E92 325i in space grey with the N52B25
Discussion
Hi all,
I’ve owned my 2006 E92 325i since last September and have done 2500 miles in it. It’s a very tidy car so I thought I’d do a thread on it.
So, how did I end up with this car? Well, originally I wanted one of the M lites, be it M135i, M140i, M235i or M240i. Car prices back in September were pretty bonkers and interest rates were high so I thought now isn’t the best time.
I was drawn to something with the N52 engine because they’re affordable and have a reputation for reliability. A E82 125i was my ideal choice, but tidy one’s command too much money as they’re rare. My previous car was a E81 116i so I didn’t want another 1 series so that wrote off the 130i as an option.
I then started looking at E92s. At the time, none of the 330i’s up for sale caught my eye and as I wanted an N52, I needed to get one no older than 2007 which limited my options massively. There were many more 325i’s for sale which lead me to the one I eventually bought.
About the car:
- Only one previous owner from new which is pretty rare for a car this age.
- Full BMW service history.
- 80,500 miles at the time of purchase.
- It has the 2.5l N52B25 rather than the 3l N52B30. The N52B25 apparently has different piston rings to the N25B30 so oil consumption is a known issue but so far no issues with this. Due to the relatively low mileage and service history, hopefully this doesn’t become an issue.
Spec:
- Space grey which is just lovely.
- Automatic transmission.
- iDrive which I wanted to fit CarPlay.
- leather electric heated seats.
- Auto dipping power fold wing mirrors.
- Xenon’s which came as standard on all E92s.
- SE trim which wasn’t ideal but the E92 is such a good looking car so even in SE trim it still looks great and pretty sporty.
- 19 inch 230 style wheels.
The car is lovely to drive. It isn’t particularly fast at only 215bhp and not much low down torque, but the N52 likes to be revved and makes a nice sound, so you can have fun with it. I live in London too so the power is very useable for the type of driving I do.
Future plans? I plan to get the ZF6 transmission serviced soon. I also need to fit CarPlay and would like to buy the performance automatic shifter and gaitor.
Here is the car. Pretty crap pictures tbh but it looked good today in the sun so took some snaps lol.
I have had some issues but I will detail these in separate posts over the next few days. Thanks for reading.
I’ve owned my 2006 E92 325i since last September and have done 2500 miles in it. It’s a very tidy car so I thought I’d do a thread on it.
So, how did I end up with this car? Well, originally I wanted one of the M lites, be it M135i, M140i, M235i or M240i. Car prices back in September were pretty bonkers and interest rates were high so I thought now isn’t the best time.
I was drawn to something with the N52 engine because they’re affordable and have a reputation for reliability. A E82 125i was my ideal choice, but tidy one’s command too much money as they’re rare. My previous car was a E81 116i so I didn’t want another 1 series so that wrote off the 130i as an option.
I then started looking at E92s. At the time, none of the 330i’s up for sale caught my eye and as I wanted an N52, I needed to get one no older than 2007 which limited my options massively. There were many more 325i’s for sale which lead me to the one I eventually bought.
About the car:
- Only one previous owner from new which is pretty rare for a car this age.
- Full BMW service history.
- 80,500 miles at the time of purchase.
- It has the 2.5l N52B25 rather than the 3l N52B30. The N52B25 apparently has different piston rings to the N25B30 so oil consumption is a known issue but so far no issues with this. Due to the relatively low mileage and service history, hopefully this doesn’t become an issue.
Spec:
- Space grey which is just lovely.
- Automatic transmission.
- iDrive which I wanted to fit CarPlay.
- leather electric heated seats.
- Auto dipping power fold wing mirrors.
- Xenon’s which came as standard on all E92s.
- SE trim which wasn’t ideal but the E92 is such a good looking car so even in SE trim it still looks great and pretty sporty.
- 19 inch 230 style wheels.
The car is lovely to drive. It isn’t particularly fast at only 215bhp and not much low down torque, but the N52 likes to be revved and makes a nice sound, so you can have fun with it. I live in London too so the power is very useable for the type of driving I do.
Future plans? I plan to get the ZF6 transmission serviced soon. I also need to fit CarPlay and would like to buy the performance automatic shifter and gaitor.
Here is the car. Pretty crap pictures tbh but it looked good today in the sun so took some snaps lol.
I have had some issues but I will detail these in separate posts over the next few days. Thanks for reading.
