Buying guide · 2006–2011 · 3.0 twin-turbo diesel · 286 PS
BMW 335d E90 / E91 / E92
Everything that decides whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
40-page guide, A4 and phone · 4-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included
In the guide
What the BMW 335d E90 / E91 / E92 guide covers
- 01Every fault this engine has, and how much work it is
- 02How the two turbochargers work without variable vanes, what the swirl flaps do and what BMW says happens when they stick, and how the European car differs from the American one with AdBlue
- 03What the sources document about water and the bodywork on the E90, E91 and E92 — and what they do not
- 04What is simply fifteen to twenty years old — and can be left alone
- 05The inspection card: the whole viewing on paper, in order, to take with you
- 06What to say to the seller, and what to keep to yourself
From the guide itself
This is how it reads
This is what one of the fifteen looks likeLast Real Engines
10 · A groan from the front axle over speed bumps, in the cold
An hour or two for both anti-roll-bar bushes · Cheap part, easy access
BMW of North America's bulletin SI B31 01 09 covers the E90, E91, E92 and E93 "Produced from SOP to 11/2010 except for the M3": "A grating or groaning noise is heard when the front axle compresses and/or rebounds. This may be heard particularly over speed bump-type surfaces. The noise normally occurs at lower outside temperatures." The correction is new front anti-roll-bar bushes — part 31 30 6 778 064 for the rear-wheel-drive cars, which every 335d is. BMW notes that vulcanised mounts were "gradually introduced from 04/2010 to 11/2010" to prevent the noise.
Leave it if the car is quiet over bumps. Within a year or two for a groan on a cold morning — and the quote should be for two rubber bushes, not for a strut or a control arm.
And this is how the card readsLast Real Engines
- 1 · Round the outside, before anybody starts it
- 2 · The boot and the floor
- 3 · Under the bonnet, cold · engine off, key out
- 4 · The cold start · the seller starts it; nobody revs it
- 5 · The first kilometres, still cold
- 6 · The drive, warm
Start with the free guide
The six questions that decide whether this car is a good buy
- Europe or America — and do you know which one you are looking at?
- The recalls and campaigns — done, and can somebody show you?
- How was it driven?
- Has anyone worked on the intake, the injectors or the turbos — and why?
- The gearbox — has anybody changed the fluid?
- Saloon, Touring or Coupé — and is it what the advert says?
Start with the free guide: what this car is, and the questions that decide whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
Before you buy
Questions
What exactly do I get?
The full guide as a PDF, 40 pages in A4, plus a phone edition to read at the car; and the inspection card, 4 pages to print and take to the viewing. €24, VAT included.
How is it delivered?
Straight after payment you get a download link for the guide, the phone edition and the card. No subscription, no account.
Can I get a refund?
EU consumer law gives you fourteen days to change your mind. For digital content that right ends the moment delivery starts, provided you agreed to that at the checkout. If the file will not open, or you were sent the wrong car, write to us and we will fix it or refund it.
Who handles the payment?
Lemon Squeezy, who sell the guide to you as merchant of record. They charge the VAT at the rate of your country, send the invoice, and email you the download link. We never see your card.
Why are there no prices in it?
Because a price we cannot verify is worse than no price, and because a price would be wrong for most of the people reading it: workshop rates across Europe differ by a factor of two or three. What does not change is how much work a job is, so every point says whether it is an hour, half a day, a day, or a week in the workshop. Ask your own workshop for its hourly rate, and every hour in the guide becomes your own number.
Is this advice about a specific car?
No. A guide tells you what to look at; it is general information about the model and not advice about a specific car. Have every car inspected before you buy by someone who knows the engine.
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