2006 BMW 330i

[unintended acceleration]

I am looking for experience, knowledge, opinions and observations that anyone has on this car. My S2000 is the most fun I have had on 4 wheels, but it has to go soon due to changing situations in my life. I'll be back I know.

For now, I could use some advise regarding this car. I have searched bimmerfest and e90post and I came across leaking valve cover gaskets, weak cooling systems, and coil pack failures, among a few other items that don't appear to be major.

I am super anal about my cars. I will search like Sherlock Holmes to find a clean, maintained example that has maintenance records, and is overall clean and stock but I could use additional input from people who own the car, have owned the car or are just well read about it.

I will get a PPI done, but what am I missing in terms of gotchas? What should I be looking for? What are your experiences with this car?

I know all about the 335i but I am not interested in it right now for various reasons. I am willing to spend $20K max and this is the car I have narrowed my search down to. I don't hear much about this car so I don't really know too much about it...


330i wasn't enough, update on page 2.

Thanks!

[unintended acceleration]

Is the E90 330i the bastard child of the E90 series?

[JustinCSVT]

Is the E90 330i the bastard child of the E90 series?

Well, sort of. It was a one year car you know? Other than the ticking heads, I haven't heard anything bad about them.

[zerotosixty]

Is the E90 330i the bastard child of the E90 series?

Essentially, but I'd much rather recommend a newer 328i than the 330i. It was one year only. Not too many around.

[NoXenons]

Is this car going to be manual or auto?

[zerotosixty]

Well, sort of. It was a one year car you know? Other than the ticking heads, I haven't heard anything bad about them.

Yup, there really weren't any mechanical issues.

However, the major issues I see are the early E90 electric gremlins. First MY E90s did have tons and tons of issues. I'd suggest OP spend a little bit more and find a 328i. It's down on power a little, but it is newer

[unintended acceleration]

Is this car going to be manual or auto?

Manual unless I find a smoking deal on an auto... I'll check out 328's. Need a German sedan that won't nickle and dime me!

[GiacGtiAgain]

Manual unless I find a smoking deal on an auto... I'll check out 328's. Need a German sedan that won't nickle and dime me!

gl on your search

[too_slow]

Two of my close friends have one:

1. 2006 330i + Premium +HK + Steptronic. He does software sales and he's logged over 150,000kms in bumper to bumper traffic in Vancouver. He claims that he has suffered zero problems other than regular scheduled maintenance (he follows it to the T.) He babies it so the car treats him well. The leather help up surprisingly well (then again, he's a light Asian dude, so not a lot of wear on the seats in general..)

2. 2006 330i + every single package except for NAV, manual; She bought it CPO in 2008, and the car has been nothing but problems. Seat motors needing replacement, squeaky steering column (no fix), HID ballasts going.. The transmission is extremely notchy . The engine is still going strong, the convenience/comfort features are not.. The car has no accidents, but the car has a couple of annoying squeaks/rattles, something that is not found on Car 1.

So yeah. YMMV.. Take an extended test drive, do a PPI, and have some money set aside for maintenance (your usual cooling, etc.. The electric steering MAY or may not die on you, but I would have some funds set aside just to be safe. If you're budgeting for $16k, aim for a $14k car so you have at least $2000 on stand-by.)


Some of the E90 328i are made in South Africa, and for some reason it doesn't sit quite well with me. Also, avoid the auto on the 328i, since it's a GM unit and have quiet a few problems. The 2006 325i and 330i, and all 335i auto comes from ZF.

[wESTsAEED]

I drive a 06 330 6spd and must say this is the best car i've ever owned! Excellent handling, pretty decent power and quite a pleasure to drive. Knock on wood have had very minor issues with the car aside from the standard maintenance and what not . Have about 116k on her now, besides tires, various seals(can get pricey to relpace) the battery and small little interior pieces that can get annoying, don't have too many bad things to say about it!

[mikes96GTI]

These issues do not effect every car, but are known issues. Some of them more frequent then others. Some cars get all of them, some get none, but these are common threads.

electric water pumps are expensive, and garbage. life expectancy is 100K............ KM. Anything over 60K miles is borrowed time. It WILL fail. Going rate at an independent is around $1200 to replace it.

