Advice on a 2011 335d

Hey all,

I have been a long time lurker, and this is my first post so please pardon my lack of brevity.

Well, I recently bought an e350 to replace my infiniti - wanted a 535i xdrive but the HPFP failed DURING the test drive of the one I had my eye on. Sort of turned me off a bit so I went against my heart an got the Merc. Well, I can't seem to get my wife out of it! So, I am thinking about replacing her Volvo S80 (nice car, but it is just not me) and I have been looking at a few 2011 335d's. Not sure if it is reasonable, but I am a bit fearful of the 5's at least for the time being.

I absolutely love the ride and the power of this car - definitely enough for me -I drove a few 335i's as well and I don't really need that much. The issue here is that I don't know much at all about diesels. I heard that they are as reliable if not better than gas burners, but I am just not sure.

What are the general sentiments out there about them? Reliability, power over time, maintenance differences etc. Any common issues/failures on them? I tried a few searches, but I don't have time to go through them all as I believe that they may "encourage" me to make a decision tomorrow.

The other question I had was about service loaners for BMWs generally speaking. As you can guess, the one I am interested in was a loaner. However, it was not just your regular short term loaner for a few months but it appears to have been used this way for about a year and a half and say for 25+kmiles (can't tell for sure from the carfax)- 40k total on car. Now the price is lower because of this and that is what is drawing my attention, but isn't that a long time to use a car as a loaner? Do you guys beat on your service loaners when you get them? I would think that this practice would be pretty common, but I am not sure. Any thoughts on loaners/long term loaners or medium to high mileage D's?

The price is pretty good, in fact I think it is the lowest price in the area with the options it has. With that aggressive of a price do you think that they will still have some room to negotiate? I just really wasn't planning on buying 2 cars in 2 months so I am pretty sensitive there.

Sorry about the long post and I appreciate any thoughts that people might have.

Love my car especially the engine. Main dislike is the tranny. Not only will it cost $8000 to replace if it blows past warranty, I also very much miss my E46 manual and how it made me feel connected to the car. Other areas of concern that have been giving high mileage owners fits: 1. Injectors 2. DEF/SCR issues 3. potential turbo issues down the line. 4. The aforementioned transmission.

The torque in this car at highway speeds is amazing. Absolutely no fear when passing on a 2 lane road. Makes the other cars seem like they're standing still.

Check out the diesel forum: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/for...prune=-1&f=154

As magbarn says, EGR/SCR has been the main concerns. There has been speculation that the EGR use (especially in light load situations) is causing carbon buildup. SCR system is just so new it's got reliability problems because it's overly complex.

The diesel forum has only seen a couple transmission failures; don't think it's that expensive.

Transmission (new part) is $5,000. Don't know what the install labor would be. I would not expect that it would be more than 8 hours - but that is just a guess. Still not cheap - but not $8,000.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback, I will head over to the diesel forum and do some research.

Any thoughts on long term higher mile (for the age) loaners? I am concerned, but not enough to be scared off, especially on a diesel where if what I read/heard is true 40k is nothing. But is it just 40k or is it more of a very HARD 40k, and is that still nothing?

Originally Posted by ddeliber

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback, I will head over to the diesel forum and do some research.

Any thoughts on long term higher mile (for the age) loaners? I am concerned, but not enough to be scared off, especially on a diesel where if what I read/heard is true 40k is nothing. But is it just 40k or is it more of a very HARD 40k, and is that still nothing?

From my personal experience I would get 335d any day over other BMWs. I havent had any problems in 3.5yr/41k miles of ownership. I plan to get extended warranty due to recent carbon build up issues. But I would stay away from such high mile loaner. Only because I live close to highway which leads to 2 dealerships in my area(peabody and tulley). I see 2-3 loaners every week and majority drive like they stole it. I am pretty sure I see those drivers in their normal cars too but didnt notice them for obvious reasons.

Check out classifieds on this forum Good luck

Originally Posted by ddeliber

I absolutely love the ride and the power of this car - definitely enough for me -I drove a few 335i's as well and I don't really need that much. The issue here is that I don't know much at all about diesels. I heard that they are as reliable if not better than gas burners, but I am just not sure.

A diesel will last as long as you care to drive it - 1,000,000 miles can easily be done.

More efficient that gasoline mills, yet fuel is more expensive than premium gas on average.

Result: Bit lower fuel expense.

Imported diesel 5; 7 could be a winner....

Originally Posted by ddeliber

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback, I will head over to the diesel forum and do some research.

