[BooSSted]

I'm sure a lot of you have been here before. I've been wanting a car to mess around with in the summer for a while now. I started reading up on the 335's and figured it would be a fun car to go after.

To my dismay, finding one of these cars in a 6MT, RWD Coupe is proving to be next to impossible. They're either high mileage and a modified mess, or completely out of touch on the price. I can't seem to find something in the middle.

The cost of potential repairs his a huge deterrent as well. I'm finding it really hard to commit the money to one particular car in fear of ending up with a money pit.

Anyways, I just needed to vent. The search continues...

[Leucosticte]

All one can do is search until the perfect car comes in sight...

[TunafishE93]

I waited 6 months and 400 miles to find mine in a decent price range. And that was just only requirements of E93, navigation, under 100k miles, N55 and M package.

There seemed to be a lot more out East then here on the West coast. The ones I was looking for is not rare but are either priced above blue book or sale real quick. My advice is if you find one jump on it quick they go fast.

[iqraceworks]

I would say that unless you can find a killer deal on a 335i....they just aren't worth it. Most of the time no matter how good of shape you find one in, you are still going to have to dump $2,000+ in maintenance and other stuff in it just to get up back in shape.....not to mention modding it.

I picked up my 07' 335i for $3,500....it had 90k miles on it. It needed a water pump, thermostat, and had all kinds of faults...couldn't even drive it. The guy had it listed for $6,500, but after several days of talking him down ..he agreed on $3,500. It was cheap enough that it was worth it to me.

I've put around $3,000 in the car so far with coils, plugs, oil changes, transmission service, suspension, mods, etc, etc. If I would have not been able to talk the guy down, I would have been pretty mad if I had to put all that money into the car....but For what I paid, I think I'm still doing pretty good.

These car make big power pretty easy...but so do a lot of other cars, for the money....there are probably better options.....but for $3,500...you can't even pick up a beat up mustang or Camaro to play with.

Yes, the 6MT cars are very hard to find....I had to settle for the 6AT. Honestly, the auto transmissions in these cars work really well. With the xHP stage 3 tune, they shift fast and firm....and the rev matching throttle blips on the downshiftsI works well also.

Honestly.....if you can find one for cheap, go for it. But just remember that there are lots of little things on these cars that can start to add up fast. You really need to be able to turn your own wrenches on these car..and enjoy it. Taking one Tina dealer every time something need work will break you....way to expensive.

Keep looking ..you can find some great deals on them if you just take your time. Didn't go out and lay $10k for one....because you will have $15k in it before you know it. Don't be afraid of one with 100k miles on it as long as it's been serviced and we'll taken car off. At least that way you know that the majority of the big issues have already been taken car of. And with the e90 forums.....there really isn't a problem that someone else's hasn't had, and can't help you with. These guys are great!!

Good luck 👍

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[fastboatster]

6AT 335i can still be had for relatively low money, although this is definitely changing because way to many people now know about what they can be made into. I dont think there are any imports yet which offer they same tunability and drive this well for this kind of money. I still see 100kmile running and driving 335i's in presumably good shape for 5k$.
As for the manual 335i, you either need to cast a wide net, get a higher mile and/or tuned car or do a manual swap. And as the time goes by, the latter will become a better and better option.

[unrulyteach]

It's ok it took me 6 months and lots of trips to dealerships till i found what i wanted with options. Never settle

[BooSSted]

Originally Posted by fastboatster

6AT 335i can still be had for relatively low money, although this is definitely changing because way to many people now know about what they can be made into. I dont think there are any imports yet which offer they same tunability and drive this well for this kind of money. I still see 100kmile running and driving 335i's in presumably good shape for 5k$.
As for the manual 335i, you either need to cast a wide net, get a higher mile and/or tuned car or do a manual swap. And as the time goes by, the latter will become a better and better option.

I've looked at doing a swap. It's still pretty expensive and the parts are tough to find

[Schmitz]

There are 12 BMW 3 series (all years) within 50 miles of me with manual transmission. 1 with under 50k miles. It's a f30 340i. It sucks.

