[335DieselPower]

Originally Posted by AzureHaze

Hot damn that's some mileage you got there on the odometer! Is that a new record around here?

nope I'm on 108k approaching 109k soon :P (2007)

[geko29]

Originally Posted by Mikeymack

Question, looking at keeping and getting the extended warranty. Which do most people get? Powertrain Plus, or Gold? I don't have navigation so wouldn't consider Platinum.

I had my E46 for ~13 years, and I'm planning on keeping this one for at least a decade. Like you, mine doesn't have nav, so Platinum was out. I wound up doing Gold. Prior to buying, I had read that the engine costs $20k+ (don't know if that's true or not), so I wanted to make sure I was totally covered.

Bought the car at 7k (it was a demo), and have put an additional 24k on her in the intervening 18 months. No major issues so far (not that I was expecting any this soon). SCR and EGR have both been replaced in recall campaigns, but nothing else. JBD at 100% since probably 10k, I'm averaging 29mpg overall. Shooting for my first 500-mile tank this week.

[Stevemeister]

Appreciate this may be a bit late but adding it anyway in case anyone is thinking of buying a used 335d and give them an idea of what they might expect. I purchased mine new in April 2010 from Budds BMW in Oakville, ON. I was considering the 335i but loved the torque from the "d" and also the lower fuel consumption.

The car currently has 133,000 km on it but the list of things that have gone wrong are as follows....everything that went wrong has been since the warranty expired.

At ~91,000 km I had two fuel injectors go and the mass air flow sensor was also replaced. At the same time I had the engine decarbonized. Due to the somewhat premature failure of the injectors the bill was reduced (not sure if Budds did this or BMW Canada) but it came in at CAD$3000 (less than the ~CAD$5000 it would have been at full price). Car was in the shop 2-3 days. On coming out of the shop the car was giving a 2008 code indicating the swirl port actuation motor was not working. The car actually drove fine so for the last couple of years I basically ignored the error but as the first emissions test is coming up it needs to be fixed and it will require a new intake manifold which costs USD900. Swapping the manifold is not an incredibly difficult job so I will do it myself. At ~125,000 km the DEF injection valve failed. This is a USD100 part (from RM European) that takes ~45 minutes to replace, 35 of which are spent jacking up the car, removing the plastic underbody shields, replacing the shields and lowering the car again. Actually removing and replacing the injector is 5 mins. At 132,000 km there was a warning that the temperature sensor in the DEF tank has failed and at about the same time one of the glow plugs failed. I've bought a new $3 RTD for the DEF tank and will replace it myself in the spring when the weather warms up but if you go to the dealer they put in a new DEF tank which is a $2000+ job. I bought a new set of glow plugs (~USD25 each from RM European) and will replace them at the same time I replace the intake manifold in the next few weeks.

I'm comparing all of the above with a 1995 325iS I owned for 9 years that had 328,000 km on it when it was written off after being rear ended hard by a white van. The 325iS was way more reliable and cost much lower overall cost to run.

I bought this car expecting it to to last 500,000 km passed down through family members. The basic engine is good and still does not burn oil between changes (every 10,000 km). Its the "peripherals" associated with the car - the DEF system and the CBU Issues - that I did not expect when I bought it that are what is costing money to fix.

I love the car - it is fitted with a Bilstein B12 Pro Kit and I have replaced various bushings including the sub-frame bushings with Powerflex Bushings so the handling is great.

The conclusion is I would be reluctant to recommend a 335d unless you get a used one at a good price and you are pretty handy at being able to fix things yourself and drive a high enough annual mileage to make the low fuel consumption benefits pay off (I've had 50-55 mpg - imperial gallons - on long trips). Fuel Injectors excepted, none of the problems are beyond the skills of a reasonable home mechanic . . .the work is not especially difficult but it has been a series of irritating problems that you don't expect from a car that cost ~CAD55K when new especially at relatively low mileage.

[Stevemeister]

Appreciate this may be a bit late but adding it anyway in case anyone is thinking of buying a used 335d and give them an idea of what they might expect. I purchased mine new in April 2010 from Budds BMW in Oakville, ON. I was considering the 335i but loved the torque from the "d" and also the lower fuel consumption.

The car currently has 133,000 km on it but the list of things that have gone wrong are as follows....everything that went wrong has been since the warranty expired.

