Buying 2007 328i

Telfy29 · 07-14-2020, 02:06 PM

I bought a 2008 328i (75k miles) practically right out of highschool, had it about a year and a half now. I don't exactly regret it but I have had tons of cooling issues, multiple hoses have burst and my radiator has had a few leaks. For the most part as long as you do your research most of these issues are you can fix with a few hours in the garage so you can avoid being over-charged at the dealership. Generally speaking I love the car but im looking to hopefully move on with something with a bit more power.

freakystyly · 07-14-2020, 02:47 PM

Aside from the odd pricey part, this is a good platform to learn a little DIY on. There's a healthy community on the forums, the vast majority of problems you may run into have likely been discussed multiple times and of course tons of youtube videos.

If you can't afford a day or two downtime in the shop (or your garage), a 10-15 yr old car may not be a great idea in general. Not that they happen often, just that they can happen unexpectedly. Especially if you don't know what to look/listen for. If you buy a poor example of a car, you may not notice when something goes wrong if it always has been wrong...

Gamb1t · 07-14-2020, 03:09 PM

Since the 2007 328i is pre LCI, u are better off buying a 330i instead. More power and same reliability.
N54 is a money pit just to cover the basic survival costs let alone starting to mod it.
Your money is best saved for college.

nsjames · 07-14-2020, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gamb1t

Since the 2007 328i is pre LCI, u are better off buying a 330i instead. More power and same reliability.
N54 is a money pit just to cover the basic survival costs let alone starting to mod it.
Your money is best saved for college.

it's pretty easy to make a 328 a 330.

but if I were shopping pre lci cars i'd make sure it wasn't idrive.

or I'd plan on retrofitting it to cic at the very least.

ccc idrive is painful these days.

solo118 · 07-15-2020, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsjames

it's pretty easy to make a 328 a 330.

but if I were shopping pre lci cars i'd make sure it wasn't idrive.

or I'd plan on retrofitting it to cic at the very least.

ccc idrive is painful these days.

What is wrong with the CCC idrive? I mean for the most part, nobody uses navigation or the other core functions. I would only imagine it is being used for radio/ipod use and that would be it.

I am hoping to pick up an e92 this week, and really just curious if idrive would be a serious con that would make someone pass on buying a particular car.

nsjames · 07-15-2020, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solo118

What is wrong with the CCC idrive? I mean for the most part, nobody uses navigation or the other core functions. I would only imagine it is being used for radio/ipod use and that would be it.

I am hoping to pick up an e92 this week, and really just curious if idrive would be a serious con that would make someone pass on buying a particular car.

I would rather a car without than deal with the automotive equivalent of win95.

cic is light years ahead. which is why I spent the money and time to upgrade to cic, even though it's dated as well it's still a decade of better software than ccc.

hassmaschine · 07-15-2020, 11:02 AM

I don't know about on the E90, but on our X5 the CCC stereo sounds like ass, especially the FM tuner.

I'd rather go without regardless of generation though, but CCC is pretty useless. Why does it take 5 extra steps to change the clock in iDrive vs doing it with the turn signal stalk in 2 button presses?

nsjames · 07-15-2020, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

I don't know about on the E90, but on our X5 the CCC stereo sounds like ass, especially the FM tuner.

I'd rather go without regardless of generation though, but CCC is pretty useless. Why does it take 5 extra steps to change the clock in iDrive vs doing it with the turn signal stalk in 2 button presses?

I can still change the clock using the kombi and bc button, regardless of ccc or cic idrive.

but I agree, i'd rather not have in this generaton of car.

upgrading to cic is the only way to make it tolerable, and opens up a combox retrofit for native bluetooth.
at least now I have current maps.
since ccc maps stopped in 2015.

I don't like using my phone for navigation, there's an 8" display in the dash that i would rather use.

edit:
and for sure the audio is better from the cic unit. I don't know how or why since it's supposed to all be digital and dsp processed in the amp, but for sure it sounds better, even though I've now lost the ability to put the logic 7 into different theater and concert modes.

hassmaschine · 07-16-2020, 10:54 AM

The X5 never came without iDrive, so they disabled all the functionality of the Kombi. You *have* to do it through the screen.

mecheng77 · 07-16-2020, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

Quote:

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Your post struck a nerve. Back in 2011, I was the first E90 Forum member to post about the water pump having "trouble codes". I discovered the trouble codes in May 2011 a few months after first got my Bavarian Tech scan tool in late 2010 (IIRC). I found the 2E81 slow speed code, but at the time had no understanding of what it meant; no one did. Below are my notes from my maintenance spreadsheet that led me to understand the codes are an early warning sign of pump failure (for the N52). Back in 2011, the only info on the E92 water pump was a post by JamesUK who did a quasi DIY on replacing the pump. Once my pump had failed in July 2011, I posted a full DIY on replacing the WP and T-stat under my old forum account "Eninty" in August 2011. My T-stat had started throwing the 2EF4 code as early as October 2010; I eventually replaced the T-stat in February 2011 a few months before the WP died.