Oil leaks from the valve cover due to broken aluminum bolts. Doesn't effect all cars, 2006 only.

Oil leaks from the oil filter housing gasket. 45K miles and up, effects all cars.

Pan gasket, 90K miles and up.

There are four aluminum headbolts that can break. The heads snap off. Three are inside the front by the timing chain, one is on the outside ind of under #1 intake runner. While the head doesnt have to come off to replace them, most of the time, you get lucky and the heads fall down into the oil pan. If it were my car, I would leave them down there as there is no way for them to get sucked into the oil pump pick up, and usually they stop up on the top portion anyway. Sometimes in a rare case, they get caught in the timing chain which is a big expense.

oil leak from the side of the block. This was an odd ball, not effecting many cars. The blocks were bad castings, and showed up by 20-30K miles. Very rare, but requires the engine block to be replaced. This was for 2006 cars only. If it has low miles on it, say around 20-30k you might have a problem, but most cars it would have shown up and been fixed by now.

Transmission electrical sleeve leak, effects all cars.

starters can go bad

Wheel bearings in the rear fail. Not every car, but they do. You will hear a whirring/grinding while driving.

Evaporator for the A/C goes bad, effects mostly coastal community, or high humidity area cars due to the salt air and damp air. Your clue will be if there is a smell of band aids coming from the vents when you first start the car.

Electrical gremlins. No real wiring problems, but control units are computers, and there is a lot of them. They can be glitchy. My 335d would have an odd noise out of the right rear parcel shelf speaker when unlocking and opening the right rear door. Happened once every few weeks. My 09 coupe the radio will get no sound out of it until you cycle the key, happens once a month.

Door lock actuators fail. Our fix is going to a 20amp fuse from a 15amp and usually one of the two front doors is the culprit. We replace them both as they have been updated.

Window seals rot. You can replace them without pulling the glass IF its never had a windshield replaced.

Window regs are pretty good, rears break more often.

Trans and motor are pretty solid. 06 cars have a rough idle. Every one does it, nobody knows why. We think its just a weird harmonics issue. My 09 with the N51 doesn't idle as bad, neither do the N52K cars. All 06's are N52 with a magnesium valve cover. The lifter tick, meh, its more annoying then anything. Some do it, some dont. A minuet of holding it a 3K rpm will make it go away for a while. We have updated lifters and rockers for the exhaust bank which supposedly fixes it. This effected all of the N52/N51 motors until about the 2009MY.

I have been a BMW tech for 15 years. I will say the E90 is actually a really good car on par with an E46. Yes, the 330 is a one year car, but don't let that dismay you. They (all E90's) have their issues, but what car doesnt. They aren't horribly bad to own, and what breaks is usually a cheap (for a BMW) fix, with the exception of the water pump. Buy the nicest one you can afford. I personally wouldn't be afraid to keep one of these running to 200K miles for a daily.

[Saintor]

Well, sort of. It was a one year car you know? Other than the ticking heads, I haven't heard anything bad about them.

The N52 engine was quickly updated in 2007.

There are serious issues with the first N52. Head bolts break easily. But even at that the revised N52 also has common head cover gasket issue. It is not your usual job and fetchs like 6-700$ at the dealer. If the bolts (on 2006) are broken, it is much more.

Water pumps on 2006 N52 and also N54 don't take heat for long. 6-700$ in parts + labor.

On the bright side, the 2006 330i has a great engine note that is not present on the 2007+ 328i.

[too_slow]

.

Thanks for the post

I almost bought a CPO 330i in 2008, but my job relocated me to a snowy place. I didn't like X-drive, and didn't like the B6 A4 at that time, so I bought a Mazdaspeed 6.. LOL

Saintor: I think it has to do with the fact that all 330i came standard with the BMW Sport exhaust. They sound very very nice indeed.

[JustinCSVT]

Manual unless I find a smoking deal on an auto... I'll check out 328's.
hat won't nickle and dime me!

[Saintor]

Saintor: I think it has to do with the fact that all 330i came standard with the BMW Sport exhaust. They sound very very nice indeed.

