Considering buying used 135i; have some questions to which I cannot find answers

[Joebie]

Hey all!

I recently graduated from university with a BS in mechanical engineering and since my 13 year old VW Golf TDI is about to roll over 200k miles, I'm looking for something newer and faster with an emphasis on the faster.

After considering many different cars, including a 335i, I've come to like the looks and sportiness of a 135i over everything else I've looked at in my price range of <~$20k, as I would like a drivers car more than a couch. But I have some questions, mainly about reliability and clarification of some common problems. Ideally, I would be picking up an alpine white or lemans blue 2010 135i with no more than 70k miles on it around the end of this year. Pretty sure I want N54 for tunability, but I would consider bucking up for the N55 if the reliability was truly that much greater.

HPFP - Are all 2008-2010 models covered with the 10 year 120k mile warranty? Once out of warranty, how often should I expect this to fail, and how much is it to replace? Can I DIY it?

Fuel injectors - What years have problems, and how big of a problem is it? How much is it to replace if I have a failing injector? Can I DIY it? This is one problem that I read about but can't find really any answers to.

Turbo Rattle - What causes this? I read that it is possibly the hinge that the wastegate pivots on? Does it affect performance or is the car still functional? Is there any sort of extended warranty for it? How common is it? How much to replace? I'd imagine this is a pretty simple DIY if I have a nice warm weekend and a couple of 6 packs.

Water Pump - Not to terribly concerned about this. If It fails, I will learn to replace it, and it might just be a minor inconvenience while I'm waiting for parts to arrive. How much does a water pump cost? I'd imagine this would be a routine 50k mile service that I would do, as a preventative measure.

OEM and Aftermarket Parts - Where are some reputable places to find parts? For example, if I needed a part for my VW I'd head over to ECS Tuning, IDparts, Dieselgeek, etc. So what are the BMW equivalents of these stores?

I'm sure these questions have been answered elsewhere but I was having a hard time finding any recent info on these topics, so I appreciate any advice! Thank you!

[Yeineken]

Can't say anything bad about ECS. They have everything nice and organized and have kits available. They also sell all OEM parts. Just have to know your part #'s. And you can find all those with realoem.com

[tremere613]

Under 20k might be a little on the low side......

[Joebie]

Wow I guess I never really realized how expansive ECS' selection of OEM and aftermarket parts was, so now I can answer some of my own questions!

HPFP - $266 after core refund

Injectors - $241 a piece or $1448 for all 6 plus seals

Turbos - $750 a piece with $190 in gaskets and installation supplies ($940/turbo)

Water Pump - ~$500 depending on what kit/brand/thermostant you want to buy


Anyone have any insight on to how often I should expect these issues to occur? How about whether these things are easily DIY'd?

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by tremere613

Under 20k might be a little on the low side......

From what I've seen on here, autotrader, and craigslist, I should be able to get what I want for $20k just fine. I have all the time in the world to wait for a great deal on the color combo and options I want.

Here's a great example on the forums! 2009 Lemans blue 135i with 74k miles for under $20k http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1063896

[Yeineken]

Originally Posted by Joester

Wow I guess I never really realized how expansive ECS' selection of OEM and aftermarket parts was, so now I can answer some of my own questions!

HPFP - $266 after core refund

Injectors - $241 a piece or $1448 for all 6 plus seals

Turbos - $750 a piece with $190 in gaskets and installation supplies ($940/turbo)

Water Pump - ~$500 depending on what kit/brand/thermostant you want to buy


Anyone have any insight on to how often I should expect these issues to occur? How about whether these things are easily DIY'd?

There's a great DYI on the water pump by bavauto. It's even a 1 series in their DYI video.

[Fume]

Another somewhat common point of failure seems to be leaks in the valve cover gasket. Maybe add that to the list?

[6MT_Addict]

Welcome and congrats! HPFP: is covered under BMW warranty. If you look under either the engine or maitinence sections there's threads (I think they are stickied) on the specifics. I believe the problem is now fixed with new parts anyway.