Edited by DKIE92 on Saturday 30th March 20:19
Mad Maximus said:
Good buy and nice kit. SE looks better than sport imo. Watch out for those pesky pot holes with those wheels! Any interior shots?
Cheers. Oh don’t get me started on pot holes. It’s a nightmare in my area. In doesn’t help that the previous owner put on run flats. 19inch wheels and run flats are not a good combination. I’m surprised I haven’t had a blow out yet. I’ve been occasionally browsing eBay for MV3 wheels which are 18inches so would provide a more comfortable ride. I can’t swallow the cost right now though so I think I’ll stick it out with these run flats for a while longer as they still have decent tread on them and then decide what I want to do. I’ll probably end up keeping the current wheels but put some Kumho non run flat tyres on them.
I’ll get some interior shots tomorrow!
That is lovely, I'm biased as I used to own one - but the SE looks right on the twists. As the others have said, careful on potholes! I took the run flats off my twists and they still cracked.
I took mine (35D) to 197k and the condition was great still, they're well made these. Silly things like the seatbelt butlers broke, but a chap on eBay fixes them for cheap.
I took mine (35D) to 197k and the condition was great still, they're well made these. Silly things like the seatbelt butlers broke, but a chap on eBay fixes them for cheap.
DKIE92 said:
Mad Maximus said:
Good buy and nice kit. SE looks better than sport imo. Watch out for those pesky pot holes with those wheels! Any interior shots?
Cheers. Oh don’t get me started on pot holes. It’s a nightmare in my area. In doesn’t help that the previous owner put on run flats. 19inch wheels and run flats are not a good combination. I’m surprised I haven’t had a blow out yet. I’ve been occasionally browsing eBay for MV3 wheels which are 18inches so would provide a more comfortable ride. I can’t swallow the cost right now though so I think I’ll stick it out with these run flats for a while longer as they still have decent tread on them and then decide what I want to do. I’ll probably end up keeping the current wheels but put some Kumho non run flat tyres on them.
I’ll get some interior shots tomorrow!
CornedBeef said:
That is lovely, I'm biased as I used to own one - but the SE looks right on the twists. As the others have said, careful on potholes! I took the run flats off my twists and they still cracked.
I took mine (35D) to 197k and the condition was great still, they're well made these. Silly things like the seatbelt butlers broke, but a chap on eBay fixes them for cheap.
Cheers. Yeah these E9* cars are very well built. Before viewing the car I didn’t know what to expect with build quality as I’d never been in one. The car felt almost brand new. No interior rattles which is amazing for an 18 year old car.I took mine (35D) to 197k and the condition was great still, they're well made these. Silly things like the seatbelt butlers broke, but a chap on eBay fixes them for cheap.
Mad Maximus said:
DKIE92 said:
Mad Maximus said:
Good buy and nice kit. SE looks better than sport imo. Watch out for those pesky pot holes with those wheels! Any interior shots?
Cheers. Oh don’t get me started on pot holes. It’s a nightmare in my area. In doesn’t help that the previous owner put on run flats. 19inch wheels and run flats are not a good combination. I’m surprised I haven’t had a blow out yet. I’ve been occasionally browsing eBay for MV3 wheels which are 18inches so would provide a more comfortable ride. I can’t swallow the cost right now though so I think I’ll stick it out with these run flats for a while longer as they still have decent tread on them and then decide what I want to do. I’ll probably end up keeping the current wheels but put some Kumho non run flat tyres on them.
I’ll get some interior shots tomorrow!
Here are some interior shots. It’s very tidy and a lovely place to be in. Unfortunately the quality of these pictures seems to massively decrease when uploading it so these pics don’t do it justice. If there’s a better way to upload pictures to preserve the quality, do let me know.
A few more exterior pics
Ignore the massive bird **** in the middle of the windscreen
A few more exterior pics
Ignore the massive bird **** in the middle of the windscreen
That's a really smart E92. 
I had a couple of BMW Z4 coupes with the N52 engine and thought it was fantastic.
So when I decided I wanted a manual E91 Touring in 2018 it had to have the N52, but 330is were silly money so I bought a 325i SE with 3 former keepers, 132K miles but full BMWSH and it served me well for a year. Well apart from the electric water pump dying at 135K!
But it didn't feel that quick (the Z4s probably didn't help) so in 2019 the hunt began again with similar results, as in 330is being twice the price of 325is. So I made a different compromise and bought a manual E90 330i SE that had done 107K miles and just had a new cam-cover gasket fitted. It has now done nearly 125K miles and still performs brilliantly. And it has the split/fold rear seat option as well as Xenons.
