[E92William]

This should show pretty well how reliable an n54 is vs an n52. This is what's left of a 535 that was in the junkyard for 2 days lol.

I had a 335i myself and while it is damn great for daily driving because of the sheer amount of low end torque it will eat you alive in repairs if you put say 10-15k miles a year. That's just how it is and in similar fashion to what wolf335 said about spending that much modifying an old e90, apply that to just keeping one running..

[Fritzer]

There is a guy on here who did a whole build on a N52 E92, really interesting. I can't recall his name but you can find him or someone else can chime in, he's around on here.

Here's my take on what you would want to do;

-3Stg Manifold + Tune
-Exhaust/Intake, like Euro Intake + Performance Exhaust mod
-M Sport Suspension with aftermarket springs
-M Sport Bumpers
-Get the 335is foglight delete grilles, with M Sport front bumper your car will look like an IS from the front
-Carbon mirrors, front lip, trunk lip
-Try to find a good deal on Used 335is wheels, maybe get a ratty set and have them painted/powdercoated

EXPENSIVE:
-6spd manual swap and/or LSD
-M3 steering rack
-M3 control arms

-If you have N52B30 and not N51, maybe look into the supercharger options like ESS or some of the others.



Keep it simple, OEM+. Nothing crazy aftermarket.

[tylerhart_21]

Is there really a difference between the M3 brakes and the M sport brakes (f30). Besides price differences of the two.

[tylerhart_21]

To drop the weight on the car would it be better if I got a m3 carbon roof or just get a sunroof delete. If I a sunroof delete could I make it look smooth and add paint to make it oem. Let me know your ideas.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by tylerhart_21

To drop the weight on the car would it be better if I got a m3 carbon roof or just get a sunroof delete. If I a sunroof delete could I make it look smooth and add paint to make it oem. Let me know your ideas.

Sunroof delete saves like 30 or 35lbs, and you can get the delete panel either carbon or fiberglass and paint to match. This is a big job if you want to paint the panel and blend it in, but just running it as it comes in carbon should not be a big pain to install I bet you could do it solo in a day. Obviously it’s not super expensive either maybe $500.

The carbon roof swap saves like 45lbs but is a huge job and it’s either very expensive, or as a DIY it’s just expensive and very time consuming. A new M3 roof is like $4-5k, plus install. A used roof even as a DIY is going to run maybe $1k in expenses with roof, shipping, and adhesives and then take probably 30 hours labor minimum (take roof off the old car, clean up all the leftover adhesive on the panel, clear coat and prep the roof, and then install onto your car which you had to drill out, sand smooth, and prime like 70 spot welds).

Honestly, I would not recommend the carbon roof swap unless you are experienced with advanced DIY projects and ready to take your car off the road for at least 3 days and probably more like 5-7 days as a DIY.

[tylerhart_21]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

Sunroof delete saves like 30 or 35lbs, and you can get the delete panel either carbon or fiberglass and paint to match. This is a big job if you want to paint the panel and blend it in, but just running it as it comes in carbon should not be a big pain to install I bet you could do it solo in a day. Obviously it's not super expensive either maybe $500.

The carbon roof swap saves like 45lbs but is a huge job and it's either very expensive, or as a DIY it's just expensive and very time consuming. A new M3 roof is like $4-5k, plus install. A used roof even as a DIY is going to run maybe $1k in expenses with roof, shipping, and adhesives and then take probably 30 hours labor minimum (take roof off the old car, clean up all the leftover adhesive on the panel, clear coat and prep the roof, and then install onto your car which you had to drill out, sand smooth, and prime like 70 spot welds).

Honestly, I would not recommend the carbon roof swap unless you are experienced with advanced DIY projects and ready to take your car off the road for at least 3 days and probably more like 5-7 days as a DIY.

So if I do a sunroof delete I can make the roof look plain. (No sunroof) But I would have to paint over it and some other stuff.

[Smgs1992]

Originally Posted by E92William

This should show pretty well how reliable an n54 is vs an n52. This is what's left of a 535 that was in the junkyard for 2 days lol.

I had a 335i myself and while it is damn great for daily driving because of the sheer amount of low end torque it will eat you alive in repairs if you put say 10-15k miles a year. That's just how it is and in similar fashion to what wolf335 said about spending that much modifying an old e90, apply that to just keeping one running..

I strongly disagree after 4yrs experience with a stock then FBO 335i N54
My car has been pretty damn reliable.
Cost about $250 in maintenance the first 2years and minus choosing to replace the turbos wouldve been roughly the same the 3rd year.

[E92William]

Originally Posted by Smgs1992

I strongly disagree after 4yrs experience with a stock then FBO 335i N54
My car has been pretty damn reliable.
Cost about $250 in maintenance the first 2years and minus choosing to replace the turbos wouldve been roughly the same the 3rd year.

I think that's very unlikely unless you get your hands on a car that's had a lot of maintenance done. My experience was the exact opposite with it even eating a belt in the 3rd day of owning it. Ofc I probably bought someone's junk lol but I think an in between of my experience and yours is a fair point to judge the car from, and it isn't a cheap one.

