E89 35i manual
- Thread starter junglie
- Start date
I have a 3.0 M Sport Highline. Highline spec did not alter the suspension at all. It’s standard M Sport non- adaptive. The 3.0 engine is lovely and sings but it does need to be wrung out. I have a S54 and that just shifts more quickly at any point in the rev range but it still needs to be wrung out. I have a B58 (successor to the 35i engine) and the difference between it and the N52 is COLOSSAL. Almost immediate thrust at any time. Just plant the throttle and go. Similar overtaking manoeuvres in the 3.0 have to be thought though - down two gears, 3500 on the tachometer. The B58 no need. Just go. I suspect the the 3.5i is similar. It’s so much easier and suits the leisurely nature of the E89. The N52 is for me too weak and “sporty” in the E89.
Hi CliveN,
Thank you for the input.
I absolutely agree with you that the forced induction nature provides greater access to the power in normal driving.
However, I am trying to work out if the potential for much bigger bills is worth it over the naturally aspirated car.
I love the idea of a twin turbo, manual, straight six but feel I might resent it if it starts throwing up big bills. This will be a fun car for us so happy for a degree of compromise.
By way of comparison, I thought the performance in my previous 3.0 E85 Z4 was fine.
Thank you for the input.
I absolutely agree with you that the forced induction nature provides greater access to the power in normal driving.
However, I am trying to work out if the potential for much bigger bills is worth it over the naturally aspirated car.
I love the idea of a twin turbo, manual, straight six but feel I might resent it if it starts throwing up big bills. This will be a fun car for us so happy for a degree of compromise.
By way of comparison, I thought the performance in my previous 3.0 E85 Z4 was fine.
Having had two N52's an N54 and now two B58's the progression is very noticeable, the N52's (which I still have one) need to be wrung to get a tune out of them, the N54 was a step up, and the B58 is as Clive says fantastic, you don't have to think about any overtaking manoeuvre, the power is instant 
The N52 E85/6's are a different animal to the N52 E89's (handling and weight).
In conclusion if big bills are a worry, DON'T get a N54, something expensive will go wrong, just the law of averages given the age of car, but my word of caution would be if you're leaning towards the 30i N52, don't drive a 35i
The N52 E85/6's are a different animal to the N52 E89's (handling and weight).
In conclusion if big bills are a worry, DON'T get a N54, something expensive will go wrong, just the law of averages given the age of car, but my word of caution would be if you're leaning towards the 30i N52, don't drive a 35i
Scottish Borders
junglie said:
Failed water pump..highly probable …£1k fitted
Single turbo failure £2k fitted
Waste gate failure £2k fitted
Two turbo refresh £3k fitted
Turbo oil leak £1k fitted
Cam box failure £700 fitted
Coils £400 fitted
Second injector failure ..possible…£400 per injector
Inlet port coking £350
All Indy prices
North Yorkshire
I think we need 35i and 35is owners to step forward to say what big spend they’ve had instead of people saying what could go wrong. I have had 2 35i’s albeit for a short time and they’ve been brilliant. The same kind of scaremongering goes on with the Z4M as well and yet I had one for 8 years and again it was brilliant for me and I regretted selling it and that’s why I have just bought another one. I also have a quite a few friends that own a Z4M and they’ve been faultless for them as well. There will always be a horror story and that could be down to poor maintenance or how well a car has been looked after.
On my 5th 35is, varying from new to 65k miles, current one on 51k miles, no issues with any of them bar one roof hall sensor.
Also got a 35i manual on 126k miles, most from the previous owner, non adaptive shocks, but it’s never had new turbos or waste gate issues. I changed the rocker cover gasket which was brittle as a woketards personality. Previous guy changed the coils and injectors although I don’t know if that was preventative maintenance or not, as well as the HPFP. It’s tuned to 395hp ish and is a bit nuts, but zero turbo issues, runs sweet as.