Like I sated, the revised pump has lasted in my car nearly twice as long as the original part. What is more important, is my E90 is part of my daily fleet (I drive it now only twice a week) and I've run the same, long commute for almost 13 years with the car, so as a "test bed", my car a good example for evaluating E9X failures. Meaning I've run the new pump pretty in the exact same commute scenario as the original pump.

Regarding the WP P/N, all you need to do is go to realoem.com, look up the WP p/n and then review the superseding part numbers information. It shows the pump was revised in April 2008 (going from memory).

I've posted this a couple times, but I can make the pump errors trigger a CEL, instead of being hidden unless you scan the car. I've done this for my own cars as well as every one I've tuned. So at least when the pump is starting to fail, you have a warning - rather than it seemingly being a sudden failure, which it it not. There are signs and warnings, and the DME tracks pump performance constantly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

Quote:

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Your post struck a nerve. Back in 2011, I was the first E90 Forum member to post about the water pump having "trouble codes". I discovered the trouble codes in May 2011 a few months after first got my Bavarian Tech scan tool in late 2010 (IIRC). I found the 2E81 slow speed code, but at the time had no understanding of what it meant; no one did. Below are my notes from my maintenance spreadsheet that led me to understand the codes are an early warning sign of pump failure (for the N52). Back in 2011, the only info on the E92 water pump was a post by JamesUK who did a quasi DIY on replacing the pump. Once my pump had failed in July 2011, I posted a full DIY on replacing the WP and T-stat under my old forum account "Eninty" in August 2011. My T-stat had started throwing the 2EF4 code as early as October 2010; I eventually replaced the T-stat in February 2011 a few months before the WP died.

Like I sated, the revised pump has lasted in my car nearly twice as long as the original part. What is more important, is my E90 is part of my daily fleet (I drive it now only twice a week) and I've run the same, long commute for almost 13 years with the car, so as a "test bed", my car a good example for evaluating E9X failures. Meaning I've run the new pump pretty in the exact same commute scenario as the original pump.

Regarding the WP P/N, all you need to do is go to realoem.com, look up the WP p/n and then review the superseding part numbers information. It shows the pump was revised in April 2008 (going from memory).

I've posted this a couple times, but I can make the pump errors trigger a CEL, instead of being hidden unless you scan the car. I've done this for my own cars as well as every one I've tuned. So at least when the pump is starting to fail, you have a warning - rather than it seemingly being a sudden failure, which it it not. There are signs and warnings, and the DME tracks pump performance constantly.

Can you link to the post you made about this I'd be very interested in trying this. Thanks

nsjames · 07-16-2020, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

The X5 never came without iDrive, so they disabled all the functionality of the Kombi. You *have* to do it through the screen.

very boo.

07-14-2020, 02:06 PM	#23
Telfy29 Registered 0 Rep 4 Posts Drives: 2008 BMW 328i Join Date: Jul 2020 Location: SoCal iTrader: (0)	I bought a 2008 328i (75k miles) practically right out of highschool, had it about a year and a half now. I don't exactly regret it but I have had tons of cooling issues, multiple hoses have burst and my radiator has had a few leaks. For the most part as long as you do your research most of these issues are you can fix with a few hours in the garage so you can avoid being over-charged at the dealership. Generally speaking I love the car but im looking to hopefully move on with something with a bit more power.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-14-2020, 02:47 PM	#24
freakystyly Lieutenant Colonel 2934 Rep 1,792 Posts Drives: F22 B58 6MT Join Date: May 2016 Location: Ontario iTrader: (0)	Aside from the odd pricey part, this is a good platform to learn a little DIY on. There's a healthy community on the forums, the vast majority of problems you may run into have likely been discussed multiple times and of course tons of youtube videos. If you can't afford a day or two downtime in the shop (or your garage), a 10-15 yr old car may not be a great idea in general. Not that they happen often, just that they can happen unexpectedly. Especially if you don't know what to look/listen for. If you buy a poor example of a car, you may not notice when something goes wrong if it always has been wrong...
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-14-2020, 03:09 PM	#25
Gamb1t Major 598 Rep 1,343 Posts Drives: 330i,X1,Z4,Solstice GXP, RX-8 Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Canukistan iTrader: (0)	Since the 2007 328i is pre LCI, u are better off buying a 330i instead. More power and same reliability. N54 is a money pit just to cover the basic survival costs let alone starting to mod it. Your money is best saved for college.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-15-2020, 11:02 AM	#29
hassmaschine Major General 3966 Rep 7,215 Posts Drives: "NBO" 330i Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: earth iTrader: (0)	I don't know about on the E90, but on our X5 the CCC stereo sounds like ass, especially the FM tuner. I'd rather go without regardless of generation though, but CCC is pretty useless. Why does it take 5 extra steps to change the clock in iDrive vs doing it with the turn signal stalk in 2 button presses?
	Appreciate 0 Quote

07-16-2020, 10:54 AM	#31
hassmaschine Major General 3966 Rep 7,215 Posts Drives: "NBO" 330i Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: earth iTrader: (0)	The X5 never came without iDrive, so they disabled all the functionality of the Kombi. You have to do it through the screen.
	Appreciate 0 Quote