[bushwa]

Need a sanity check. Had my E90 330i (Sport, 6MT) for about 1.5years now. Love driving it. It's my daily commuter. It's had recent WP/thermostat, OFHG, VANO's solenoids, accessory belt/tensioner, and have valve cover, and oil pan gaskets in hand to be done in the next few months. It runs mint, looks mint, and I have a winter wheel/tire set for when the snow comes, as we do get that here in Alberta, Canada.

I'm considering selling/trading for an SUV. Here's why, have dog, have 6yo kid, like mtb biking, and dual sport/dirt biking. Kid has a dirt bike as well. A SUV would allow me to carry my mountain bike, kids bike, or my dirt bike on the hitch, with kids in the back, and do less riding to the trails. I do use the wife's suv on the weekends for this kind of stuff with the family, but can't trade during the week as she doesn't like driving the manual trans. A SUV would also make a better commuter in the winter.

I think I'll miss the BMW however. :-(

[CTinline-six]

A 330i 6MT will likely be a very hard if not impossible car to replace. If you have the room would it be an option to keep it as a third?

[bushwa]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

A 330i 6MT will likely be a very hard if not impossible car to replace. If you have the room would it be an option to keep it as a third?

Ya, that's my dilemma. A cheap winter beater suv/truck would be good to have around, but with 3 motorcycles, (including the kids), and another planned for spring 2018, we don't have room to keep 3, 4-wheeled vehicles around.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

A 330i 6MT will likely be a very hard if not impossible car to replace. If you have the room would it be an option to keep it as a third?

Exactly, it's not worth all that much, and if well maintained (sounds like it), then quite difficult to replace. The car is in a sweet spot where imho it has more intrinsic value that the dollars would indicate. I would say figure out a way to keep and get the SUV as well. Maybe the SUV has to be less expensive, etc.

[F30lolz]

I agree with all the above. You’ve invested time and money by replacing key components and 6MT’s are becoming scarce by the day and you’ll regret selling it down the line. My wife is the same, won’t drive the MT. Divorce?

[atmosphericM]

If I were you I'd be pushing the wife to be a real driver with that 6MT. lol I kid I kid... we can't all be so lucky

330's can handle a trailer hitch and some weight, no problem. Would that work?

[bushwa]

Originally Posted by atmosphericM

If I were you I'd be pushing the wife to be a real driver with that 6MT. lol I kid I kid... we can't all be so lucky

330's can handle a trailer hitch and some weight, no problem. Would that work?

That's a good idea. Bike and carrier weigh ~300#'s, so that's possibly a bit much to cantilever off the back. I do have a small enclosed cargo trailer in storage, it's ~1,200 lbs empty, and I'd only ever have 600# max in the trailer, so maybe that's a good option. Had a look, Uhaul has one listed, but only a 1000# rating. Anyone know of another hitch option for an E90 sedan?

Thanks!

[Echoninety]

Don't sell it!

[hassmaschine]

Curt sells a hitch kit for the E90, it's 200lb tongue weight / 2000lbs IIRC. I used it with a pretty heavy bike rack no problem - but a small trailer would be better IMO.

https://www.amazon.com/CURT-11033-Cl.../dp/B004IY5FZY

Had the same hitch on our E91.

[atmosphericM]

Phyrexia

[bushwa]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

Curt sells a hitch kit for the E90, it's 200lb tongue weight / 2000lbs IIRC. I used it with a pretty heavy bike rack no problem - but a small trailer would be better IMO.

https://www.amazon.com/CURT-11033-Cl.../dp/B004IY5FZY

Had the same hitch on our E91.

Hmmm. When I enter 2006 330i, says it doesn't fit? Did you use this particular hitch on an E90?

[hassmaschine]

yeah, if you read the reviews/comments, it fits fine specifically on the 330i. Our E91 was an '06 and it bolted right up (IIRC it also says it doesn't fit the '06 E91). There's no difference in the rear bumper mounting - the 07s are identical to the 06 except for the engines.

