[24kJuice]

Hello everyone, I have always been a BMW fan especially of the LCI F30 series. I have been thinking about making the switch from Infiniti to BMW. I am a huge fan of Kies Motorsports so I am soaking any info, and BTW Kies if you're looking at this, I love your videos. But the things that are hindering me from doing so are

I don't know how maintenance is and how expensive it is.
Are there any expensive repairs that I can prevent with replacing plastic parts with metal?

And a dozen more loads of questions. If there is anyone out there that has any information that they can give me about this series of cars then please share from one BMW fan to another! Please be nice

Thank you all,
Jordan Hipsher

[Billfitz]

Six years in all I've had to do was change the oil and filter on a regular basis. Oh yeah, and the wiper blades.

[tturedraider]

You would probably want to replace the charge pipe. The odds are pretty high you’ll eventually need to replace the oil filter housing gasket (OFHG). Waste gate on the turbo charger is a possible problem item, but you don’t see posts about it super often. Brake fluid needs to be flushed and replaced every 36 months. Those are the most common things that come to my mind immediately.

If you’re going to pick up the lower level the B46/48 motor in the 330i is a significant improvement over the N20 in the 328i. The B58 motor in the 340i is proving to be a gem.

If you wanna post links to the cars you consider we can take a look at them and let you know if we see any red flags.

[quakerroatmeal]

Came from a Infiniti here as well and you're going to love it. Just do the normal maintenance and find a good independent mechanic who specializes in bmw and you'll be fine.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

You would probably want to replace the charge pipe. The odds are pretty high you'll eventually need to replace the oil filter housing gasket (OFHG). Waste gate on the turbo charger is a possible problem item, but you don't see posts about it super often. Brake fluid needs to be flushed and replaced every 36 months. Those are the most common things that come to my mind immediately.

If you're going to pick up the lower level the B46/48 motor in the 330i is a significant improvement over the N20 in the 328i. The B58 motor in the 340i is proving to be a gem.

If you wanna post links to the cars you consider we can take a look at them and let you know if we see any red flags.

If you are buying F30 with N55 6 cylinder engine, the OEM charge pipe should be replaced with a metal one.

BMW brake fluid - replace it every 2 years.

Highly recommend to consider any F30 with B58 6 cylinder engine. A gem.

[davidr3]

Well what engine/car were you thinking about and we can point out common problems.

Bimmerpost is probably one of the best support groups, the amount of knowledge on this forum is incredible
Stay on top of maintenance.

A BMW is truly what you make of it. People will buy a BMW that has been abused for years, continue to abuse it then be surprised when it breaks or is leaking.

in my 3 years of owning my F30 i've only had to do basic maintenance.

[24kJuice]

I am currently thinking of getting either a 335i or a 340i

[Alvin Mpower]

Originally Posted by 24kJuice

I am currently thinking of getting either a 335i or a 340i

340i, go for b58, its way more reliable and easier to work on the maintenance yourself, and you don't need to upgrade charge pipe unless you pushing over 600+ hp. stage 2 BM3 will puts you at 400WHP with only a downpipe upgrade, no brainer.

[Eddien123]

Avoid the 28/30i cars. I love the N55 for what it is but yeah definitely go for a 40i car.

I've owned bmws for over a decade now and they're just more complicated overall but not so intimidating. Stay on top of maintenance and have a little set aside in case something major does happen. But if I'm honest the F30 generation was the most reliable bmw I've owned. 3 years of owning a 335 all it needed was oil, brakes and a battery.

[Billfitz]

I'm at six years with my brake fluid, which is still as good as it was on day one. I know, because I invested a whopping seven bucks on one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You should test your brake fluid every six months, not only so you won't do a flush that you don't need, but also so that you wont miss a flush that you do need. The recommended replacement interval only exists because the car has no way to test the fluid condition. By the same token you can't rely on the iDrive to tell you when your brake pads need changing. You have to visually inspect all eight of them yearly.

[davidr3]

Originally Posted by 24kJuice

I am currently thinking of getting either a 335i or a 340i

If it's in the budget, the 340i is the better engine.
With that being said the N55 is amazing too. I'd avoid the N54 personally but that's because of it being unreliable. I'm on the younger side of owning this car (i'm 23, but have owned the car since 20) I do all the work myself alongside paying for the car and nothing crazy has broken. Do the preventative maintenance and it's an affordable car.

[chiefneil]

Gaskets and the cooling system are the typical weak spots on any BMW. When buying used, I’d do a pre-emptive replacement of the coolant overflow hose and replace the plastic mickey mouse flange with an upgraded aluminum version.