At ~91,000 km I had two fuel injectors go and the mass air flow sensor was also replaced. At the same time I had the engine decarbonized. Due to the somewhat premature failure of the injectors the bill was reduced (not sure if Budds did this or BMW Canada) but it came in at CAD$3000 (less than the ~CAD$5000 it would have been at full price). Car was in the shop 2-3 days. On coming out of the shop the car was giving a 2008 code indicating the swirl port actuation motor was not working. The car actually drove fine so for the last couple of years I basically ignored the error but as the first emissions test is coming up it needs to be fixed and it will require a new intake manifold which costs USD900. Swapping the manifold is not an incredibly difficult job so I will do it myself. At ~125,000 km the DEF injection valve failed. This is a USD100 part (from RM European) that takes ~45 minutes to replace, 35 of which are spent jacking up the car, removing the plastic underbody shields, replacing the shields and lowering the car again. Actually removing and replacing the injector is 5 mins. At 132,000 km there was a warning that the temperature sensor in the DEF tank has failed and at about the same time one of the glow plugs failed. I've bought a new $3 RTD for the DEF tank and will replace it myself in the spring when the weather warms up but if you go to the dealer they put in a new DEF tank which is a $2000+ job. I bought a new set of glow plugs (~USD25 each from RM European) and will replace them at the same time I replace the intake manifold in the next few weeks.

I'm comparing all of the above with a 1995 325iS I owned for 9 years that had 328,000 km on it when it was written off after being rear ended hard by a white van. The 325iS was way more reliable and the overall running costs were much lower.

I bought this car expecting it to to last 500,000 km passed down through family members. The basic engine is good and still does not burn oil between changes (every 10,000 km). Its the "peripherals" associated with the car - the DEF system and the CBU Issues - that I did not expect when I bought it that are what is costing money to fix.

I love the car - it is fitted with a Bilstein B12 Pro Kit and I have replaced various bushings including the sub-frame bushings with Powerflex Bushings so the handling is great.

However, the long and short is I would be reluctant to recommend a 335d unless you get a used one at a good price and you are pretty handy at being able to fix things yourself and drive a high enough annual mileage to make the low fuel consumption benefits pay off (I've had 50-55 mpg - imperial gallons - on long trips). Fuel Injectors excepted, none of the problems are beyond the skills of a reasonable home mechanic . . .the work is not especially difficult but it has been a series of irritating problems that you don't expect from a car that cost ~CAD55K when new especially at relatively low mileage.

[Yozh]

Potentially, the swirl port actuator may just needs a reset of adaptations. This is usually needed after the manifold removal and carbon cleaning.

[Thecastle]

I'll offer an opionion. Don't buy a diesel for reliability buy one because you like it.

I have a 2011 335d and have 54k miles. During the cars lifetime it's had the following repairs;

DPF, 3xEGR, 1 scr tank, 4 MAF sensors, 4 egr coolers and mine is cracked again, 4 differential pressure sensors, scr metering device, red boost pipe, head light leveling senor, battery, cbu cleaning, vacuum hoses.

About to replace cracked vibration damper, and have a nasty sounding rear diff, though there is a recall now for the cv joints in back....

I like the car, but it has been a garage queen. Fortunately for me it's now a 3rd car. I've been slowly removing emissions equipment, but this car has been far from reliable. My family jokes when are you going to get rid of it. But I keep it because I enjoy driving it.

Egr cooler fix, damper, and vacuum hoses next weekend. This weekend was battery and diagnosing exhaust leak in engine bay. I'm also pretty certain I have bad engine mounts too.

I've had the car in the shop probably a dozen times and several months in total. When I bought an x5, I bought gasoline ....

[Whitbread]

If you intend to keep it for the long haul, do the ABC's, vacuum hoses, forge charge pipe or ATM's fmic kit that replaces the troublesome quick connect style hoses altogether, and carbon inspecion/cleaning immediately. Then buy a fluidampr as soon as they are available in a few months. That will eliminate 98.4% of the common issues these cars have right off the bat (and give you a wolf in sheeps clothing).

A glow plug module throwing a CEL is the only issue I've had on my car outside of brakes, suspension, and tires wearing after 130Kmi.

[Thecastle]

Originally Posted by Whitbread

If you intend to keep it for the long haul, do the ABC's, vacuum hoses, forge charge pipe or ATM's fmic kit that replaces the troublesome quick connect style hoses altogether, and carbon inspecion/cleaning immediately. Then buy a fluidampr as soon as they are available in a few months. That will eliminate 98.4% of the common issues these cars have right off the bat (and give you a wolf in sheeps clothing).