Also got a 35i manual on 126k miles, most from the previous owner, non adaptive shocks, but it’s never had new turbos or waste gate issues. I changed the rocker cover gasket which was brittle as a woketards personality. Previous guy changed the coils and injectors although I don’t know if that was preventative maintenance or not, as well as the HPFP. It’s tuned to 395hp ish and is a bit nuts, but zero turbo issues, runs sweet as.
Lynchy said:
Ed, I never had to cough up for this myself as it was in the 12 month period before I bought my 35iS but there were receipts for around £6k before I got mine, granted dealer prices and all either under warranty or prep for becoming an AUC. Three of the adaptive shocks went (if they'd been out of warranty I'd imagine they'd have been replaced with alternatives) the rest was on electronic modules mainly relating to the gearbox and the only one related to Peter's list above I think a bank of injectors. The main thing I've known from other 35 owners is either water pump or injectors, both in equal measures iirc.
Will, who then bought the car from me had little non maintenance issue, again iirc, the rocker box was replaced and the rest was by choice
North West Surrey
If you were happy with the performance of your 3 litre E85 I can't see you being disappointed with a 30i E89 as it's about 10% more powerful - just so long as you don't try a 35i!
As others have said there are a lot of scare stories about N54 engine issues. My concern with them is that they are unpredictable so if you are unlucky you can get hit with a few of them in a short timeframe, but you may not. I'd want to have a "bork" fund if I bought one.
As others have said there are a lot of scare stories about N54 engine issues. My concern with them is that they are unpredictable so if you are unlucky you can get hit with a few of them in a short timeframe, but you may not. I'd want to have a "bork" fund if I bought one.
Lynchy said:
I think Busterboo has burnt several thousands as has McBulter who claims single handed he tripled the cost of warranty programs, stevepg had turbo oil seal failure with a £3,500 bill, Kenny in Estonia has had turbo failures, HPFP ….i know of many with wastegates rattle 7, injector failure 9, HPFP 3, turbo oil seal failure 4, cam box cracks 8, water pumps..5
The problem is the N54 failures have little direct correlation with maintenance…as the core engine seems very strong and tolerant of abuse..it’s the peripherals that are the issue..exacerbated by heat which is much more prevalent in the N54
Owners that own N54s for short periods of time and/or don’t do much mileage tend to be luckier…if you don’t use it these faults don’t then appear..
In the same vein I know very few N52 that have had any issues bar water pumps..
I know quite a few N20s (20+) that have had cam chain failures , plus 4 now with bore score..
That ‘s ignoring DCT and adaptive damper issues which is not relevant to this OP
Back to the op point..if you can afford to take the risk then great ..but..if a £1,000 hit is an issue for you they maybe another choice..
A nice decision to have! I would echo above, if you are happy with a 3.0N52 then go that way, the engines are great all rounder. I love the 35i however if you are concerned about the potential for bigger bills then avoid and don’t drive one then you won’t know what you are missing 
Lynchy said:
Ed, I think they were about £1300 a corner by the time labour was in and mine had 3 replaced. All done between 30-40k I think. IMHO a bit of a scam, as soon as the dealers knew it was under warranty and being MOT,d, a light misting of oil seemed to be all that was needed, as far as I’m aware none of them failed but outwith my ownership so can’t 100% confirm. The gearbox wiring and module wouldn’t apply to this car as mine was a DCT. It also appeared to be a “freak” fault as the dealer had never had one before so not a regular/routine weak spot as far as I knew
You never know for sure whether the dealers are being truthful or not and Labour charges are extortionate in my opinion.Glad I have the MSport suspension although I can imagine the adaptive is much better.Argyll Andy said:
Sorry OP for jumping on your thread but perhaps I could interest you in mine although it has the DCT rather than your preferred manual.