The chargepipe issues I’ve seen have been with people who’ve modded their cars. I’m full stock and haven’t bothered replacing mine (2014 335 at 50k), but one of these days I might get around to it.

Other than that, just do typical maintenance. I’ve had zero issues post-warranty, but my car’s mostly been garaged since covid.

[24kJuice]

Originally Posted by davidr3

Well what engine/car were you thinking about and we can point out common problems.

Bimmerpost is probably one of the best support groups, the amount of knowledge on this forum is incredible
Stay on top of maintenance.

A BMW is truly what you make of it. People will buy a BMW that has been abused for years, continue to abuse it then be surprised when it breaks or is leaking.

in my 3 years of owning my F30 i've only had to do basic maintenance.

I was thinking of getting a 335i or a 340i

[Psi5]

Go for the 340. Find one that has been well-maintained. Maintain it. Drive it and have a blast. Repeat.

[Psi5]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Six years in all I've had to do was change the oil and filter on a regular basis. Oh yeah, and the wiper blades.

BTW, thanks for posting a "no problems" response. There are far too few of them. If an alien came down from space and started reading these bulletin boards, on the whole, they would quickly conclude that BMWs are highly unreliable, repair prone, and only decent to drive after they have been modded to within an inch of their lives.

[Wgosma]

One key thing that is very important about BMW ownership is being diligent about maintenance/preventative maintenance- these cars tend to be less forgiving than the Asian (and other) brands in this regard.

BMW has used Conditioned Based Service intervals for a long time, the newer cars have even more sensors tied to the cars electronics and BMW has virtually done away with service intervals based on fixed mileage or time intervals- some of the cars fluids are termed 'lifetime' fill…..this is where the successful long term owner will depart from other owners and change fluids (and other components) at reasonable mileage intervals- no fluid's effectiveness lasts forever, nor does a drive belt, idler pulley, etc., so using some common sense in this regard is clearly valuable and pays dividends in terms or reliability/cost of ownership.

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by horrizenashisland

340i, go for b58, its way more reliable and easier to work on the maintenance yourself, and you don't need to upgrade charge pipe unless you pushing over 600+ hp. stage 2 BM3 will puts you at 400WHP with only a downpipe upgrade, no brainer.

Not sure why people here are saying the B58 is way more reliable than the N55... It hasn't even really been around long enough to determine long term reliability and there are just as many quirks with the B58 cars as there are with the N55 cars. It does have a little higher power potential with basic bolt ons than the N55 but saying its "way more reliable" is a bit misleading.

[Londoner]

Originally Posted by thejeremyman9

Not sure why people here are saying the B58 is way more reliable than the N55... It hasn't even really been around long enough to determine long term reliability and there are just as many quirks with the B58 cars as there are with the N55 cars. It does have a little higher power potential with basic bolt ons than the N55 but saying its "way more reliable" is a bit misleading.

Fair-ish comment but it has now been available for 6 years and there's plenty of 340is now about with mileage approaching the 100k mile mark. So you'd like to think any major issues would have made themselves known by now.

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by Londoner

Fair-ish comment but it has now been available for 6 years and there's plenty of 340is now about with mileage approaching the 100k mile mark. So you'd like to think any major issues would have made themselves known by now.

Still want to know the fundamental reason why one would argue the B58 is more reliable than the N55. The main common problem with N55s are oil leaks: OFHG, VCG, and OPG. There's not really any reliability issue with the engine mechanically.

[Newman1]

I owned a G37S coupe before my F30. Other than the timing chain guides and VCG leak replaced under warranty, it’s been solid. Just regular maintenance, not really any more expensive than the Infiniti was.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by thejeremyman9

Still want to know the fundamental reason why one would argue the B58 is more reliable than the N55.

Because the B58 hasn't been around long enough for long term problems to have shown up in sufficient numbers. The most common problem with the N55 is gaskets, and that's not the engine's fault. Gaskets don't last forever. They do tend to last at least 80k miles. Once large numbers of B58s have reached that chances are their we'll see gasket complaints for it too.

[bavarianride]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Because the B58 hasn't been around long enough for long term problems to have shown up in sufficient numbers. The most common problem with the N55 is gaskets, and that's not the engine's fault. Gaskets don't last forever. They do tend to last at least 80k miles. Once large numbers of B58s have reached that chances are their we'll see gasket complaints for it too.

The biggest unknown for B engines(B46, B58) is if the TC has any issue. And since those TC is at back of engine, any TC fix will be engine out, and will be very expensive.