[cahme]

I bought my 2011 335i in Oct 2015 with 113k miles and it now has 172k miles.
I'm 40 something and never been brand loyal, except for the Vette, but have always prioritized stick shift and RWD in my cars with the fewer seats the better and mostly bought American with a couple Japanese sprinkled in. I only considered the BMW as I needed to drive the 4-door car for the first time in my life and the options are pretty slim. I considered a CTS-V, Pontiac G8, Chevy SS (OK, I at least have a GM bias) then BMW and was starting to look to MB as well. Really, the choices are limited ...

I never expected to really like this car and it completely caught me off guard how much I actually love this car, even 4 years later. It is also probably the easiest car to work on that I've owned, and I've done plenty of wrenching on it

Here is my summary:
Non wear items which have gone bad (never left me stranded or need tow)
- 114k: charge pipe
- 120k: Coolant Expansion tank (leaked at seams)
- 124k: Boost Solenoid (wasn't hitting boost target .. this didn't completely fix it, but did solve the code (2C58)
- 125k: Diverter valve blew and I replaced it with a DV+ .. this fixed the boost target issue
- 126k: HPFP; was able to drive home but car ran awful with misfires on all cyl
- 131k: TPMS sensors; one had low battery causing light after 15 min of driving (changed out with tires)
- 131k, OFHG; found trace of oil residue in coolant
- 147k: Starter; just quit out of the blue, manual transmissions rule!
- 150k: precat O2 sensor (2D0D code)
- 161k: shredded belt, broken PS pulley, new motor mounts
- 166k: Radiator slight crack at upper hose neck
- 168k: OFHG; didn't use BMW gasket first time?
- 169k: Valvetronic Motor (and VCG)
- 171k: AC compressor due to pulley flying off

Wear/Maintenance Major stuff .. not counting lights, tires, etc
- Oil/Filter every 5k-7k miles
- 113k: intake valve cleaning, all fluids
- 117k: spark plugs, belt, tensioner & idler pulleys
- 118k: clutch, pressure plate, RMS (kept stock flywheel)
- 118.1k: Rear Transmission seal; leaked 2 weeks after clutch swap
- 128k: VCG & spark plug insert gasket (removed injectors); VCG wasn't leaking, chasing what ended up being nothing
- 140k: shocks/struts & bushings, front wheel bearings
- 144k: Plugs/coils, coils were original & dated 2010
- 160k: Front rotors / pads, Battery
- 167k: Rod bearings, OPG; OPG had slight leak and was paranoid about rod bearings .. all looked really good

A couple of other notes from what I know from previous owner:
- Vanos bolts (& VCG) done twice; once before recall & again for recall
- PS pump @ 70k
- Water Pump & OFHG @ 100k (OFHG bits in water, pump still was running fine)

Looking at the list, that looks alot worse than it feels
Also, I did everything myself except for tires and most of the parts are from FCP Euro, so replacements are free (and hopefully not needed)

I'm completely floored at how much I still love this car. Plan was to keep it 5 years (200k mi), but who knows now!

Oh, my son bought a '07 Z4 Coupe for a song as well and now I've got a combination GM/BMW bias

[JUMAS]

Very nice.

[Fredo]

That sounds great. I bet you make it to 200k easily.

[Fritzer]

Originally Posted by cahme

I'm 40 something and never been brand loyal

Originally Posted by cahme

except for the Vette...

...I considered a CTS-V, Pontiac G8, Chevy SS

Originally Posted by cahme

Oh, my son bought a '07 Z4 Coupe for a song as well

Could you extrapolate on this?

[M40i4me]

178,000 here and still running strong. I am in the same boat as you still loving this car.

[cahme]

Not sure why partially quoting when I clearly admitted to having a GM bias... Truth is I've bought Chevy, Pontiac, Ford, Jeep, Mazda, & Honda cars with Honda being my only foray with FWD. I think I'm being very fair to say I don't have brand loyalty.

As for the Z4, here is the initial post with a few pics:
https://www.zpost.com/forums/showpost.php?p=22781164

and, here's the longer story:
https://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1480229