I'd be pretty wary of using those Style 230 wheels with run-flats though!
I bought a set of Style 295s that look very similar for my last 3 litre Z4 that are staggered 18s from an E89 Z4.
I had a couple of BMW Z4 coupes with the N52 engine and thought it was fantastic.
So when I decided I wanted a manual E91 Touring in 2018 it had to have the N52, but 330is were silly money so I bought a 325i SE with 3 former keepers, 132K miles but full BMWSH and it served me well for a year. Well apart from the electric water pump dying at 135K!
But it didn't feel that quick (the Z4s probably didn't help) so in 2019 the hunt began again with similar results, as in 330is being twice the price of 325is. So I made a different compromise and bought a manual E90 330i SE that had done 107K miles and just had a new cam-cover gasket fitted. It has now done nearly 125K miles and still performs brilliantly. And it has the split/fold rear seat option as well as Xenons.
I'd be pretty wary of using those Style 230 wheels with run-flats though!
I bought a set of Style 295s that look very similar for my last 3 litre Z4 that are staggered 18s from an E89 Z4.
Mr Tidy said:
That's a really smart E92.
I had a couple of BMW Z4 coupes with the N52 engine and thought it was fantastic.
So when I decided I wanted a manual E91 Touring in 2018 it had to have the N52, but 330is were silly money so I bought a 325i SE with 3 former keepers, 132K miles but full BMWSH and it served me well for a year. Well apart from the electric water pump dying at 135K!
But it didn't feel that quick (the Z4s probably didn't help) so in 2019 the hunt began again with similar results, as in 330is being twice the price of 325is. So I made a different compromise and bought a manual E90 330i SE that had done 107K miles and just had a new cam-cover gasket fitted. It has now done nearly 125K miles and still performs brilliantly. And it has the split/fold rear seat option as well as Xenons.
I'd be pretty wary of using those Style 230 wheels with run-flats though!
I bought a set of Style 295s that look very similar for my last 3 litre Z4 that are staggered 18s from an E89 Z4.
Thanks mate. Yeah it’s not that quick, but it does pull well from around 3k RPM. The lack of low down torque does make it feel abit sluggish. The 6cyl engine is still a pleasure to drive though as it’s so refined and smooth. It’s a good fit for London driving I’d say. My average speed is 11mph lol. I had a couple of BMW Z4 coupes with the N52 engine and thought it was fantastic.
So when I decided I wanted a manual E91 Touring in 2018 it had to have the N52, but 330is were silly money so I bought a 325i SE with 3 former keepers, 132K miles but full BMWSH and it served me well for a year. Well apart from the electric water pump dying at 135K!
But it didn't feel that quick (the Z4s probably didn't help) so in 2019 the hunt began again with similar results, as in 330is being twice the price of 325is. So I made a different compromise and bought a manual E90 330i SE that had done 107K miles and just had a new cam-cover gasket fitted. It has now done nearly 125K miles and still performs brilliantly. And it has the split/fold rear seat option as well as Xenons.
I'd be pretty wary of using those Style 230 wheels with run-flats though!
I bought a set of Style 295s that look very similar for my last 3 litre Z4 that are staggered 18s from an E89 Z4.
How would you compare the power between the 325i and 330i? The 330i up about 50bhp so I’d imagine there’s a pretty big difference.
Lovely Z4. The N52 must be a lot of fun in that chassis. First time heard I’ve of the 295 style wheels. They do look exactly like mine but just smaller. Looks great on the Z4.
DKIE92 said:
Thanks mate. Yeah it’s not that quick, but it does pull well from around 3k RPM. The lack of low down torque does make it feel abit sluggish. The 6cyl engine is still a pleasure to drive though as it’s so refined and smooth. It’s a good fit for London driving I’d say. My average speed is 11mph lol.
How would you compare the power between the 325i and 330i? The 330i up about 50bhp so I’d imagine there’s a pretty big difference.
Lovely Z4. The N52 must be a lot of fun in that chassis. First time heard I’ve of the 295 style wheels. They do look exactly like mine but just smaller. Looks great on the Z4.
I think BMW only quoted another 40bhp for the 330i, but it's noticeably quicker than the 325i possibly helped by being a Saloon so probably a bit lighter than my 325i Touring. You're right about the lack of low-down torque, but I don't think the high gearing helps with 2,000 rpm in 6th being about 58mph. When I get baulked on a Motorway the 330i picks up speed reasonably well in 6th, but the 325i needed a downshift or two. Although given how well they rev it wasn't a big hardship!How would you compare the power between the 325i and 330i? The 330i up about 50bhp so I’d imagine there’s a pretty big difference.