Any thoughts on long term higher mile (for the age) loaners? I am concerned, but not enough to be scared off, especially on a diesel where if what I read/heard is true 40k is nothing. But is it just 40k or is it more of a very HARD 40k, and is that still nothing?

Diesels thrive on hard use. It's the light use diesel that may develop problems, though BMW may have engineered that out of their equation.

You diesel BMW people, what do you know?

the 335d engine is a torque monster. I wish that I had bought one.

Originally Posted by bimmerdiesel

From my personal experience I would get 335d any day over other BMWs. I havent had any problems in 3.5yr/41k miles of ownership. I plan to get extended warranty due to recent carbon build up issues. But I would stay away from such high mile loaner. Only because I live close to highway which leads to 2 dealerships in my area(peabody and tulley). I see 2-3 loaners every week and majority drive like they stole it. I am pretty sure I see those drivers in their normal cars too but didnt notice them for obvious reasons.

Check out classifieds on this forum Good luck

How much is the walnut shell carbon blasting? Given the ext warranty is so expensive, if all I did was carbon buildup removal, would it be enough to offset the warranty cost? I'm worried about carbon buildup too as the majority of my miles are highway driving

Originally Posted by magbarn

How much is the walnut shell carbon blasting? Given the ext warranty is so expensive, if all I did was carbon buildup removal, would it be enough to offset the warranty cost? I'm worried about carbon buildup too as the majority of my miles are highway driving

$600

Or, you do THIS

Originally Posted by magbarn

How much is the walnut shell carbon blasting? Given the ext warranty is so expensive, if all I did was carbon buildup removal, would it be enough to offset the warranty cost? I'm worried about carbon buildup too as the majority of my miles are highway driving

FYI - Intake valve coking typically happens at 60k mi, usually if visiting the realm of high rpm frequently.

Appears to be the result of PCV blow-by and many who live for danger install a catch can, a basic impingement filter. Some also install a 3rd party PCV valve [RBTURBO] reputed to reduce blow-by.

Good discussion.

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

FYI - Intake valve coking typically happens at 60k mi, usually if visiting the realm of high rpm frequently.

Appears to be the result of PCV blow-by and many who live for danger install a catch can, a basic impingement filter. Some also install a 3rd party PCV valve reputed to reduce blow-by.

Call, you're way off base - this is a thread about DIESEL 335d, and you're talking about gasoline engines. The (alleged) carbon build-up on diesel engines is *NOT* due to blow-by, but excessive too-cool exhaust dumped into the intake by the EGR valve (which gassers don't have).

Get a brain.

Originally Posted by floydarogers

Call, you're way off base - this is a thread about DIESEL 335d, and you're talking about gasoline engines. The (alleged) carbon build-up on diesel engines is *NOT* due to blow-by, but excessive too-cool exhaust dumped into the intake by the EGR valve (which gassers don't have).

Get a brain.

So the interesting thing to add here for me is that one of the 335d that I was looking at had its transfer module/computer re-programmed and its intake manifold and head replaced (from the carfax). Based on what I have read over the past day or so here, it looks like that is the solution that they are going with on the D's.

Do you or anyone else know if this is a wide spread issue with this engine, any thoughts on the walnut shell treatment on a diesel?

Do diesels also use port injection as that is what I thought I read somewhere? Would it make a difference if it is an EGR valve problem? Do you know if this is a design issue with the valve or is it the same with all EGRs?

Any additional thoughts would also be helpful.

Both 335i and 335d are direct injection. I thought it was only the 335i that had the intake valve carbon buid up issue. I have seen the diesel EGRs get cacked up with build up but not heard that the intake manifold and valves got loaded up. The catch can thing will only install on the gasser as well.

Can someone explain why a lightly driven diesel is more apt to be problematic? Is it that the DPF will not regenerate often? I have a short 5 mile drive to work with max speed of 45 to 50 mph so i fit the light driver description. For this reason, i try to give the D an Italian tune up on the weekend

Originally Posted by floydarogers

Call, you're way off base - this is a thread about DIESEL 335d, and you're talking about gasoline engines. The (alleged) carbon build-up on diesel engines is *NOT* due to blow-by, but excessive too-cool exhaust dumped into the intake by the EGR valve (which gassers don't have).

Get a brain.

Aieeeeeee! When yer right, yer right!

Thanks everyone for all of the input. It has been very helpful, at least now I know what to look for and which questions to ask. I am going to take a 3 hr drive tomorrow morning down to take a look at the two 335ds that I have been considering for the past few days. Hopefully, everything works out, there are no issues with the cars and I can work out a good enough deal to drive one of them home. Wish me luck.