Wastegate rattle: should also be covered in North America. 10yrs if I remember right. Again, look in the same spots as above.

I wouldn't worry about injectors too much, at least just yet... but you should be prepared for...

Plugs and Coils:

Simply put, be ready to replace coils and plugs. Get plugs that are BMW/Bosch only as the Bosch ones with the same part number seem to cause issues in some. The correct ones will say BMW/Bosch. You need a special socket. COBB Tuning has a great DIY video

Oil Catch Can:

Pick up a BMS OCC. The N54 (2008-2010) especially suffers from oil blow by and contaminates the intake track. Once you get this, get the valves walnut blasted. Then replace the intake manifold gasket to finish the process. This is especially helpful if you are tuning it, but regardless will boost engine health and longevity. Our engines build up an insane volume of carbon, the OCC helps reduce this.

Oil filter housing gasket:

Replace as preventative maintenance. It will leak eventually.

Water pump:

Will fail. Replace thermostat at the same time and flush the coolant. Costs about $500 in parts.

Transmission fluid:

Flush/refill. It's "lifetime" fluid. Many users, mainly M/T, have reported a benefit from this. On this note the diff fluid is also "lifetime" along with the fuel filter. Is any of this needed... Well no, but your car will last longer if you change these at regular intervals.

On that note, sounds like you do your own oil changes. Look into Mobil 1 0W-40 and Castrol 0W-30 Euro Formula. Our engines love these oils. Get a BMW N series engine oil filter wrench, oil changes are a breeze.

If you have Xenon headlights, watch for headlight condensation and read up on it. The headlight covers have seals that will dry over time. They are like $20/ea to replace, it's worth doing. The headlight can get moisture in it (usually via pressure wash) and the water will fry the $4-500 ballasts if the seals are bad/too dry and shrink.

And that's all I can think of. Don't let the list scare you, this is basically worst case scenarios for failure you will love the 1 series

As for retailers...

ECS Tuning
Get BMW Parts
BMW South Atlanta
Rock Auto
N54 Tuning
Turner Motorsports (often more expensive)
And your local BMW parts dept.

AND finally visit www.realoem.com enter your vin and find specific part numbers and diagrams for any part on your specific vehicle. Also grab a Bentley 3 series (E90) service manual, ALL engine info is identical and much of the other parts and procedures are the same as the 3 series. Ie seats, steering wheel, guages, are the same.

You should look into BMW coding too - you can do some really cool stuff with a laptop and software.

[Joebie]

1Addicts, thank you for the very informative post!

A few comments/questions

-Good to know about the HPFP and Turbos, is that 10 year turbo warranty that you speak of also have the 120k mile limit?

-Coming from a direct injection turbodiesel i am NO STRANGER to intake carbon buildup. The picture below is what came out of my 4cyl TDI's intake manifold after I bought it. OCC would be my first mod, followed by a walnut blasting.



-my car has got to be a 6MT (current Golf is a 5MT; wouldnt be caught dead in a slushbox) and I usually do a transmission fluid flush/refill once every 75k miles or so. I would probably do that every time I did my water pump.

-whats the non-xenon option on the headlights? Are there models that come with halogens?

-coming from a <120hp, 3400lb car, I think the stock power levels will be good enough for me, at least for quite a while. I would probably do an coils/subframe bushings/LSD before I started increasing power output, but I do see myself getting a tune and exhaust at some point. I plan on autocrossing the 135 as I do my golf.




And thanks again. At first I was scared when I read about all these issues but even if every single thing went wrong all at once, it would still only be like $5k and a weekend of my time to fix. Really not too bad as many of the parts are much cheaper than I expected them to be.

[6MT_Addict]

Originally Posted by Joester

1Addicts, thank you for the very informative post!

A few comments

-Good to know about the HPFP and Turbos, is that 10 year turbo warranty that you speak of also have the 120k mile limit?

-Coming from a direct injection turbodiesel i am NO STRANGER to intake carbon buildup. The picture below is what came out of my TDI's intake manifold after I bought it. OCC would be my first mod, followed by a walnut blasting.

