F30 335i common problems

[E90_M3Ross]

Hi all,

A friend of mine is considering an F30 335i (I think these have the 306bhp engine). Not sure on touring or saloon yet, but what are the common things to look for with these cars, and what sort of price would you be looking at to sort these?

Many thanks in advance.

[Court_S]

The N55 is an easier engine to live with than the earlier N54 but does have a few foibles other than the usual oil leaks.

When I was looking a M135i’s, the two that came up re N55 were oil starvation on track and issues with the valvetronic system which was a pretty big day out.

[E90_M3Ross]

Court_S said:

The N55 is an easier engine to live with than the earlier N54 but does have a few foibles other than the usual oil leaks.

When I was looking a M135i’s, the two that came up re N55 were oil starvation on track and issues with the valvetronic system which was a pretty big day out.

Thanks

[_Hoppers]

From my experience, check for paint bubbling on the inner face of the wheel arches. Mine had new wings under warranty (2013 build). Both rear doors not locking despite pin going down. This was an intermittent fault so I could be never sure they were actually locked unless I checked. New locks/actuators were about £130 each but were easy to fit.

[Mr JP]

We've run a 2012 335i (manual saloon, 'luxury' spec) as our family car over the past 2 years, covering about 30k miles and it's been superb.

The only issue has been an oil leak on the engine which is not unusual for the n55 engine and not a massive deal to fix.

Other that that it's been pretty much perfect. Totally recommend.

[rottenegg]

I think the most common F3x issue is the slop in the steering rack causing a knock over certain bumps. It affects both the early ZF racks and the later Thyssenkrupp ones, but only the latter has a rebuild kit available. The ZF is shared with a Vauxhall Insignia I believe, so a cheap source of parts.

Zero rust on my 2016 F30, but I will be caking the wings in Bilt Hamber's finest to combat that ahead of the game.

Rear dampers don't seem to last long, 70K max, even earlier sometimes. Clunking over bumps, bounciness and a crashy ride = they're shot. Same applies to the fronts, especially if they make a "Psssshhhht" noise over speed humps. The gas has escaped. Very common.

Other than that, nothing major to report. You will likely see a telematics fault code that never goes away (dead shark fin antenna battery) and some iDrive models like to reboot themselves sporadically.

[BenS94]

rottenegg said:

I think the most common F3x issue is the slop in the steering rack causing a knock over certain bumps. It affects both the early ZF racks and the later Thyssenkrupp ones, but only the latter has a rebuild kit available. The ZF is shared with a Vauxhall Insignia I believe, so a cheap source of parts.

Zero rust on my 2016 F30, but I will be caking the wings in Bilt Hamber's finest to combat that ahead of the game.

Rear dampers don't seem to last long, 70K max, even earlier sometimes. Clunking over bumps, bounciness and a crashy ride = they're shot. Same applies to the fronts, especially if they make a "Psssshhhht" noise over speed humps. The gas has escaped. Very common.

Other than that, nothing major to report. You will likely see a telematics fault code that never goes away (dead shark fin antenna battery) and some iDrive models like to reboot themselves sporadically.

My F20 1 Series (63 plate) had a new rack under warranty. Servotronic on that I think.

Pleased you asked this, Ross, as I'm already in a chunk of positive equity on my F44, so thats away on Thursday, and I'm eyeing up a few replacements - one on the list being a 335i!