[John 070]

$3500 is sad, I paid $44,700 for mine in 12/06!

But I'm looking to do the same on a 2013 S63. Have that owner say, $26,000? I paid $161k in 2013! lol

[TunafishE93]

I have two coupe manual rwd within 500 miles of me. One is an 335is though. Slim pickins over here.

[Chappers 71]

Try to find one that's had the same owner for 5 or more years & make sure there's a large portfolio of receipts & invoices.
But no matter how good the car is you will have to spend money on it if you intend keeping it any length of time.
I've owned my 35i for over seven years, it had done 53,000 miles with full main dealer history when I bought it, is now on 118,000 miles.
Have replaced:
Hpfp
2_water pumps
Boost pipework & solenoids
2 radiators
Sump, valve cover & oil filter housing gaskets
Both turbos at 106,000 miles
And then there tyres, brake discs & pads, servicing plus the money spent on mods.
But even having owned my 35i that amount of time & having done all of the above, there's still jobs that need doing on it & as well as it's currently running it'll only be a matter of time until something breaks But when it's running well the smile it puts on my face makes ownership & the 'occasional' expense worthwhile...imo.
Good luck

[fastboatster]

Originally Posted by BooSSted

I've looked at doing a swap. It's still pretty expensive and the parts are tough to find

335i manual transmissions are 700$ on the ebay, driveshaft, rear diffs are very cheap, too.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by fastboatster

335i manual transmissions are 700$ on the ebay, driveshaft, rear diffs are very cheap, too.

Yeah....but from all of the guys I have seen online who have done it....after you add up all the tiny parts and pieces you need, you are approaching $3,000 by the time it's all said and done. Not really cheap.

[fastboatster]

Yes, not cheap, but if you start off with a 5k$ AT, then the total will be 8k which is often less than they ask for a 6mt. Of course this math only works out if you do everything yourself.

[BooSSted]

So I found one...

2007 Manual RWD Coupe in Black Sapphire

77k miles for about $7200 (Converted for the Americans)

It's got a little rattle on the front turbo, but aside from that it's in great shape!

[Emilime75]

Love style 95s on E92s. Too bad fitment is less than ideal.

[Fitz335]

I have a 164k mile Black E92 6 speed.

I just bought an M240i and was thinking about getting rid of the car.

It just needs paint, turbos, oil pan gasket, and shocks/springs

[BooSSted]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

Love style 95s on E92s. Too bad fitment is less than ideal.

There's no fitment issues with these that I saw or felt. Turns lock to lock in a figure 8 with no rubbing. I don't remember the exact tire size

[Emilime75]

Originally Posted by BooSSted

There's no fitment issues with these that I saw or felt. Turns lock to lock in a figure 8 with no rubbing. I don't remember the exact tire size

That depends on your idea of "fitment". By my definition, they don't fit. You have to run narrow tires and/or add excessive camber. Neither of which I'd want...but that's just my opinion.

[Jesda]

It's a great car.
It's also a terrible car.

[gT-BMW]

im also in the same boat. people here in florida is really out of touch on the prices. one craiglist ad advertised as well maintained, got invoices and reciepts of work done, when i get there it was pdf files that he created lol. the test drive revealed NO suspension work was done and wanted $7200 and did not want to budge on the price!!!

long story short dont wait too long, ive been searching for about 1.5 years and just recently dumped 2400 in maintenance on my n52 so now im stuck with this n52 for a little while longer.

[BooSSted]

I went to look at one was the was "Mint" condition. I pulled up to the car and there was an 8" dent in the hood from something falling on the car. I drove an hour and a half both ways to look at the car for 30 seconds.

Another one had a spray painted bumper and they didn't even mask the fog lights. Overspray everywhere.

The kids that have taken a shine to these cars are really killing them. There won't be many left worth owning soon. This is why the clean ones demand a high price still