Added Another Bimmer To The Family

[jgerock]

The day before Vintage NC (5/23), my wife was in an accident near Largo, MD that sandwiched her 12 year old Mercedes between a Tahoe SUV and big Taxi cab.  Luckily, no one was hurt but the Tahoe owner's insurance (GEICO) examined our car last Saturday and deemed it totalled due to the age, high mileage (184K) and damage front and rear.  We were hoping to replace the car at the end of the year but this expedited things.  My wife wanted to stick with another German car so she looked at used BMW's on the local dealer's website.  The very first one she liked was the one we both drove, inspected and bought.  Our sales advisor (Hugo Coz) has been a BMW enthusiast going back to his 87 eta E30 and he currently drives a 2012 E90 335i.  We had a wonderful buying experience at BMW of Alexandria (contrary to a prior visit)...

 

The new addition is a 2011 335i sedan with less than 18K. It just came off a 3 year lease last week.

It has these style 284 17" wheels and the original run-flat Continental tires (made week 15 of 2011).

 

Here is a picture I found on the internet (our car is not xDrive)

 

As with most new cars, there is no dipstick, spare tire and not even a lug wrench. The "tool kit" located in the cubby above the battery is the most pathetic thing I have ever seen in a modern vehicle.  I confirmed with the dealer that this is what you get after sending him this picture of the missing pieces.  Penskeparts only shows a screwdriver!

 

 

We both are excited to now have (3) Bimmer's in our family after not having any before I purchased the tii in 2007. The Pilot is the odd-ball now. 

 

Guess I cannot blame this new purchase on Marshall or Ray...

 

BTW - the color sticker on later model Bimmers is located under the hood and not affixed to a shock tower.

 

 

Happy wife = happy life

[adawil2002]

Sorry about the accident, congratulations on being a 3 Bimmer family.

[jgerock]

Sorry about the accident, congratulations on being a 3 Bimmer family.

Thanks Andrew - I have some catching up to do with certain folks on the Bimmer count. I trust your return trip from W-S was uneventful in Athena.

[ray_]

Nice cars, the 335s

 

I really like mine. The motors take an aftermarket tune very well but the car is very, very quick even without a tune.

 

Here's the ad for the one I purchased: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=854215

 

Hardly any known problem areas on the E90/92s as far as I've surmised!

 

Have fun with it!

Edited June 6, 2014 by ray_koke

[jgerock]

Nice cars, the 335s

 

I really like mine. The motors take an aftermarket tune very well but the car is very, very quick even without a tune.

 

Here's the ad for the one I purchased: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=854215

 

Hardly any known problem areas on the E90/92s as far as I've surmised!

 

Have fun with it!

Ray- your car is sweet! Can I borrow it so I can swap the wheels?

[M3M3]

I have some catching up to do with certain folks on the Bimmer count.

 

 

[ray_]

Come and get it

 

The wheels are aftermarket, actually:

 

Alufelgen CSL reps

 

Not very expensive, unless you keep bending them!

 

http://www.modbargains.com/Alufelgen-Wheels-BMW.htm

 

Have fun! Glad the Benz absorbed all the shock!

 

 

Ray- your car is sweet! Can I borrow it so I can swap the wheels?

[flyingjolly]

Very nice car, the 335s are great engines, as long as you let the turbo cool down after a long drive.

 

Those Continental Runflats are a pain in the behind. They give the car an extremely hard ride and have a tendency to disintegrate on the inside thread. I ditched mine after two rear tires were worn (only on the inside) and never ordered them again.

[ray_]

Very nice car, the 335s are great engines, as long as you let the turbo cool down after a long drive.

 

Those Continental Runflats are a pain in the behind. They give the car an extremely hard ride and have a tendency to disintegrate on the inside thread. I ditched mine after two rear tires were worn (only on the inside) and never ordered them again.

 

 

My rear Pilot Sports were heavily worn on the inside. My shop said BMW's rear camber spec is overly aggressive and the shop dials it out on any E90 alignments. I learned that last week

 

Cheers,

[jgerock]

Minor updates.

 

Car was taken back to the dealership to have the left muffler replaced under warranty. The bypass diverter flap was rattling and leaking so I had them fix it.  The factory dual muffler setup is welded together. The replacement uses (2) bolted band clamps.

Original set-up (now you can see why BMW uses run-flats on these with no spare tire well space).

 

Ordered a Bentley repair manual from Turner Motorsports but received the wrong manual yesterday.  They sent B310 which goes up to the N54 2010 E90.   Will be exchanged for the correct # B311 to cover up to 2011 models with N55 engine.

 

Here is the current fleet.  We went from (2) Hondas and a VW to (3) Bimmers and (1) Honda.  House across the street is still up for sale 

[Kidasters]

Ha.  Just saw this.

 

Your wife looks really happy.

 

The car is pretty.

 

The tool kit is pathetic.  The other warning on the E90 is that there is no drain on the diff.  Reason is, it's "lifetime" fluid now.  Which, if you never change the fluid comes sooner than it should in my opinion.

 

The exhaust looks nuts.  I remember pulling the old exhaust off of my E46 to install the UUC cat back exhaust.  That was hard enough.  It looks like I would struggle greatly doing something on this car.

 

Why am I sitting here typing when I should be changing the exhaust on my 911........

[John_in_VA]

Jim,

The empty spots on the "tool kit" should be able to be sourced, for what they're worth! Looks like there is a spot for a wrench (13/10 mm open end - 71111182747), Z tool to close the sunroof (54107157443), and wheel lock "key."  First aid kit fits in the cubby on the left.

Like earlier models, the non-USA owners got a more complete kit.  Our E46 & E39 didn't even come with a lug wrench (full-sized spares).

 

[saaron]

Congrats on the new Bimmer, and sorry to hear about the accident.  Glad your wife is OK.  Accidents are always a major headache.

 

My Dad has had two 335is - a coupe 6 speed and a sedan w/the paddle-shift auto.  He got the M package (or whatever BMW calls it) on the sedan - the body looked a little different, and I think it had M3 wheels.  It was the same color as yours.  Both of those cars were more than fast enough for me.  Holy smokes they flew.  

 

He turned in the 335i sedan in Feb.  He gets his new M3 in early Oct in Greer.  This is a guy that never had a BMW until he was 67!  He's catching up fast, I guess.  

 

Have fun with it.  

 

Scott

[adawil2002]

Just added another to the Bimmer count today. A 2007 X3 3.0Si, 6-speed manual, Bronzit/Tan 97K miles in excellent condition. Started life as a BMW NA fleet vehicle. 

 

Had the PPI done, it passed with ease.