Just tuned differently, IMO. I am 95% positive that it is not the Performance Exhaust. I have one and it is MUCH louder.

Check a 128i and 328i both N52 ... the 328i stock sounds like a Lexus while the 128i has an engine note more inline with the 330i.

[mikes96GTI]

My 328 has a ***** exhaust note, as in none. I just took my Magnaflow setup off in demodding to return the lease, and I miss it. Its too quiet. 330 is a great car. Only difference between the 325 and the 330 was the intake manifold essentially. Motor is the same, both 3.0L

[dieselraver]

Manual unless I find a smoking deal on an auto... I'll check out 328's. Need a German sedan that won't nickle and dime me!

i don't think that exists....

[unintended acceleration]

Haha, I know that sounds funny, it's hard to convey sarcasm on the webs. If u knew me in person this would be obvious : ) I know these cars can be a little more to maintain, but I just want to make sure I cover all bases so I know what to expect. Very good info thanks all... now it's time to put my S up for sale and go cry myself to sleep ; )

[zerotosixty]

i don't think that exists....

Of course it does. Mercedes-Benz is higher than Hyundai, Acura, Honda, etc on the 2012 JD Power Dependability study. The C Class will be a solid, reliable car to drive for years, too bad it's just a snoozefest. If you ignore the 335i, the rest of the 3 series lineup is solid.

[GiacGtiAgain]

Of course it does. Mercedes-Benz is higher than Hyundai, Acura, Honda, etc on the 2012 JD Power Dependability study. The C Class will be a solid, reliable car to drive for years, too bad it's just a snoozefest. If you ignore the 335i, the rest of the 3 series lineup is solid.

i dont care what jd power says, a c class will not be as cheap to own over the course of time than the car it comes up "better than" in jd power rankings, which i already think are mostly bogus to begin with.

i happen to really like the c class, and i'm not even saying it's a bad car. but do you honestly see this car being as reliable as a TSX 5, 7 years from now? And with the Hyundai, who cares? you're covered for a decade.

i can't think of a a german sport sedan that won't nickel and dime you out of warranty, even the reliable ones. i feel i can say the same for most used domestic vehicles as well, but if german cars nickel and dime, domestics penny and nickle.

[mac dre]

Some of the E90 328i are made in South Africa, and for some reason it doesn't sit quite well with me. Also, avoid the auto on the 328i, since it's a GM unit and have quiet a few problems. The 2006 325i and 330i, and all 335i auto comes from ZF.

SA made E90's are of the same quality as the German made ones.

[Saintor]

Also, avoid the auto on the 328i, since it's a GM unit and have quiet a few problems.

Actually the revised version has quite less problem than the perpetual leaky ZF. Mine is a great transmission at 70000 miles.

[MonsterM]

I am looking for experience, knowledge, opinions and observations that anyone has on this car. My S2000 is the most fun I have had on 4 wheels, but it has to go soon due to changing situations in my life. I'll be back I know.

For now, I could use some advise regarding this car. I have searched bimmerfest and e90post and I came across leaking valve cover gaskets, weak cooling systems, and coil pack failures, among a few other items that don't appear to be major.

I am super anal about my cars. I will search like Sherlock Holmes to find a clean, maintained example that has maintenance records, and is overall clean and stock but I could use additional input from people who own the car, have owned the car or are just well read about it.

I will get a PPI done, but what am I missing in terms of gotchas? What should I be looking for? What are your experiences with this car?

I know all about the 335i but I am not interested in it right now for various reasons. I am willing to spend $20K max and this is the car I have narrowed my search down to. I don't hear much about this car so I don't really know too much about it...

Thanks!

A good friend of mine has a 06 330i with over 100K miles on the ODO and he had zero issues outside of regular maintenance. He does take care of it very well. I own a 09 328i with basically same motor and so far I experienced zero issues.
The negative part is that it will be very hard for you to find a low mileage 330i that is in a good condition. The positive part is that since the F30 is out, the E90 prices should go down a bit. My advice to you is to find a nice CPO 07-09 (I don't know if you like the LCI models more, there are 09 MY and up) 328i with 6 speed manual and Sport Package and test drive it. The difference between the 330 and 328 acceleration wise is very minimal and you can probably find a 328 with lower miles, better shape and CPO a lot easier. I really like the E90 chassis and the N52. IMO all the car is missing is a LSD and a sportier exhaust note (I installed a BMW Performance exhaust on mine), add those two and you have a very well balanced sport sedan.

