LCI body and N54 engine is best of both worlds

This is absolutely becoming more and more true, every day.. And this coming from a happy N54 6mt Coupe owner lol...
As all the N55 issues continue to be worked on and figured out, it makes more sense for most people to just get an N55 car.
IF you only plan on doing basic mods - up to FBO level of modding.

Some things that are changing this are coming out pretty quickly. The ecu can be flashed now. Combine that with a jb4 stacked, it seems to be a great combo. They respond well to FBO mods. The stock turbo on the N55 is definitely going to become your power limiting factor much quicker vs the stock twin turbo's on the N54's. That being said the stock turbo on the N55 is a high quality Borg Warner Twin Scroll Single Turbo. It spool's up quickly and sounds really good.

The stock twin turbo's on the N54 are made by Mitsubishi and are good turbos also. The WG issue is unacceptable to me though. How Mitsu and BMW both didn't catch this problem, is beyond me...

I also think a lot of blown turbos on N54s is bc of the WG system. It doesnt seal properly after it wears and lets the turbo spool up to ridiculous speeds to reach target boost psi bc half the air is going out of the WG flapper that isn't fully closed. Also its based on a TD03 frame size turbo, which is cost cutting on either or both sides, and causes all these problems on upgraded twin turbos for N54s.
The bearing housing is just wayy to small for the application and power level they can reach with TD04HL size wheels readily available and easily fit to stock frame turbo's.
Mitsubishi is a HUGE turbo manufacturer and I am dissapointed we got screwed, bc they know what theyre doing, i have a feeling the cost allowed by BMW was too low and corner's were cut. But that's a whole other topic..

A PPK N55 also sounds better vs a stock twin turbo N54. I know a lot will agree with me aswell, but a single turbo N54 is just pure awesomeness lol..

There are upgraded turbo options for the N55 already so you could always change that out and be good prob to the current N55 whp limit. But again what is that? 600whp? 500whp? That's not a slow car lol.

Especially with MHD available for the E9x N55. That was huge. It might not be drastically different for mhd tune vs jb4 right now, but thats not the whole picture. Being able to modify stock ecu tables and reflash so easily and reliably with MHD.

(which is incredible in its own right when it came out for N54. Direct DME flashing using an android tablet, a $30 USB K/D-Can Cable, $5 OTG adapter, and doing this all dirrectly thru the OBD2 Port with no other mods to the car).

[Unknown_Car]

Originally Posted by EB89

N55 is better in all ways except 2

1 - It's more expensive as it's newer
2 - Not as much high end performance potential

That said power wise you can stick with stock power, go FBO or put a big single, it's not like you can't have a huge power N55 car. You just won't have the biggest.
The car is newer, headlights, tail light, interior, CIC iDrive etc are all better.

It's more reliable, lots of the N54 problems were fixed, it still has problems as all cars do.

Honestly with N55 MHD and the variety of Turbo upgrade now available for N55, the whole "N54 is faster" arguement is becoming weaker and weaker.

Of course, if you want a cheap fast car and want to dump money into performance, an N54 is the choice to make, big power for small cost.

335is with the LCI body and N54 engine is best of both worlds

Your 100% wrong. 2011 and 2009 e90 335i are the same headlights same bumpers, same hood, same tail lights, same interior. Only difference is the motor. If he was looking for a 2012 and up then yes the car would be all different, but he is still looking for the e90 body style. And 09+ are lci model's so they are the same.

[WhiteBeard]

Originally Posted by nycibbyryder

Hey Guys,
I know this has been beaten to death, but most of the threads are 3-5 years old on this topic, so I'm hoping for some fresh advice now that the N55 has been out for a few years.

- How does the N54 compare to the N55 as far as Maintenance and Reliability?

- What kinds of things can you expect to go wrong from 40,000-100,000 miles?

- And finally, should I buy a 2009 335i 6MT (N54) with 40k miles on it now, or should I wait to buy a 2011 335i 6MT (N55)?

I'm hoping that with newer aftermarket parts out now, I could replace whatever goes wrong on the N54 with better, more reliable parts that won't break down. I do know the HPFP has a 120,000 mile warranty on it, and since this is at 40k it should have a warranty still.

HELP ME DECIDE

n55 is a lot more reliable. If F30 n55 is any indication - issues like leaking gaskets, injectors, turbos etc are not plaguing n55 as they are n54

Just wait till you can afford n55, especially so because no aftermarket parts address n54 issues and if for almost 10 years there are no solutions - none will exist I suspect

[EB89]

Originally Posted by Roma_335i

Your 100% wrong. 2011 and 2009 e90 335i are the same headlights same bumpers, same hood, same tail lights, same interior. Only difference is the motor. If he was looking for a 2012 and up then yes the car would be all different, but he is still looking for the e90 body style. And 09+ are lci model's so they are the same.

Ahh sorry I missed the e90 part of this!

I was talking the e92 shape

[nycibbyryder]

Thanks for all the input guys. I'll definitely wait for a 2011 335i to pop up on my cars.com search. There was one in Boston recently that was perfect but it got sold the day before I called. I'll be here for the next one that comes up. I wouldn't mind an F30, but the prices are much higher than E90, honestly I like them both about the same (E90 vs F30) if you're talking about the same motor anyway. I'm not sure what the differences in iDrive are, but I'm sure it's not worth the extra $5k+ I'd have to shell out for one.

[a6e]

So I know this is 2 years old but, if you went through with the n55, how has it held up? Looking into one myself

[winjury]

Originally Posted by a6e

So I know this is 2 years old but, if you went through with the n55, how has it held up? Looking into one myself

I can comment on the one I have owned for a year now 2011 e90 n55 sedan RWD Auto.
I wanted a fun car that handles well and it has to have 4 doors. I also wanted a new project car to "mod" and have some fun with. After reading about a 2013 F 335, and a 2011 E 335 by Car and Driver, I went with the 2011 based on how they said its a "drivers car" and went into great detail on how the E handles much better then the F.
I currently have Full bolt ons (including all intercooler piping) all done in my shop, tuned by ken with wedge (on MHD platform), pure stage 2 turbo and inlet, dv valve, stage 2 LPFP, helix overdrive for HPFP (to run 100% e85 when I want to), stoptech Big brake kit and PE on the back (I didn’t want any drone from exhaust... and I think that’s it. Pulls like a freight train All the way to redline and can be used as a daily driver. I get 20mpg and nothing can keep up with me when I have the need for speed. Lol.

Downsides:

Bmw crappy cup holders are just a mess and their radio being a big part of the electronics of the car pretty much means you are stuck with the head unit.

Side note- maintenance is expensive, just keep that in mind. I forget where it was from, but the BMW 335i is the most expensive car to maintain.
Hope this helps.