A glow plug module throwing a CEL is the only issue I've had on my car outside of brakes, suspension, and tires wearing after 130Kmi.

2nd this. except, you still have all of the other common e90 issues.

[GottaBeKD]

Originally Posted by Thecastle

2nd this. except, you still have all of the other common e90 issues.

120k kms as of today.
- car has been illiterate since 95k
- EGR plugged since 60k when carbon cleaning was done under CPO
- goes through tires at the rate most people change underwear
- HVAC fan replaced under CPO around 110k

[casmith3473]

I have a 2011 335d with over 80K no issues. I am planning on replacing glow plugs soon and checking for carbon build up. Most of my driving in highway at 70mph+

[bayerischer]

don't buy, the worst car ever. i regret I didn't buy the petrol. you will overpay the service multiple times over the saved fuel costs that are negligent.
bottom line. don't buy 335d. you will be bombarded with thousands of repairs and new problems coming at you every week. plus the power loss is regular occurrence after few months driving it, because there is always something that will fail in the vacuum system that is frail as shit. your red boost pipe will be getting disconnected (your garage will happily tell you your turbos are wrong and will charge you about a thousand or more telling you you actually saved another 2500USD if you would go to original service haha) and yes, this regularly happens, and all it is it's disconnected a hose), your vacuum lines will get perished, or disconnected as well (another opportunity for your service to make few bucks of you after they tell you your turbos are gone, haha, coz you will not know it is just a small pipe somewhere disconnected and yes this is the car business), in a case your service connects them correctly, then there are pressure converters that will fail on you, then there are electrical valves for turbos that will fail on you, then there is a bypass valve that will fail on you and then there are turbos that will fail sooner or later. AND THIS IS A GOOD OUTCOME WHEN YOU WILL KNOW THE CAUSE OF YOUR NO POWER 335D THAT ARE MORE COMMON 335D'S ON THE ROAD THAN THOSE WITH FULL POWER ACTUALLY! MANY OTHER THINGS THAT YOU AND YOUR SERVICE WILL NOT EVEN BE ABLE TO LOCATE WHAT IS WRONG, BECAUSE THEY WILL NOT KNOW, SINCE DIAGNOSTICS WON'T TELL THEM. YOU WILL HAVE NO POWER AND IT WOULD BE JUST A LITTLE HOLE IN SOME OF THE PART WITHIN VACUUM SYSTEM THAT I DIDN'T EVEN MENTION AND TRUST ME YOU WILL BE DEALING WITH IT FOR MONTHS. JUST ASK johnnybravo and others....this car is the pain in the ass, so stay away.
did I say transmission? be ready to splash out few thousands on this
did I say glow plugs?
did I say belt tensioner or harmonic balancer I don't know the name, that will for sure fail on you leaving you with no possibility of turning your vehicle? (this happened), actually all of these happened to me
Did I say flywheel that will sooner or later fail?
i am sure I forgot many things.
try to get some new petrol if u want bmw, but say no to diesel for sure. this is black dirty oily mess with tractor sound

[Persian Whisperjet]

Originally Posted by bayerischer

don't buy, the worst car ever. i regret I didn't buy the petrol. you will overpay the service multiple times over the saved fuel costs that are negligent. [...] try to get some new petrol if u want bmw, but say no to diesel for sure. this is black dirty oily mess with tractor sound

Strong letter to follow.

[robnitro]

Bayerrischer, this is common on most turbo engines. The gas turbos are a pain to troubleshoot too and have reliability issues as well.

I used to have a vw tdi alh and it had it's own annoyances. Vnt actuator sticking, etc
I can say that most German cars these days have stupid issues. For simplicity go elsewhere.

I do feel that bmw diagnostics are horrible. They seem to be geared to the least technical analysis... Replace part, try again, replace part, try again. Good for service managers, bad for us.

As for the flywheel failing?? On automatics, It's just a wheel, not even a clutch or pressure plate.

[JayNC335d]

Originally Posted by Persian Whisperjet

Strong letter to follow.

It's going to be tough.... but I am going to attempt to summarize his note for future readers....