Any updates?

Originally Posted by ddeliber

So the interesting thing to add here for me is that one of the 335d that I was looking at had its transfer module/computer re-programmed ...
Do diesels also use port injection as that is what I thought I read somewhere? Would it make a difference if it is an EGR valve problem? Do you know if this is a design issue with the valve or is it the same with all EGRs?.

The recall done about 6 months ago replaced most EGRs with a new one, and reprogrammed the ECU (DDE). Apparently, BMW learned something from the failures (including coking of valves) and needed to change things to make the engine more reliably pass emissions tests (EGR is part of the emissions system, which is obviously a critical system to the feds.)

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

Can someone explain why a lightly driven diesel is more apt to be problematic? Is it that the DPF will not regenerate often? I have a short 5 mile drive to work with max speed of 45 to 50 mph so i fit the light driver description.

NOx reduction for diesel engines is complex and I don't pretend to understand it. But my impression is that most people having problems are not long-distance highway drivers. Several posters (mostly on the diesel forum) have well over 100K miles and have never had problems; most people reporting problems have many fewer miles (presumably city/low speed.) Also, I don't believe I've seen many X5d's with problems - their motors are more heavily loaded. TDIwyse has posted some info from his OBD data logger on EGR duty cycles that is interesting to look at.

The EGR has almost nothing to do with DPF regen cycles.

It's been pretty well accepted that BMW has been using the USA/CA as a beta test site for their new emissions control systems that they will be required to fit on EU cars in 2014.

Originally Posted by 3ismagic#

Any updates?

Well it is official, I am a proud new owner of a black on black 2011 335d (prem, cw, Nav and a few other smallish options) with 22k miles, my first BMW. Man is it a blast to drive, but it will take some getting used to that is for sure. It seemed that every time I looked down at the speedo I was over 90. Had to start using the cruise control. 36.1 mpg over 177 miles according to the trip computer at I'd guess an average of 80mph while on the highway (71mph on the computer but with two stops + tolls). Unbelievable!

There is an issue (appearance only) that will require another trip back down to get fixed (oh darn i guess I will have to take another drive). They wanted me to leave it there and come back, um, not a chance. I felt a little bad because it ended up being pretty late and my salesman needed to go (his significant other was waiting for over an hour). However, he knew that if we came to an agreement that I wanted to drive it home and I didn't get a very good deal on my trade so I don't feel that bad about it.

I have two other issues:
1) bluetooth never paired with my Samsung S2. It found it fine and I entered 0000 (second salesman did it as mine had to leave so I am assuming this is the correct code) on both the phone and the car but it wouldn't pair. Any thoughts?
2) Lower back pain... This one is probably because of the 6 hrs of driving so I won't rush to judge.

I'll try to get some pics up soon, but the paint swirls are going to drive me crazy,,,, black cars, love'em and hate em at the same time.

Congrats! Yes it takes practice to keep it under 90mph :-)

I promised a few pics and here they are. Sorry she got dirty during the drive home

Welcome brother! You will enjoy the D. As I am enjoying my X5 D. Did you get the ext warranty?

Originally Posted by L0rd NIk0n

Welcome brother! You will enjoy the D. As I am enjoying my X5 D. Did you get the ext warranty?

Thanks! I love it so far that is for sure. Planning on working on the Ex War next. I saw some references here for a few good dealers to work with, but the first came back with a number that was higher than what others say they got. Any suggestions? I am looking at 7/100 Platinum.

Originally Posted by ddeliber

Thanks! I love it so far that is for sure. Planning on working on the Ex War next. I saw some references here for a few good dealers to work with, but the first came back with a number that was higher than what others say they got. Any suggestions? I am looking at 7/100 Platinum.

I didn't buy a BMW extended warranty for my D but I bought one from the stealership when I bought my used E90 (paid $2400 for a gold 6/100k). However, I think I shouldn't have bought the warranty for the E90 since its a NA inline six with only premium package. However for the X5 D I purchased the MBI from Geico as I figure the risk is minimal with the D since it isn't a daily driver and the BMW extended warranty will time out on me. Despite what the pundits say, GEICO will use OEM parts if requested (confirmed as I been a 10yr+ customer with them).

Contact the site sponsors and compare prices. I think you can buy the BMW warranty at 49999k miles. And I think some forum members have experience with other extended warranty companies.