[Saintor]

The difference between the 330 and 328 acceleration wise is very minimal and you can probably find a 328 with lower miles, better shape and CPO a lot easier. I really like the E90 chassis and the N52. IMO all the car is missing is a LSD and a sportier exhaust note (I installed a BMW Performance exhaust on mine), add those two and you have a very well balanced sport sedan.

I totally agree with all of this.

[MonsterM]

Two of my close friends have one:

1. 2006 330i + Premium +HK + Steptronic. He does software sales and he's logged over 150,000kms in bumper to bumper traffic in Vancouver. He claims that he has suffered zero problems other than regular scheduled maintenance (he follows it to the T.) He babies it so the car treats him well. The leather help up surprisingly well (then again, he's a light Asian dude, so not a lot of wear on the seats in general..)

2. 2006 330i + every single package except for NAV, manual; She bought it CPO in 2008, and the car has been nothing but problems. Seat motors needing replacement, squeaky steering column (no fix), HID ballasts going.. The transmission is extremely notchy . The engine is still going strong, the convenience/comfort features are not.. The car has no accidents, but the car has a couple of annoying squeaks/rattles, something that is not found on Car 1.

So yeah. YMMV.. Take an extended test drive, do a PPI, and have some money set aside for maintenance (your usual cooling, etc.. The electric steering MAY or may not die on you, but I would have some funds set aside just to be safe. If you're budgeting for $16k, aim for a $14k car so you have at least $2000 on stand-by.)


Some of the E90 328i are made in South Africa, and for some reason it doesn't sit quite well with me. Also, avoid the auto on the 328i, since it's a GM unit and have quiet a few problems. The 2006 325i and 330i, and all 335i auto comes from ZF.

Funny you bring the SA made 3 series and the GM vs ZF transmission. This has been discussed many times on E90post and the SA plant received higher quality ratings than the German ones. Also the auto transmission issues were associated with the earlier ZF units, not the GM units.

[unintended acceleration]

A good friend of mine has a 06 330i with over 100K miles on the ODO and he had zero issues outside of regular maintenance. He does take care of it very well. I own a 09 328i with basically same motor and so far I experienced zero issues.
The negative part is that it will be very hard for you to find a low mileage 330i that is in a good condition. The positive part is that since the F30 is out, the E90 prices should go down a bit. My advice to you is to find a nice CPO 07-09 (I don't know if you like the LCI models more, there are 09 MY and up) 328i with 6 speed manual and Sport Package and test drive it. The difference between the 330 and 328 acceleration wise is very minimal and you can probably find a 328 with lower miles, better shape and CPO a lot easier. I really like the E90 chassis and the N52. IMO all the car is missing is a LSD and a sportier exhaust note (I installed a BMW Performance exhaust on mine), add those two and you have a very well balanced sport sedan.

Awesome info! much appreciated

Sorry, what is LCI?

[zerotosixty]

Awesome info! much appreciated

Sorry, what is LCI?

Life Cycle Impulse.

Essentially a facelift and a bunch of overall tweaks. Made it a better car IMO. E90 went thru the LCI in MY09 and brought the diesel with the 328i and 335i.





LCI on bottom

[Saintor]

335d was introduced pre-LCI. I drove a few 2008 ones.

[zerotosixty]

335d was introduced pre-LCI. I drove a few 2008 ones.

Maybe in Canada? I don't see any MY08 335d in the US on Ebay Motors or autotrader.

[mac dre]

Maybe in Canada? I don't see any MY08 335d in the US on Ebay Motors or autotrader.

Yeah, only 335d's in US were LCI

[spockcat]

Manual unless I find a smoking deal on an auto... I'll check out 328's. Need a German sedan that won't nickle and dime me!

Wagon by chance?