The top 5 reasons not to buy the 335D:

1) You are a lemming and want to drive something everyone else drives.
2) You aren't capable of controlling and applying the ungodly amount of torque this monster is capable of making
3) You lack the mental fortitude to handle your own sh*t when something goes wrong with your car....
4) You lack the proper equipment... in your garage.... in your skull.... and between your legs to own a unique vehicle such as this.
5) You have a propensity to go on redundant nonsensical rants that only illustrate you know nothing about cars.

[335stoner]

here is a napkin to dry your tears

ANY BMW or high end luxury car cost a lot of money to do anything with and own... anyone who buys a car like this know the cost of an oil change just went up and you service and shop fees doubled.

if you can work on your own cars you will save a ton of money... if you follow this forum you can come to a conclusion of almost any issue you have with the car. just because you cant work on your own car or afford a high end service does not make the car junk...

If you don't have a need for a diesel don't get one. Sell your car and buy a Kia soul, less crying is involved... until you try to pass someone

[335stoner]

Originally Posted by JayNC335d

1) You are a lemming and want to drive something everyone else drives.

http://www.hww.ca/kaboom/images/Mammals/lemmings.jpg

[bayerischer]

Originally Posted by JayNC335d

It's going to be tough.... but I am going to attempt to summarize his note for future readers....

The top 5 reasons not to buy the 335D:

1) You are a lemming and want to drive something everyone else drives.
2) You aren't capable of controlling and applying the ungodly amount of torque this monster is capable of making
3) You lack the mental fortitude to handle your own sh*t when something goes wrong with your car....
4) You lack the proper equipment... in your garage.... in your skull.... and between your legs to own a unique vehicle such as this.
5) You have a propensity to go on redundant nonsensical rants that only illustrate you know nothing about cars.

I am not interested owning a vehicle that gets broken every other week, so yeah i lack the respect and patience for a vehicle that drives most of its ownership broken.

this vehicle is not unique where I live, it's actually pretty common and it's actually pretty common that it's broken too, so ppl are not that keen on them,
i know people that had to change the engines, transmissions, etc swearing they will never ever buy another bmw again.

this car feels chinese quality to me. before I had a jaguar and that was another story, I am looking to sell this piece of shit, and go for mercedes or jaguar again, or even audi...

EDIT: i wasn't the victim of a turbo replacement costs but i was told I need to change them, but I was suspicious anyone would say so just from looking at turbos that they are bad, but I know cases that had turbos replaced, but didnt have to...so not my case, my turbos are still original, whether they are ok, it's questionable tho, coz if you wanna diagnose them, you have to remove them right?

[robnitro]

Dude, they do the same with vw... How many people on TDI club had their turbos changed because of bad diagnosis, when it was a vacuum line or stuck actuator.
The point is that turbos add complexity and yes even benz has issues. My buddy bought a ml diesel and the turbo was missing some blades!
Benz also has poor quality these days and that I blame on people that they are marketing to. For example, M cars used to be marketed as light and sporty, nowadays are just the same normal car with sports add ons and a high price, look at the m4 today: garbage

[bayerischer]

Originally Posted by robnitro

Dude, they do the same with vw... How many people on TDI club had their turbos changed because of bad diagnosis, when it was a vacuum line or stuck actuator.
The point is that turbos add complexity and yes even benz has issues. My buddy bought a ml diesel and the turbo was missing some blades!
Benz also has poor quality these days and that I blame on people that they are marketing to. For example, M cars used to be marketed as light and sporty, nowadays are just the same normal car with sports add ons and a high price, look at the m4 today: garbage

hey, it's not about turbos, i just said that garage will most likely try to charge you for them when u tell them u lost power at first attempt. i said pretty much everything else failed on tis car and it's garbage.
m4 is pretty good machine, it has torque, it has speed, it has more comfort and yes it is all arounder rather than a track car and that's why people buy it.
i would go for m4 anyday over diesel...no question about it

[JayNC335d]

Originally Posted by 335stoner

http://www.hww.ca/kaboom/images/Mammals/lemmings.jpg

I see your post about bad diesel and raise double down on the lemming!

http://www.hww.ca/kaboom/images/Mammals/lemmings.jpg

[Persian Whisperjet]

Your bitter tears sound to me like birds chirping on a fall morning -- or maybe it's more like kids playing in a park.

[Andy198712]

the jags share our gearboxes....

i think some of you guys have been REALLY unlucky!

they aren't a cheap car to run granted, kinda glad i have the 325d, less issues. but i love the way it looks and drives so worth any hassle as I'm a "car guy"