35is for nearly 4 years and over 30k miles. Lightly remapped and driven often enough and fast enough. Always allowed to warm up before exceeding 3,000 revs and oil changed approx every 7k miles or so. 2014 model, and I suspect the later N54 ancilliary parts were perhaps better made than the earlier ones.
Water pump replaced for about £1500 at something like 76k miles, but it hadn't failed there was just a shadow error code that has, on other forums, been identified as a precursor to water pump failure so I replaced & upgraded it as a precaution.
Rocker cover gasket replaced for £600, but I think, in hindsight having seen the gasket that came off, that was a case of spilt oil and auto-hypochondria on my part.
And... that's it I think. Oh, I replaced a few coils, but they're what £30 each? And generally you can fit them yourself in a few minutes. Same with spark plugs.
The 4th damper/shock that wasn't replaced under warranty earlier in life was still going strong with no oil misting and no problems. If these do go, surely it's just an excuse to upgrade all 4 corners to B12 for under a grand? Your local dealer are only getting thousands to replace these if it's still under warranty.
No HPFP issues, no turbo issues, no roof issues (apart from that time I got my t-shirt caught in it while closing but I can't blame the car for that). Never broke down or left me stranded. If I'd had a warranty at £600 per year (they definitely aren't £600 any more though), I would have lost money on it.
Add in depreciation of just £6k over those years and mileage and, given the power etc, I'd say that's a fairly good proposition.
I wouldn't like to calculate what I spent on tyres and fuel (or modifications!), but that's a different matter. A 30i isn't going to have drastically lower costs on those two things anyway.
All that said, I wouldn't buy a 35is or 35i if the prospect of a £1k-2k+ bill terrifies you. It's part of the deal on a car of that age with that level of performance. Also worth bearing in mind that BMW maintenance costs are a lot higher than many other brands. That same water pump & belt job on my Yeti was a third of the price.
A friend of a friend had a very sensible, mainstream, cheap to run 2014 Mini Countryman Cooper SD from new and a few years ago, on 55k miles and after 10k services etc, needed a new engine costing £9k outside of warranty. Pick any car, any engine, I'll find you a load of horror stories about it on google.
Water pump replaced for about £1500 at something like 76k miles, but it hadn't failed there was just a shadow error code that has, on other forums, been identified as a precursor to water pump failure so I replaced & upgraded it as a precaution.
Rocker cover gasket replaced for £600, but I think, in hindsight having seen the gasket that came off, that was a case of spilt oil and auto-hypochondria on my part.
And... that's it I think. Oh, I replaced a few coils, but they're what £30 each? And generally you can fit them yourself in a few minutes. Same with spark plugs.
The 4th damper/shock that wasn't replaced under warranty earlier in life was still going strong with no oil misting and no problems. If these do go, surely it's just an excuse to upgrade all 4 corners to B12 for under a grand? Your local dealer are only getting thousands to replace these if it's still under warranty.
No HPFP issues, no turbo issues, no roof issues (apart from that time I got my t-shirt caught in it while closing but I can't blame the car for that). Never broke down or left me stranded. If I'd had a warranty at £600 per year (they definitely aren't £600 any more though), I would have lost money on it.
Add in depreciation of just £6k over those years and mileage and, given the power etc, I'd say that's a fairly good proposition.
I wouldn't like to calculate what I spent on tyres and fuel (or modifications!), but that's a different matter. A 30i isn't going to have drastically lower costs on those two things anyway.
All that said, I wouldn't buy a 35is or 35i if the prospect of a £1k-2k+ bill terrifies you. It's part of the deal on a car of that age with that level of performance. Also worth bearing in mind that BMW maintenance costs are a lot higher than many other brands. That same water pump & belt job on my Yeti was a third of the price.
A friend of a friend had a very sensible, mainstream, cheap to run 2014 Mini Countryman Cooper SD from new and a few years ago, on 55k miles and after 10k services etc, needed a new engine costing £9k outside of warranty. Pick any car, any engine, I'll find you a load of horror stories about it on google.