You're welcome!

I remembered a few more things that will help and edited it - give it a quick skim (plugs stuff and info after retailers).

Re: warranty. I was wrong - 8yr/82k miles. HPFP is 10/120. See here: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=729833

Haha that picture is crazy! I have yet to get my 1er walnut blasted but hopefully ours don't have quite as much!

Edit: I need to get off the computer, I see you added more info haha

6MT - good man, I agree, it's so much fun!

Headlights: There are three types:

1. Halogen
2. Xenon
3. Xenon/Adaptive (lights look left/right and up/down)

These are xenon, the blueish bulb will have something like "BMW Adaptive Headlamp" written on it for Adaptive:



Check Google Images to see the visual differences, although types 2 and 3 are hard to tell at first.

I'm with you there haha, my last car was 200hp and the one before that a 120hp 4 speed auto boat... not sure how I drove that car for two years. Anyway the mod bud grows on you, and you may end up tuning sooner than you think haha. You're on the right track with subframe bushing though. Search around for the M3 suspension swap (yes our cars are a direct fit to M3 suspension - they used it on the 1M if I remember right) I've heard good things about the BMW Performance Suspension kit as well - not just coils. Kit is the key word.

You're welcome, glad to help! Yeah the badge is daunting at first, and the stipulations around price. DIY will save you hundreds as will comparing part costs. I've had the dealer price match as well, they are usually really good for that. BMW's are so well put together too, by far my favourite make to do work on from the ones I've owned so far. Much smoother than domestics.

[Joebie]

I have a Bentley for my Golf and its great. Will definitely be purchasing a thorough service manual for whatever car I end up buying for myself.

Thanks for the update on the turbo warranty.

I also edited and added a few comments to my previous post as well.

I also have VAG-COM for my golf, which is a program/OBDII interface that lets you do lots of cool stuff to it. I'm assuming that "BMW Coding" is similar, I have just never heard of it. Can you tell I'm new yet?

[6MT_Addict]

Originally Posted by Joester

I have a Bentley for my Golf and its great. Will definitely be purchasing a thorough service manual for whatever car I end up buying for myself.

Thanks for the update on the turbo warranty.

I also edited and added a few comments to my previous post as well.

I also have VAG-COM for my golf, which is a program/OBDII interface that lets you do lots of cool stuff to it. I'm assuming that "BMW Coding" is similar, I have just never heard of it. Can you tell I'm new yet?

Bahaha - I added more stuff to my last post in response to your edit. K calling it a night after this reply...

Re: Bentley - unfortunately there is no 1 series specific manual as of yet (at least that I've found) but I spent $20 on a CD covering BMW's from 1980-2008. It's helpful for stuff the Bentley manual doesn't cover. 2008 M/Y will be near identical to 2010.

Yeah, BMW Coding is similar by the sounds of it. You can download INPA/Edibas/NCS Expert. Diagnostic programs and software that lets you 'alter' the cars options. Like enable a digital speedo, open/close windows with the fob (hold unlock, you windows will roll down and sunroof retract by default. You have to code it to use lock to close them, its disabled by default) tweak lighting, etc. BMW Tools 2.12 is the program package, includes 4 or 5 programs. E90 post has lots of good info on this.

Lol don't sweat being new, we all start somewhere.

And...

[6MT_Addict]

Also get a 135i with the M Sport package, settle for nothing less! It's worth it for the seats alone but adds:

-6 piston front/2 piston rear callipers.
-'shadowline' trim which is the chrome arch going from the A pillar to C pillar along the roof line gets blacked out. Exhaust tips are also black chrome with this package.
-M sport steering wheel/wheel cover/shift knob/door sills. All these will have the ///M badge.
-M sport wheels

All 135i's have the same aero kit and sport suspension.

[Joebie]

The only question I have left - is there any maintenance that cannot be done by myself?

The only thing that I take my current car in for is when it needs an alignment, but is there anything on the 135 that requires a BMW tech with certain expensive tools or software to fix?

