E89 Comprehensive problem list

[Busterboo]

1. E89 Model 35iS
2. Year 2010
3. Colour exterior Melbourne Red
4. Colour interior Ivory White

5. Issues experienced, notes & status e.g.

5a. Issue description - Slight engine oil leak.
5b. Current status - Resolved. Rocker cover replaced.
5c. Warranty Claim? - Cost covered completely under warranty.
5d. Comments? - BMW extended warranty. No excess, because previous job should have replaced distorted cover and not only gasket.

 

[romainh]

1. E89 Model 23i
2. Year 2009
3. Colour exterior Silver Metallic
4. Colour interior Black Leather

5. Issues experienced, notes & status e.g.

5a. Issue description - Noise in lower dashboard/passenger door
5b. Current status - Unresolved. Happens too intermittently to identify a pattern
5c. Warranty Claim? - None
5d. Comments? - Usually starts happening after a little bit of driving and in particular when there are loads of speed bumps

 

[B21]

1. E89 Model 23i
2. Year 2009
3. Colour exterior Silver Metallic
4. Colour interior Black Leather

5. Issues experienced, notes & status e.g.

5a. Issue description - Noise in lower dashboard/passenger door
5b. Current status - Unresolved. Happens too intermittently to identify a pattern
5c. Warranty Claim? - None
5d. Comments? - Usually starts happening after a little bit of driving and in particular when there are loads of speed bumps

Welcome to the world of E89 rattles..I've got the same sort of rattle in the driver's side lower dash somewhere, on two seperate E89s...one gets worse as it gets hot, vice versa on the other..go figure.

If the door cards have been off, and/or access for fitting speed cameras etc it seems to make it worse.

 

[warmasice]

1. E89 Model 35iS
2. Year 2010
3. Colour exterior Melbourne Red
4. Colour interior Ivory White

5. Issues experienced, notes & status e.g.

5a. Issue description - "Very slight" leak from nsf adaptive shock absorber, "slight" leak from rocker cover gasket & leak from DCT sump plate
5b. Current status - Resolved
5c. Warranty Claim? - Cost covered completely under warranty
5d. Comments? - BMW Insured Warranty. £250 excess.

18 December 2020

5a. Issue description - "edc control fault" & leak from DCT sump plate (the latter again)
5b. Current status - Resolved
5c. Warranty Claim? - Cost covered completely under warranty
5d. Comments? - Extended warranty. £250 excess. (Edc unit was £659 & sump plate was £337.)

13 January 2021

5a. Item description - "Dynamic Damper Control Failure" and "Cylinders 4 & 5 failure to fire"
5b. Current status - Resolved. (Rear adaptive shock absorbers replaced. All fuel injectors replaced.)
5c. Warranty Claim? - Costs covered completely under warranty.
5d. Comments - BMW Insured (and now renewed) Warranty. £250 excess. (Total bill was £3,319.45)

Exactly why I'd never have a 35is without warranty!

 

[Busterboo]

It's a pity more people don't add their information to this list.

 

[B21]

2011 MY Atacama Yellow 35is 50,000 miles August 2021 purchase from a small dealer.

‘Recently serviced, new MOT’

On purchase dozens of fault codes seen, all cleared with Protool. Then no codes showing.

September 2021 number 2 ignition coil fail, discover one Index 12 injector fitted to a bank of Index 9 injectors in contravention of BMW service procedures. Temporary number 2 coil replacement as get you home, then replace all coils with new NGK coils (after failed attempt to use Hella version, recently refunded by Autodoc) Approx cost of parts £150.

October 2021 discover both front adaptive shocks leaking, lack of apparent rebound damping and soft springs on rears, replaced with Ohlins R+T Approx cost of parts £2,300

November 2021 replace all injectors with fresh set of Index 12 injectors. Approx cost of parts £1500

 

[Zed Baron]

1. 23i
2. 2009 / 09
3. Alpine white
4. Black Kansas extended
5. Purchased privately 2014
6, Full BMWSH currently at 35k miles

Regular oil/brake fluid, filter changes. Battery replaced, roof relays etc. Booked in for gearbox service/coolant flush.

5. Issues experienced, notes & status e.g.

5a. Plastic hinge on roof boot tray broken
5b. Repaired it myself after finding solution on forum, cost to repair £0.90
6a. O/s/r spring broken
6b. BMW wanted £190, bought 4x springs for £80 off car that had done 400 miles, got it fitted for £30
6a. N/s/r spring broken
6b. Fitted for £30 (from the set I bought)
7a. Roof wouldn't fold from key fob
7b. B21 Kindly reprogrammed using Carly, found other fault codes also, cleared them, monitored regularly and none since (suspect these were all battery related).

 

[newbie22]

I have a 2010 E89 with the LA spoke 290 wheels. when the runflats needed replacing i put on non runflat tyres. ride is much smoother and no cracks after 100km.

 

[B21]

Water pump failed with motor overheat and DMW failure to respond to speed requests..

2011 35is 60k miles

Bought the uprated Pierburg all alloy pump and Mahle thermostat to fit at same time..

 

[TOMGREEN413]

White e89 Red leather 18i M spec 2014
Owned 3 years
Mileage was 38k now 54k
Bought from independent garage

Issues
Cracked plastic rocker cover............fixed 2 years ago with a poxy high temp resin....no leaks since
After 3 years of daily use and regular servicing its been perfect......not bad for an 8 year old car.