[bushwa]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

yeah, if you read the reviews/comments, it fits fine specifically on the 330i. Our E91 was an '06 and it bolted right up (IIRC it also says it doesn't fit the '06 E91). There's no difference in the rear bumper mounting - the 07s are identical to the 06 except for the engines.

Thanks!

[city1991]

Originally Posted by bushwa

Need a sanity check. Had my E90 330i (Sport, 6MT) for about 1.5years now. Love driving it. It's my daily commuter. It's had recent WP/thermostat, OFHG, VANO's solenoids, accessory belt/tensioner, and have valve cover, and oil pan gaskets in hand to be done in the next few months. It runs mint, looks mint, and I have a winter wheel/tire set for when the snow comes, as we do get that here in Alberta, Canada.

I'm considering selling/trading for an SUV. Here's why, have dog, have 6yo kid, like mtb biking, and dual sport/dirt biking. Kid has a dirt bike as well. A SUV would allow me to carry my mountain bike, kids bike, or my dirt bike on the hitch, with kids in the back, and do less riding to the trails. I do use the wife's suv on the weekends for this kind of stuff with the family, but can't trade during the week as she doesn't like driving the manual trans. A SUV would also make a better commuter in the winter.

I think I'll miss the BMW however. :-(

You'll regret selling it, won't get as much as you want, and they are getting super hard to find.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

I agree with all the above. You’ve invested time and money by replacing key components and 6MT’s are becoming scarce by the day and you’ll regret selling it down the line. My wife is the same, won’t drive the MT. Divorce?

haha my wife used to prefer a manual, we only had 2 manual cars in 2007 when I got the 335i. Then in 2011 we got a SUV made by GM, and she got all soccer mom'd out! She now prefers automatic, I can't believe it! After that, in 2016, we got a used Lexus for a total of 4 cars, and she still perfers her car or the Lexus, i.e. automatic!

OP, don't let this happen in your household, you owe it to the car driving society to keep the 330!

[bushwa]

Originally Posted by city1991

You'll regret selling it, won't get as much as you want, and they are getting super hard to find.

Problem solved for about 150 bucks. Curt hitch ordered from eBay. :-)

[hassmaschine]

Originally Posted by John 070

haha my wife used to prefer a manual, we only had 2 manual cars in 2007 when I got the 335i. Then in 2011 we got a SUV made by GM, and she got all soccer mom'd out! She now prefers automatic, I can't believe it! After that, in 2016, we got a used Lexus for a total of 4 cars, and she still perfers her car or the Lexus, i.e. automatic!

OP, don't let this happen in your household, you owe it to the car driving society to keep the 330!

my wife is the opposite - she has an X5 6at, but prefers my 330i 6mt - so I get stuck with the X5.

[Jashan90]

Don't sell your 330i idiot. That's my best try

[Jashan90]

I mean, if you can just keep and get an suv anyhow. You won't get much by selling a 330i. I have a manual 330i as well and as rare as they are you won't be looking at getting more than 7k for it. It does look like you have your mind set on it though, in that case just do what your gut says. I will tell you that within a few months you WILL MISS it a lot because I have been through that phase of having different cars and I always end up going back. After I bought mine that's what I told myself. "I'm going to drive it until the wheels fall off". They're the most fun and reliable of its kind. It's fun and tossable along with all the comfort. Consider roof racks for the bikes maybe?

[ryan stewart]

[tlow98]

How many days out of the year do you actually find this to be an inconvenience?

The tow stuff that has posted is spot on.

[srey]

This situation is what winter beater Subarus were made for. Find a $2000 Legacy wagon in good condition and use that. You probably won't be able to haul your dirt bike on a hitch rack, but it will do everything else. Sure, you'll spend more in terms of insurance and registration, but you'll also put less miles on both cars individually. If you can't buy a beater then you'll have to measure what's most important to you. If you get rid of the e90 at least you know that they are dirt cheap when you want to get back into the performance sedan game.