E92 330i - daily driver

[Andy665]

With a few work changes underway meaning more mileage I decided to buy something to join the Megane RS265 Cup and A110S to keep annual mileages across them nice and low.

Not having had a BMW on the drive for 6 months I decided to go back and tick off another car from my list.

Man maths said go 320d, everything else said 6 pot petrol - 335i was overkill with the other cars I have, did consider Z4 3.0Si Coupe but 2 x2 seaters did not really make sense.

Whilst budget was fairly flexible I decided an E92 fitted the bill, preferring the shape to newer 3 / 4 series models. Manual was preferable as was non i-Drive (just prefer the cleaner look of the dashboard) and then it was really a case of 325i or 330i and N52 / N53.

330i N52 was (for me) the best option so the search was on, especially as I wanted a car without massive mileage - found the choice was fairly limited but car I have bought popped up and pretty much chose itself.

Full history 2007 330i (one of the last with the N52) and some decent upgrades/

BMW M Performance exhaust, LCI rear lights, M Performance rear spoiler, M140 calipers and semi-floating discs, BBS CH R alloys and Birds Bilstein / Eibach suspension.

Not yet collected but lots of pics supplied and couple of lengthy conversations has me feeling pretty comfortable that there will be no nasty surprises

[Andy665]

Collected today - as hoped for - for the year and mileage (80K) its extremely clean.

Nice surprise in that it has genuine BMW interior LED light conversion, M Performance gear shift and handbrake lever

Also has braided brake hoses and yes, it also has the M3 lower control arms

Drives absolutely beautifully, no slack or slop anywhere in it although a little surprised at how heavy the steering is when parking, probably a consequence of the M3 LCA's, more than worth the trade off because the steering feel is really good at speed.

Few little things I will do to it but its going to be about enhancing what is already there rather than putting anything right

[Andy665]

Been giving the car a deep clean, it was far from bad but definitely looking better for an interior clean with carpets shampooed, mats cleaned, new ones on their way and scrubbing and conditioning of leather.

Interior is just waiting for a new set of trim strips finished in carbon, not really a fan of the strips that have been covered in genuine Alcantarta, nice job done, just not my preference - also have the original trim strips as well

Exterior given a touch in to some bonnet stonechips and a machine polish, hopefully get a Diamond Protech ceramic coating on over Easter weekend

[Andy665]

d_a_n1979 said:

That looks superb interior looks spotless!

It is pretty immaculate, genuine M Performance gaiters and gear / hand brake parts too, nice bonus are the sports seats with electric adjustable side bolsters, they really do grip you

[Andy665]

Swervin_Mervin said:

JakeT said:

To be really boring, the black top N52 has slightly different valve stems, plastic valve cover with internal CCV passages, updated waterpump, and different DME. Otherwise it’s the same, so there’s cars it’s HPAS and EPAS.

Coupes have more power though, 272bhp versus 258 on the other E90s.

Nice car though, and 80k is no miles. Mine is on 210k.

Nice bearding. Where's the power difference come from?

Interesting details, I had no idea about the differences, all I knew was I wanted an N52, I do know that this was a very late E92 with the N52

[Andy665]

Lotusgone said:

Very smart, another thumbs-up here for the colour/wheels combo. If you don't mind saying, how many miles on this one?

My E92 330d (auto) has been my daily for 6 years and 60k miles; driving home late last night with an open B road, it felt as sharp as ever (new front boots & tracking helping). I could spend £15k after part-ex for a 4 series with half the age and half the miles, I'm not sure it's worth the money. Looked after, these can go on for a very long time.

I hope you're as pleased with yours.

Thanks - its done just over 80k so nicely run in. I am not really keen on the 4 series and was lucky to find what I had on my wish list, sensible mileage, N52, manual - the Birds suspension, M Performance stuff and BBS wheels were very much an added bonus but are the sort of changes I would have been looking at making

[Andy665]

roadie said:

Great looking car. I really like the contrast of silver wheels against the grey paint. I had the same colour combination on my 130i with Alutec Drive wheels. What size tyres do you have fitted?

If I keep the Style 313 wheels currently on my 335i I may well get them refurbished in the brightest silver possible.

Sorry, missed your post, 245/35 on front, 265/30 rear - no stretch and the ride is excellent despite the lack of sidewall

[Andy665]

Pushed into service for the job that it was bought for, trips down to Farnborough and BMW HQ for my new job.

Trip is 150 miles but a reasonable chunk is across country - brought a real smile to my face in terms of how precise and compact it feels.

Soaked up the miles in absolute comfort and somehow returned 35mpg for the entire roundtrip (calculated via tank fill rather than from OBC)

Parked up in the multi-storey car park amongst a sea of current gen BMWs it looked small but so much more resolved in terms of overall design, attracted a lot of looks and positive comments

[Andy665]

After a long wait i received the carbon interior trim set this week, spent some time yesterday evening fitting it all, think it works well with the M Performance alcantara gaiters and gearlever / handrake lever

I bought the car with the centre console and dash trim having been covered in alcantara - previous owner had bought those trim pieces to be recovered so all original trim was intact, all now safely stored away should I ever want to revert to OE

[Andy665]

After allowing the ceramic coating to cure and harden for a week, topped off with a layer of Mitchell and King Bute - a whisky infused wax this afternoon, not too shabby for 17 years old

Also replaced the perfectly OK JVC double din stereo with the next model up in the range to get DAB, can't do a long drive without good access to Radio 5

Discovered this week I'm entitled to 40% off OE parts so its obviously OE all the way for anything it needs

[Andy665]

3 months in and its just getting on doing its job, a once per week 300 mile round trip from Shropshire to Hampshire so a good mix of cross country and motorway.

The Birds suspension is sublime, the car sits really well and I thought the ride would suffer but its beautifully damped.

Economy has improved further



Pretty impressive but when I brimmed the tank this morning and calculated it properly it improved to 39.8mpg, so glad I did not bother going diesel

[Andy665]

Mr Tidy said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Good to see it's being used properly

Been shortlisting some of these I've found via AT and eBay etc; a possible potential if the wife lands her new jobs and takes the F31 on

I'll be looking for a project then and it needs to be a manual BMW; ideally a 330i, but may consider other engines too

I'm not sure it is being used properly if it is getting 39.2mpg!

My E90 330i is showing 34.0mpg on the OBC and while I don't commute I do enjoy the performance now and then.

But anything over 30mpg seems good for a 3 litre petrol.

On the 150 mile each way trip its used for there is 20-25 miles of country roads where, at the time I travel can be great fun, the long stretches of dual carriageway / motorway I simply stick to the limits, no desire to join the solid white Audi diesel brigade attempting to make "progress" at speeds above the limit :-)