[Porridgehead]

I own one. I've had it four years now. It's an automatic, but I have the M3 for when I want to row the box. It's been an extremely reliable, pleasurable car to own and drive. I have had nothing but wear items go, with the exception of the some hvac issues. The A/C still isn't that strong, but other than that, precious little has gone wrong with it. Even the runflats held up very well, though I did replace them with real tires last year.

I've even tracked it a couple times when the M3 was in need of repairs. Despite being an automatic, in sport mode, it was a blast to drive. Not quite as visceral as the M3, but one expects that.

That's all I got. I love mine. It's a terrific car that has done me quite well.

[Impeccable]

Some of the E90 328i are made in South Africa, and for some reason it doesn't sit quite well with me. Also, avoid the auto on the 328i, since it's a GM unit and have quiet a few problems. The 2006 325i and 330i, and all 335i auto comes from ZF.

You have a beef with Africa

[Impeccable]

These issues do not effect every car, but are known issues. Some of them more frequent then others. Some cars get all of them, some get none, but these are common threads.

electric water pumps are expensive, and garbage. life expectancy is 100K............ KM. Anything over 60K miles is borrowed time. It WILL fail. Going rate at an independent is around $1200 to replace it.

Oil leaks from the valve cover due to broken aluminum bolts. Doesn't effect all cars, 2006 only.

Oil leaks from the oil filter housing gasket. 45K miles and up, effects all cars.

Pan gasket, 90K miles and up.

There are four aluminum headbolts that can break. The heads snap off. Three are inside the front by the timing chain, one is on the outside ind of under #1 intake runner. While the head doesnt have to come off to replace them, most of the time, you get lucky and the heads fall down into the oil pan. If it were my car, I would leave them down there as there is no way for them to get sucked into the oil pump pick up, and usually they stop up on the top portion anyway. Sometimes in a rare case, they get caught in the timing chain which is a big expense.

oil leak from the side of the block. This was an odd ball, not effecting many cars. The blocks were bad castings, and showed up by 20-30K miles. Very rare, but requires the engine block to be replaced. This was for 2006 cars only. If it has low miles on it, say around 20-30k you might have a problem, but most cars it would have shown up and been fixed by now.

Transmission electrical sleeve leak, effects all cars.

starters can go bad

Wheel bearings in the rear fail. Not every car, but they do. You will hear a whirring/grinding while driving.

Evaporator for the A/C goes bad, effects mostly coastal community, or high humidity area cars due to the salt air and damp air. Your clue will be if there is a smell of band aids coming from the vents when you first start the car.

Electrical gremlins. No real wiring problems, but control units are computers, and there is a lot of them. They can be glitchy. My 335d would have an odd noise out of the right rear parcel shelf speaker when unlocking and opening the right rear door. Happened once every few weeks. My 09 coupe the radio will get no sound out of it until you cycle the key, happens once a month.

Door lock actuators fail. Our fix is going to a 20amp fuse from a 15amp and usually one of the two front doors is the culprit. We replace them both as they have been updated.

Window seals rot. You can replace them without pulling the glass IF its never had a windshield replaced.

Window regs are pretty good, rears break more often.

Trans and motor are pretty solid. 06 cars have a rough idle. Every one does it, nobody knows why. We think its just a weird harmonics issue. My 09 with the N51 doesn't idle as bad, neither do the N52K cars. All 06's are N52 with a magnesium valve cover. The lifter tick, meh, its more annoying then anything. Some do it, some dont. A minuet of holding it a 3K rpm will make it go away for a while. We have updated lifters and rockers for the exhaust bank which supposedly fixes it. This effected all of the N52/N51 motors until about the 2009MY.

I have been a BMW tech for 15 years. I will say the E90 is actually a really good car on par with an E46. Yes, the 330 is a one year car, but don't let that dismay you. They (all E90's) have their issues, but what car doesnt. They aren't horribly bad to own, and what breaks is usually a cheap (for a BMW) fix, with the exception of the water pump. Buy the nicest one you can afford. I personally wouldn't be afraid to keep one of these running to 200K miles for a daily.

THIS IS SCARY, wheres a boring Acura or Lexus

[vasillalov]

. If you ignore the 335i, the rest of the 3 series lineup is solid.

Oooh, please, enlighten us about what's wrong with the 335i making it less solid than the rest of them...