[TheCaptain]

You should definitely get the M Sport package. Don't go by the items listed in a previous post, that list isn't correct, but you get so many features it that it is worth the extra cost.

Perhaps the best feature is the sport seats with adjustable side bolsters and thigh support, which appear to be missing in the post above. Also, all 135s have the same brakes from the factory.

[mr.fabulous]

Originally Posted by TheCaptain

You should definitely get the M Sport package. Don't go by the items listed in a previous post, that list isn't correct, but you get so many features it that it is worth the extra cost.

Perhaps the best feature is the sport seats with adjustable side bolsters and thigh support, which appear to be missing in the post above. Also, all 135s have the same brakes from the factory.

...plus all that M badging makes the car faster

[6MT_Addict]

Originally Posted by Joester

The only question I have left - is there any maintenance that cannot be done by myself?

The only thing that I take my current car in for is when it needs an alignment, but is there anything on the 135 that requires a BMW tech with certain expensive tools or software to fix?

With the proper tools, not much. Walnut blasting if you're not set up for it or recalls perhaps... (call your local BMW dealer and give them your vin to run to see if you're up to date).

Depends on your individual comfort and experience level.

Apologies on the M sport post looks like I wasn't 100% accurate but for auto x the seats will help a lot

[Joebie]

Sweet. Thanks again everyone for everyone's helpful comments. Hopefully I'll have one of these incredible machines in the near future. Just have to earn the money first!

[MDRex]

The M Sport seats are great, but what I really love is the M Sport steering wheel. I love the feel of the thick wheel.

[Joebie]

Reviving this thread with one more question

If I am more concerned about reliability than power output, then its safe to say that bucking up a couple extra thousand dollars for a 2011+ model might be prudent, right?

looks like N55s can make 350hp pretty easily and that's plenty for me. I'm not looking for 400+ like some of you guys, although that would definitely be cool.

Do N55s have wastegate rattle? Seems like the new single turbo design would pretty much fixed that. After all, its not even remotely the same thing anymore.

Do N55s have injector issues?

I'm assuming N55s have water pump issues because BMW...

If I were to have a failing wastegate on an N54 turbo, would a new turbo have an updated design so that I wouldnt have to worry about it anymore? Or has that been updated somehow? I read about the shaft being changed from 6mm to 8mm or something like that but did not read anything conclusive on whether this is still an issue with replacement turbos.

[kleach18]

I bought my 2013 with 3 miles on it. The n55 has completely different injectors. From what I've seen/read they reworked the oil ventilation system so they don't need walnut blasting as often. Some still get waste gate rattle but not as bad the the twins on the n54. The n54 motors make more horsepower but from what I've seen the n55s are more torque monsters out of the two designs. Plus in my opinion I think the n55 sounds so much better with catless dp and a nice exhaust.

[DNTSimmerTheBimmer]

THREAD JACKING ALERT!!!!! SORRY

I am also looking to buy a used 135i and all the info in this thread has helped me out tremendously, but i have some specifics that i would like to run by you guys. the car is a silver with blk interior and has the "year 1 of the one" by the start button. its a 2009 and it has 81180 miles on it.

well i test drove the car and fell in LOVE with it, BUT the car fax does not show any maintenance done or repair work done. and heres the kicker witch has scared me to death of this thing, on my test drive about 15 min in the car started to SMOKE out of the engine bay, i drove slowly back to the dealer opened the hood and saw the upper radiator hose with white steam pouring out. I was just going to run away but i couldnt. the car simply fascinated me, not only that but when i washed the windshield the fluid sprayed all over the engine bay, must be leak from one of the hoses from the headlight washing nozzles. those are the only 2 problems i saw with the vehicle. they said they would fix both and i would take it on another test drive.

the price is 14k and an after market route 66 warranty is about 3k for 4years and 48k. that seems like a great deal to me even if it isnt the most reliable car.

now on to the real worries, it has about 800 miles left on the turbo warranty. how likely are they to fail after that? and how about the fuel injectors? at 81k they cant be in good shape. should i snatch it up or run for the hills?

I JUST LOVE THIS LITTLE CAR