BMW 335D F30

tylerdurden82

So I'm looking at selling my car and buying something with a lot of power and reasonably economical. Do about 20k miles a year, so it has to be a diesel.

Looking at 2013/2014 BMW 335Ds. After doing a lot of reading on what appears to be a disaster of an engine (320D), seems like the 6 cylinder engines are more reliable.

Would want to buy from the UK as there is so much choice there. Anybody any experience of these cars? Any reliability concerns?

bazz26

The 335d uses the N57 engine which is from the same family and similar design as the N47 found in the 320d so potentially the risk is the same. The only reason you don't hear about as much with the 330d/335d is because they don't sell as many of them as the 320d. For what it's worth I've had 2 cars with the N47 engine and neither suffered any timing chain problems but I know people who haven't been so fortunate. Timing chain failures on 2012/2013 ones are fairly low but but I still like to keep the oil change intervals shorter than the official 30k km BMW recommend.

Wouldn't let that put you off though as the 330d/335d are still superb cars and I don't think you will regret buying one. Super rare this side of the Irish sea though but I hope to own one at some stage.

tylerdurden82

Thanks Bazz.

So it can affect the 6 cylinder engines too? Wow, it really is widespread. Ok I'll keep that in mind.

I find it incredible that this problem is still going, how many years is that now? From what I read on forums in the UK, the 6 cylinder engines are regarded as much more reliable than the 4 cylinder ones. Did BMW ever resolve this?

Looking at 335Ds as the general consensus in the UK is to go the full mile and get the most powerful diesel. I don't want to get a 330D and then wonder what the 335D is like!

carsfan2

I bought a new 330d in 2013. It's a very fast effortless car but lacks refinement and doesn't handle as well as the smaller engines due to the weight of the 3.0 engine.
Make sure to get a highs pec with pro nav upgraded hifi etc. Otherwise they're quite austere.
If you do lots of miles and want more comfort I would go for a 530/535d to be honest as I don't think it would cost more coming from uk and it's a much more comfortable car.

digiman

tylerdurden82 wrote: »

So I'm looking at selling my car and buying something with a lot of power and reasonably economical. Do about 20k miles a year, so it has to be a diesel.

Looking at 2013/2014 BMW 335Ds. After doing a lot of reading on what appears to be a disaster of an engine (320D), seems like the 6 cylinder engines are more reliable.

Would want to buy from the UK as there is so much choice there. Anybody any experience of these cars? Any reliability concerns?

If you are only doing 20k miles a year it doesn't have to be diesel, I would consider the petrol. You won't save very much at the pumps and will pick up a petrol version a little cheaper as well.

The 335d mpg is 37 on fuelly where as a 335i or 340i is around 30 with the 328i being around 33. My own 328i gives around 33mpg so can confirm that these are fairly accurate figures compared to what BMW will state on their website.

bambam

On a long run of motor way and national roads you'll hit 50mpg. Driving short distances and hooning around will give about 37mpg.

It's a good reliable engine, I'd no probs with my e92 330d, and no probs yet with my f30 335d.

It has mandatory X-drive, which is great for pulling out of junctions in typical irish weather. Grip is very impressive compared to the e92.
But, it is extra weight, which you feel in the corners.

As x-drive and m-sport suspension are incompatible, its a more comfortable ride that before. Though, I would highly recommend getting the adaptive suspension option. Without it, the car wallows a bit in the corners.

Also, without m-sport suspension, the car sits quite high. For an improvement, you can lower with ac schnitzel springs.


Other options to chase would be:

* professional nav (the normal one looks awful)
* Harmon Kardon (either get this or upgrade yourself as standard is awful)
* Full black panel display - able to see currently playing tracks/stations in the dash
* Electric front seats with driver memory (great if sharing with a partner


No major concerns on cracked alloys, thankfully BMW seemed to have solved that ridiculous issue.

So all in, it's a great car IMO. And with 0-62 coming in 4.8 seconds, it holds it's own with the likes of the latest hot hatches. There's not too much out there on Irish roads that'll leave it standing.

dunmanus

6 cylinder engines are bulletproof, and nothing like the troublesum four cylinder engine, buy a 525 or a 530d and you should have plenty power, good mpg, reasonable tax and alot more comfort than a 3 series, i have a 08 530d with over 300k on it and not a bother on it.

Wailin

The issue with the timing chain affected cars mostly around 08-10, particularly manual 320/520d with the N47 engine. With a 2013/14 330/335d you will have nothing to worry about regarding the issue so forget about it and don't let that stop you!

Wailin

dunmanus wrote: »

6 cylinder engines are bulletproof, and nothing like the troublesum four cylinder engine, buy a 525 or a 530d and you should have plenty power, good mpg, reasonable tax and alot more comfort than a 3 series, i have a 08 530d with over 300k on it and not a bother on it.

The 525d engine after 2010 was changed to the 2 litre N47, same as the 520d but with twin turbo...

bazz26

dunmanus wrote: »

6 cylinder engines are bulletproof, and nothing like the troublesum four cylinder engine, buy a 525 or a 530d and you should have plenty power, good mpg, reasonable tax and alot more comfort than a 3 series, i have a 08 530d with over 300k on it and not a bother on it.

You are generalising too much there and not comparing like with like with regards engines used by BMW.

The F10 5 Series from 2010 used a different 3.0 litre engine to the 3.0 litre found in the older E60 5 Series. The F10 525d uses a twin turbo version of the 2.0d from the 520d from 2011 onwards. As I already explained earlier the 3.0 litre diesel engine in the F30 3 Series that the OP is interested in is from the the same engine family and design as the 2.0 litre engine that was used up to last year.