Lovely Z4. The N52 must be a lot of fun in that chassis. First time heard I’ve of the 295 style wheels. They do look exactly like mine but just smaller. Looks great on the Z4.
The N52 feels much quicker in a Z4 as it's a bit lighter, and probably exaggerated by sitting so low and having a bit more of a soundtrack. The E9*s are a little bit too refined for my liking, but it does make them very relaxing for covering long distances.
Funnily enough I got the 295 wheels from another Z4 owner who had replaced them with Style 230s!
So I mentioned in the original post that I have had a few issues with the car. I’ll detail these issues below:
1) Blown upper radiator hose.
On my way to work, a s
t load of steam started coming from the engine bay. I was on the North Circular but luckily this happened when I was stuck in traffic and where there was a pavement I could pull on to.
The AA came after about an hour, I thought it would be much longer considering it was morning rush hour. After removing the air box, it was revealed that the upper radiator hose had blown clean off.
A BMW dealership was near, so off we went to buy a new hose and some coolant. It was quickly fitted and I was up and running again. Ex VAT, the cost was £49.51 for the hose and £29.36 for 3L of coolant.
I had only owned the car for about a month when this happened, so the dealer I bought it off refunded me the cost, no questions asked. He also gave the engine bay a clean because it was covered in coolant.
This encouraged me to do some preventative maintenance. I replaced the Mickey Mouse hose which is a common failure point as the plastic flange degrades over time. I did consider replacing the lower radiator hose, but as that hose runs cooler than the upper radiator hose so shouldn’t be as worn, and because it’s possible to crack the connector on the radiator trying to remove it as it’s been on there for 18 years, I decided to leave that.
2) Tensioner pulley and serpentine belt
Soon after the coolant hose drama, I was starting to get concerned that the serpentine belt was slipping off the tensioner pulley. It’s common for the oil filter housing gasket to leak and contaminate the serpentine belt, causing it to slip. A quick check showed there was no oil leak, so it was likely to be the tensioner pulley on its way out.
Again, as I had not owned the car for long, the dealer sorted this and fitted a new tensioner pulley and serpentine belt.
Here’s what it looked like. You can clearly see the belt is slightly sitting off the pulley.
3) Valvetronic motor gasket leak and cracked valve cover.
About 4 months later the car developed an oil leak from the valve cover. The oil was dripping down from the top so it wasn’t the usual valve cover gasket.
After taking it to a garage, they found an oil leak from the valvetronic motor gasket, which is also pretty common. They also found a crack around the edge of the valve cover, it wasn’t causing a leak but screw it, whilst it’s there I thought let’s just replace the entire valve cover as it comes with all new gaskets and a new PCV valve which is built into it.
They also found a leaking sump gasket which I decided to leave for now. Sump gaskets tend to weep so I don’t see that as urgent. I will probably get it done when I get it MOT’d in July.
Total cost - £442.80 for the valve cover and £160 for 2 hours of labour.
That’s all the issues so far. Nothing out of the ordinary and common for this age of BMW. The car is in a good place right now (bar the sump gasket) so fingers crossed this continues.
1) Blown upper radiator hose.
On my way to work, a s
t load of steam started coming from the engine bay. I was on the North Circular but luckily this happened when I was stuck in traffic and where there was a pavement I could pull on to. The AA came after about an hour, I thought it would be much longer considering it was morning rush hour. After removing the air box, it was revealed that the upper radiator hose had blown clean off.
A BMW dealership was near, so off we went to buy a new hose and some coolant. It was quickly fitted and I was up and running again. Ex VAT, the cost was £49.51 for the hose and £29.36 for 3L of coolant.
I had only owned the car for about a month when this happened, so the dealer I bought it off refunded me the cost, no questions asked. He also gave the engine bay a clean because it was covered in coolant.
This encouraged me to do some preventative maintenance. I replaced the Mickey Mouse hose which is a common failure point as the plastic flange degrades over time. I did consider replacing the lower radiator hose, but as that hose runs cooler than the upper radiator hose so shouldn’t be as worn, and because it’s possible to crack the connector on the radiator trying to remove it as it’s been on there for 18 years, I decided to leave that.