[Smgs1992]

Originally Posted by E92William

I think that's very unlikely unless you get your hands on a car that's had a lot of maintenance done. My experience was the exact opposite with it even eating a belt in the 3rd day of owning it. Ofc I probably bought someone's junk lol but I think an in between of my experience and yours is a fair point to judge the car from, and it isn't a cheap one.

My car in the first couple years only needed new spark plugs, coils and VCG OFHG

I bought my car with 64k miles so i’m sure if you buy a high mileage car youll run into more issues but you’ll get that with any car realistically. However even after modding my car has been reliable and can be used as a daily driver without worry or taken on a roadtrip.
My point is however a 335i isnt nearly as unreliable as many 328i owners on here try to make them out to be. Also most of the issues are shared between both models.

[hassmaschine]

Keep repeating that. It still won't make it true. The N52 simply doesn't even have many of the things that often go wrong on the turbo cars or that you have to "maintain". Mosfets, injectors and walnut blasting to name 3.

There's always gotta be at least one troll though. Good job.

[FD7683]

If you were to install the 3-Stage Manifold, would you have to get the car tuned after?

[hassmaschine]

Yes, or it won't make any difference because the DME won't activate the flaps at the correct thresholds.

[S65Hunter]

Here's what I've done to my 328i

Power:
3stage intake,l with StageFP tune, silicone intake tube, vibrant resonator and maganflow muffler. ( will be doing secondary cat delete soon)

Suspension:

Bilstein B8's with H&R sport springs, M3 front control arms, eibach sway bars, custco strut bar, rouge engineering trans mounts, and white line subframe bushing. I think that's it.

As for brakes im currently stock. But just today got a good deal on f30 brembos.

Point is, I haven't spent a ton of money on these upgrades and the car is so much fun to drive and handles amazingly. My buddy with a 2020 Supra even gets super happy to drive my car (when I let him) because of how well it handles. Keep it simple. These e9x are fun cars to own even in NA form.

[Smgs1992]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

Keep repeating that. It still won't make it true. The N52 simply doesn't even have many of the things that often go wrong on the turbo cars or that you have to "maintain". Mosfets, injectors and walnut blasting to name 3.

There's always gotta be at least one troll though. Good job.

Oil filter housing gasket, valve cover gasket, valve cover, oil pan gasket, waterpump, transmission issues, ect.... those are just the ones i see posted on here daily.
I havent had any of those issues you named so apparently they arent that common if my 07 i have owned for almost 5yrs hasnt had them

[hassmaschine]

you got three gaskets, good for you. N52s have metal pumps, that were revised - which last for hundreds of thousands of miles. Transmission issues? My valve cover is made out of metal. You're grasping at straws.

[Smgs1992]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

you got three gaskets, good for you. N52s have metal pumps, that were revised - which last for hundreds of thousands of miles. Transmission issues? My valve cover is made out of metal. You're grasping at straws.

Just like youre grasping at them trying to tell me how unreliable an engine you dont own is? When in nearly 5yrs i havent had any of the issues you mentioned?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Smgs1992

Just like youre grasping at them trying to tell me how unreliable an engine you dont own is? When in nearly 5yrs i havent had any of the issues you mentioned?

According to your profile your car is a 2007 335i. So I’ve never owned one either but I know enough that I can tell you confidently that if you have not had issues yet then you are driving a one in a million car.

In reality this is very unlikely so I advise you sell the car ASAP because you are about to have big big issues. Seriously, like sell it today lol

All kidding aside maybe you have not had issues because your mods corrected many of the potential problems. But we all know 2007 N54 fuel injectors, water pumps, etc are really bad and that 2007 is the worst year for the 335.

[Smgs1992]

Or perhaps the fact that youre on a forum mostly for fixing and modding these cars you see issues come up more often. Especially when people brag about buying one for 5k and it having 150k+ miles
Now i did replace my waterpump after 4yrs of ownership only after i had started modding the car but almost a year being FBO tuned and that’s been my only issue besides plugs with 30k miles on them which is their average lifespan
My car had index 11 injectors when i bought it and theyre still working just fine fyi

[hassmaschine]

You're still here? You know this thread is about the N52, right?

[Smgs1992]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

You're still here? You know this thread is about the N52, right?

Looked like its a thread about n52 nutswingers trying to make themselves feel better about their cars by trying to say how much more reliable they are

[hassmaschine]

lol. Ok kid. Yeah, we're nut swinging about cars many of us paid cash for. Sure.

[E92William]

All of those conditions matter. You got a pretty nice car props there. My 335i came with a mix of index 2 and 9 injectors. Your car might have had them replaced at some point so that might be why you haven't had issues with them knock on wood. Gaskets on these engines don't last much more than 8-10 years so yours could have been replaced aswell. I wish I had paid 5k for my 335 it was 11k there's no denying if you just get a run of the mill n54 you'll likely have more issues than a run of the mill n52 though