Should I Make This Purchase (135i)?

[Arrtus]

Hello all,

I'm looking into getting an N54 135i and have been searching for some time now. I was trying to mainly get one that's clean and add my own modifications on it but, as many of you may know, these vehicles are hard to find with the manual transmissions. Anyway, there is one I found that has been heavily modified and definitely driven hard. I wanted to get your inputs on this car before I go see it and let its look deceive me into impulse buying.

The car is a 2008 135i, 127K miles with a clean and clear title. The owner has been honest with me the whole time I have been talking to him and has told me the issues it has. Mainly the car needs a new clutch and needed a differential due to a clicking noise but I think that has been fixed. He has stated that the clutch had been replaced 6K miles ago and is in need of replacement which results to it slipping out of gear at higher RPM. 6K miles for a clutch is extremely low but, after researching it, the clutch is not rated for the amount of power this car is putting down (clutch masters stage 3, rated for 110% stock power).

I'm told that it's putting down roughly 550WHP with an E85 mix. It has been driven hard, raced and been at the drag strip.

The mods are as follows:

down pipes
FMIC
relocated turbo inlets
charge pipe + BOV
upgraded TD04 turbos
tuned on JB4 and MHD BEF
CF hood and trunk

The engine has "tons of new parts and gaskets from top to bottom and walnut blasted."

Priced at $15K

Would you guys go for this car? I think the owner has had this car for not more than 3 or 4 months. I'm a little hesitant given that it has been driven hard but I want to see what you guys think. Anything specific to look out for? I really love the color and have had little to no luck finding a clean one, cosmetically speaking. I can deal with mechanical issues though. If this was any other type of car, one that's more common, I would have passed on it. But given how hard it seems to be to find an N54 hard top with a manual transmission, I'm leaning towards this one.

Any and all input is welcomed! Thank you

[blue135]

Sounds like this thing has been rode hard and put away wet too many times.
If you are looking for something just for track use and are willing to spend to meet its needs, go for it. Otherwise I would tread softly around it.

[NorthernDancer]

I would pass:
1. why selling after only 3/4 months; methinks something wrong with car
2. owner likely doesn't know all the history of the car
3. a used 135 should come with complete maintenance records
4. unless you know N54s really well, stay away. They drain wallets really fast
5. spend some money on driving schools; the drivers is usually the weakest link in making a fast car go fast.
I had to go 1200 miles away to find my car. 9 years now and no major problems.

[Thunderguts]

It would be a hard pass for me. You don't know the quality of the work that was done or what corners may have been cut. The price isn't even that great considering the other negatives you mentioned. Maybe if it were under $10k I'd be willing to take a risk...

[stein_325i]

Nope, way too much money for a large risk.

[tracer bullet]

Agreed! I put a Cobb tune on mine, and then just drive to work, LOL. So there's a chance an enthusiast did stuff and actually babied the car. I'm not getting that sense this time around however. I'd definitely be nervous.

[Edrift]

Selling after only 3 or 4 months? Hardly ever going to be a legitimate reason for that.
$15k (USD I assume) sounds like a lot of money for something with so many miles.

Just be patient and the right car will come to you.

[iminhell1]

Ya, that's a $9,000 car.

The TD04 turbos, screams Ebay. And they are really hit or miss for quality, more miss than anything. If it where some reputable one, he'd mention it.
Hood and trunk go for about $2,000 combined.
The other upgraded parts, probably about $2,000 also.

So in that regard, and if that's the work you wanted to do, the price isn't that out of line. But it's assuming the work is done well and the parts are in good working order.

I would say the big thing to ask is if the injectors have been done; updated to "index 12"?
If he says they have, get proof. Work order from BMW, invoice for the injectors, anything that proves the claim. If they haven't, absolute walk away. They are very prone to cause problems on early N54's and there was a recall for the '07-'08's. Some later cars also got the recall but not all of them. You can look up the cost of injectors, but parts alone you're looking about $1,400.


Used differential from a slavage yard can be had pretty cheap. I'm an auto (different than manual) and I picked one up for $50 with 70,000'ish on it. Jump on carpart.com and search around you.

[ethan82]

I wouldn’t touch that car for the price!

Also if you’re mechanically-inclined, check the insurance auctions. Takes nothing to total a 1er now a days.

[Arrtus]

Thank you everyone for the input. I am going to just pass on it at this point.

Hopefully a clean one comes up in the near future because I'm starting to get impatient haha. I've even debated on jumping on an N55 135i because of how clean it is but I feel like I'd regret not waiting for an N54 later on once I start pushing for more power.

[Petro135]

Just saw a red 2011 mt, coupe with like 80k miles on car gurus. Think it was $15-16k . Still alot for the mileage, but the MT's cost more if you can find them

[..Rush..]

Any of you guys watch 'Car Wizard " on YouTube?
He's got alot to say about buying a modded car vs stock.

[Gangplank]

Originally Posted by Arrtus

Thank you everyone for the input. I am going to just pass on it at this point.

Hopefully a clean one comes up in the near future because I'm starting to get impatient haha. I've even debated on jumping on an N55 135i because of how clean it is but I feel like I'd regret not waiting for an N54 later on once I start pushing for more power.

Good call to pass on that car. You didn't say what your goals are for the car. Daily driver or track toy?

If you are looking for reliability a heavily modded car is not what you want. If you want just power then n54 modded up might be for you. Modifications and hard driving means the car requires more maintenance.

[swunder]

Originally Posted by ..Rush..

Any of you guys watch 'Car Wizard " on YouTube?
He's got alot to say about buying a modded car vs stock.

Yes love that channel! And Hoovie too.

His Boxster example was a REAL bad one. Similarly I'd never buy a car like in OP unless it was specifically to be a track toy (for less money too).

However I don't love all the hate for modded cars. Plenty of examples on this forum alone of people with well regarded parts, installed by professional shops with cars that seem to be taken care of. Yet any mods pretty much get blasted as not worth anything to the buyer even if that buyer wants them anyway. As if everyone's hand picked parts and shop will be so much 'better' than the previous guy's.

[Arrtus]

Originally Posted by Gangplank

Good call to pass on that car. You didn't say what your goals are for the car. Daily driver or track toy?

If you are looking for reliability a heavily modded car is not what you want. If you want just power then n54 modded up might be for you. Modifications and hard driving means the car requires more maintenance.

The goal was to find a daily and to eventually mod it up to around 500WHP. That's why when I found this one, I figured it may be better since most of the mods that I would have gotten were already there but I'm worried I'd be spending more time under the hood than in the car.

I found an extremely clean N55 but I am uncertain if it will be able to handle that type of power. I've done a lot of reading on those engines and there's not too much info on their capabilities. I've read a lot of forum posts that all say something different.

[tracer bullet]

Originally Posted by Arrtus

I've read a lot of forum posts that all say something different.

This is definitely true. It's been said a lot the N55 can't handle the power, but few specifics as to why. Sometimes things get repeated until they become true even if they weren't. It may be true of course but reading it a lot alone without backup doesn't necessarily make it so.

I think I'd look for specific builds form people posting their mods and results, and go from there. If you find high HP N55 owners with good reliability that means one thing, if you find them all saying they killed their engines that means another. But don't put too much into people just repeating things if they don't have details to back it up.