2) Tensioner pulley and serpentine belt
Soon after the coolant hose drama, I was starting to get concerned that the serpentine belt was slipping off the tensioner pulley. It’s common for the oil filter housing gasket to leak and contaminate the serpentine belt, causing it to slip. A quick check showed there was no oil leak, so it was likely to be the tensioner pulley on its way out.
Again, as I had not owned the car for long, the dealer sorted this and fitted a new tensioner pulley and serpentine belt.
Here’s what it looked like. You can clearly see the belt is slightly sitting off the pulley.
3) Valvetronic motor gasket leak and cracked valve cover.
About 4 months later the car developed an oil leak from the valve cover. The oil was dripping down from the top so it wasn’t the usual valve cover gasket.
After taking it to a garage, they found an oil leak from the valvetronic motor gasket, which is also pretty common. They also found a crack around the edge of the valve cover, it wasn’t causing a leak but screw it, whilst it’s there I thought let’s just replace the entire valve cover as it comes with all new gaskets and a new PCV valve which is built into it.
They also found a leaking sump gasket which I decided to leave for now. Sump gaskets tend to weep so I don’t see that as urgent. I will probably get it done when I get it MOT’d in July.
Total cost - £442.80 for the valve cover and £160 for 2 hours of labour.
That’s all the issues so far. Nothing out of the ordinary and common for this age of BMW. The car is in a good place right now (bar the sump gasket) so fingers crossed this continues.
Edited by DKIE92 on Wednesday 3rd April 11:25
So this happened and it was completely my fault. I was parallel parking and scraped the car in front. Absolutely kicking myself for it as I’ve never done something like this in 11 years of driving.
It happened in a residential area so I knocked on a few doors and was able to find the owner who was incredibly chilled about it. After wiping the residue of paint that transferred from my car, they said not to worry about it. It was a 2017 Mercedes A200d. I’ve no idea how people can just drive off after damaging a car, my conscious couldn’t handle doing that.
I got a quote from a reputable mobile scuff repairer of £165. Not bad at all.
All things considered, this isn’t too bad of a situation to be in. Atleast I’m not paying to repair 2 cars so I’m thankful for that. The damage is also a scuff so cheaper to fix compared to if there was a crack or dent.
Edited by DKIE92 on Sunday 7th April 18:30
That's annoying, but luckily it's only a scuff so can be fixed.
My E90 330i got a tap in the rear last year and the bumper cover got a couple of tiny cracks that apparently can't be repaired. A new bumper cover from BMW was almost £650 in primer, so now I've got a Cat N.
I'm pretty sure it is leaking from the sump too, but as I think the sub-frame has to come off to remove the sump it's cheaper to just keep topping it up!
My E90 330i got a tap in the rear last year and the bumper cover got a couple of tiny cracks that apparently can't be repaired. A new bumper cover from BMW was almost £650 in primer, so now I've got a Cat N.
I'm pretty sure it is leaking from the sump too, but as I think the sub-frame has to come off to remove the sump it's cheaper to just keep topping it up!
Mr Tidy said:
That's annoying, but luckily it's only a scuff so can be fixed.
My E90 330i got a tap in the rear last year and the bumper cover got a couple of tiny cracks that apparently can't be repaired. A new bumper cover from BMW was almost £650 in primer, so now I've got a Cat N.
I'm pretty sure it is leaking from the sump too, but as I think the sub-frame has to come off to remove the sump it's cheaper to just keep topping it up!
Yeah I’m very lucky the damage is pretty minor. Ah that’s annoying about your bumper.My E90 330i got a tap in the rear last year and the bumper cover got a couple of tiny cracks that apparently can't be repaired. A new bumper cover from BMW was almost £650 in primer, so now I've got a Cat N.
I'm pretty sure it is leaking from the sump too, but as I think the sub-frame has to come off to remove the sump it's cheaper to just keep topping it up!
Yup, the sub frame does have to come off I believe. I got quoted 4 hours of labour to do it. At £80 an hour at my Indy that’s just over £300, so not too bad. Good thing the gasket is cheap. I’m not anticipating having to do anything at all during the car’s MOT in July so may just get the gasket changed then.
Quick snap in the work car park. The tyres look so thin but I promise they’re at the right pressure lol
I think I’ll finally get round to installing carplay soon. There’s a lot of options but I’ll most likely be going for an Andream screen rather than the MMI box. The screen looks easier to install and has a mic built in so no need to wire an external one as you would with an MMI box.
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