 

[B21]

White e89 Red leather 18i M spec 2014
Owned 3 years
Mileage was 38k now 54k
Bought from independent garage

Issues
Cracked plastic rocker cover............fixed 2 years ago with a poxy high temp resin....no leaks since
After 3 years of daily use and regular servicing its been perfect......not bad for an 8 year old car.

I think it’s epoxy?

Good to know that’s a viable solution…

Most cars tend to be more reliable when used regularly

 

[TOMGREEN413]

poxy stuff.....gets everywhere!!

 

[Christopher72]

2011 E89 sDrive35i - Deep Sea Blue, Beige Kansas Leather - purchased Fall 2022, USA LHD, no warranty. 88k miles

Oct 2022 - Cracked rear wheel - resolved
-- replaced cracked 19" Style 296 V Spoke Wheel (36116785257)
-- replaced 19" Perelli Run flat with Goodyear Eagle F1 asymmetric 3

Jan 2023 - Exhaust rattle - resolved
-- Inspected, used washers to fill the exhaust flap gap, fixed rattle

March 2023 - Oil in spark plugs - resolved
-- replaced Valve Cover Gasket (11127565286)
-- replaced Blow-By Vent Hose (11157553949)

April 2023 - Cylinder 6 misfiring resolved
-- replaced Injector index-9 (remanufactured), teflon seal, decoupling ring on cylinder 6

April/May 2023 - A68B: Microswitch, roof shell 2 closed, left - resolved
-- replaced boot microswitches (954377228585) & (54377228586)
-- Haven't yet found the problem on left side of shell 2 hydraulic arm...

May 2023 - Damaged 3rd brake light cover and trunk seal resolved
-- Replaced taillight cover (51137252844)
-- Replaced seal from used Ebay donor trim (54377224676)

June 2023 - Slightly Cracked front wheel - resolved
-- Welded, Refinished, and trued 19" Style 296 V Spoke Wheel (36116785256)

June 2023 - EGS [DKG_90] | 5A53: Transmission overheating: phase Red - resolved in 2024
-- Planning full DCT service with OEMish parts. (fluid, filters, pan with gasket and drain plugs)

August 2023 - Coolant Pump Failure @90.9k miles resolved
-- Replaced Coolant Pump with full metal Pierburg Coolant Pump
-- Replaced thermostat with Mahle OEM part - preventative maintenance
-- Replaced radiator with full metal CSF performance radiator - preventative maintenance
-- Replaced full set of coolant hoses to VTT silicone hoses - preventative maintenance

Sept 2023 - Cracked sway bar bushings - resolved
-- Replaced bushes with Powerflex (PFF5-4602-26.5)

Feb 2024 - Prob from June 2023 - Transmission overheating - resolved
-- Full DCT service with OEMish parts. (fluid, filters, pan with gasket and drain plugs)

 

[mpc007]

Yesterday picked up the successor to my Toledoblue E85 3.0i S, its a lovely looking E89 35iS in Melbourne Red, pic below:

https://imgur.com/a/YHzJxko

However, on my second drive the car displayed following:

1. E89 35iS DCT
2. 2010
3. Melbourne Red
4. Kansas Black

5. Issues experienced, notes & status e.g.

5a. Car seemed to have serious trouble accelerating, almost shutting of at low speeds. Quite some vibration and strange noises in the car which seemed to come from the drivetrain. My own thoughts immediately were either one or multiple cylinders failing / misfiring, a DCT issue, a big vacuum leak, or something fuel related (injectors or pumps)
5b. Current status - Unresolved
5c. Car has a 6 month warranty for drivetrain, transmission, and roof. Didn't contact them yet, wanted to check here first.
5d. Mileage = 118k kms (73k miles)
5d. Car is stock, no ECU maps on it AFAIK
5d. Used my OBD code reader on the car and the DME department had two fault codes stored:
- 2DED > 'Power management, close d-circuit current violation'
- 29D0 > 'Combustion misfires, cylinder 4'

Luckily, the car was delivered to me with a large service done just last week, during which also the spark plugs were changed. So I'm thinking it may be ignition related, maybe a bad coil? Look forward to reading your replies.

 

[flybobbie]

Talking to a gentleman at Lincoln BMW, admiring his G29.
Interestingly he had E89 20 for a few months, said he got rid of it due roof rattles.
Treated himself to fully loaded 140i.

Got to admit it has grown on me a little.

 

[Busterboo]

1. E89 Model 35iS
2. Year 2010
3. Colour exterior Melbourne Red
4. Colour interior Ivory White

5. Issues experienced, notes & status e.g.

5a. Issue description - Boot soft close erratic. Failure imminent
5b. Current status - Resolved
5c. Warranty Claim? - No. Work done by local BMW independent
5d. Comments? - Partial rewire. One hour's labour. £75

 

[Busterboo]

1. E89 Model 35iS
2. Year 2010
3. Colour exterior Melbourne Red
4. Colour interior Ivory White

5. Issues experienced, notes & status e.g.

5a. Issue description - Rattle from boot when roof up. Quiet when roof down
5b. Current status - Resolved
5c. Warranty Claim? - No. Work done by local BMW independent
5d. Comments? - Replace load cover brackets (hinges) & test drive. £68.20 ex VAT the pair. 1/2 hour labour £37.50.