My highest mileage 335i

[David Kunitz]

Good day everyone!

It's my first time posting on here, so may I introduce myself as David from Nelspruit.
And it's great to finally be part of the BMWFanatics community

I wanted to share my story about a 2012 F30 335i that I bought as a project car 4 months ago.

I bought the 335i at WeBuyCars Nelspruit and it has a very impressive original 385,000km on the odometer!!!
The vehicle is accident free and other than the front and rear aprons all the body panels are still in their original Alpine White ||| paint!

I took the vehicle for a good and thorough test drive before I bought it, and it performed seriously well, very slight power drop at the top end near 5K RPM due to the original turbo getting tired over time. But other than that and the shock absorbers feeling absolutely terrible as they were also original, I was sold on the car!

As far as I know, it is the highest mileage 335i F30 in South Africa, correct me if I'm wrong, but a seriously impressive car considering how it has help up.

I will share photo's of how the vehicle looked when I bough it and then you can compare to how it looks now, the project has come a long way!

Oh, and if someone by any chance knows the previous owner of this car, I'd really appreciate it if I could learn more about the car's history from them!

Here is the list of what I have sorted out in the meantime:

Oil change + filter
Fixed sump plug leak
Pads + Discs X4 + sensors Bleed breaks
385,058km

Coolant flush (OEM BMW BLUE)
New expansion tank
385,170km

2 New breaklight bulbs (fixed)
OEM Sport Kidney Grills
Drivers side undercarpet
Steering Wheel buttons
R/R fender liner
385,212km

4X new passive Bilstein shocks
1X shock mount F/L
New thrust arm bushings
New tie end and rack end rods
385,220km

Coolant Overflow line
New coolant cap (140)
Upper radiator hose
385,253km

4X new style 397 wheels and Dunlop tyres
385,268km

OFHG X2 gaskets
Oil cooler line *O Rings*
Oil pressure sensor
No.1 Intake Manifold bolt
Steering Rack Repair Kit
F/L fog light housing
385,283km

Very good going considering the mileage, but man oh man does she drive like a new car now!

Also I am very particular with what I do to this car, so everything is either OEM from the BMW Dealership or Goldwagen.

Another thing I would like to add is rod bearing replacement, it has never been done to this N55 and I do worry about them.
If anyone knows of a good place to get them done at and how much it would cost roughly, I would also apriciate that very much!

Enjoy the photo's!

 

[AlexYannoulatos]

Very impressive mileage and great work carried out. Looking forward to future updates

 

[modocrat]

Wow, that interior looks neat.

 

[Benji]

High mileage hero! Car looks pretty neat, considering, keen to see the updates on this.

Is there any reason you want to do rod bearings? Are these a common failure point or are you hearing knocking? Maybe do an oil analysis to see if there is bearing wear?

 

[David Kunitz]

High mileage hero! Car looks pretty neat, considering, keen to see the updates on this.

Is there any reason you want to do rod bearings? Are these a common failure point or are you hearing knocking? Maybe do an oil analysis to see if there is bearing wear?

Thank you very much!

I would like to get the bearings done as some people say that the N55 suffers from bearing failure when pushed hard usually around track.

And considering I don't know how the previous owner drove the car and it's high mileage I would rather be on the safe side and not risk seizing the engine.

 

[SinghGP]

Always love to see a car being brought back to life!

All the best!

 

[Ahmedy]

Welcome and congratulations.
Just my 2c . Might I suggest getting a obd dongle and log parameters such as knock to see if there may be a problem with worn bearings . Also while doing some logs you may be able to compare it with other cars to see if vitals (coolant temperature, air mass , ignition timing , lambda readouts etc) are in line .

 

[David Kunitz]

Welcome and congratulations.
Just my 2c . Might I suggest getting a obd dongle and log parameters such as knock to see if there may be a problem with worn bearings . Also while doing some logs you may be able to compare it with other cars to see if vitals (coolant temperature, air mass , ignition timing , lambda readouts etc) are in line .

Hello Ahmedy, thank you very much for the welcome!

I got myself Bimmerlink with a Bluetooth OBD adapter recently.

There is a menu for knock on each cylinder, so I will definitely have a look at that.

Coolant and oil temperatures I have been monitoring for a while now on the car's hidden instrument cluster menu's. So far I have had no issue's with them.

The other vitals such as ignition timing I haven't looked into yet. But I definitely will now that you mention it.

Many thanks for the advice!

 

[Ahmedy]

Hello Ahmedy, thank you very much for the welcome!

I got myself Bimmerlink with a Bluetooth OBD adapter recently.

There is a menu for knock on each cylinder, so I will definitely have a look at that.

Coolant and oil temperatures I have been monitoring for a while now on the car's hidden instrument cluster menu's. So far I have had no issue's with them.

The other vitals such as ignition timing I haven't looked into yet. But I definitely will now that you mention it.

Many thanks for the advice!

You're welcome.

I missed what @Benji said and it makes perfect sense to have an oil analysis done .
I doubt that you need to worry about bearing failure seeing that those motors are made with near best materials already.
Astonishingly if we where to average the milage it would work out to 32,000km a year . Which means it was driven on mostly long distances . That's actually a better thing than it being raced for maybe 10,000kms.
My knowledge on anything beyond a e36/e39 is bleek 😂 but I can stick my neck out and say that if it was abused I'm sure something else on the drivetrain would of worn out before main engine components.

 

[David Kunitz]

You're welcome.

I missed what @Benji said and it makes perfect sense to have an oil analysis done .
I doubt that you need to worry about bearing failure seeing that those motors are made with near best materials already.
Astonishingly if we where to average the milage it would work out to 32,000km a year . Which means it was driven on mostly long distances . That's actually a better thing than it being raced for maybe 10,000kms.
My knowledge on anything beyond a e36/e39 is bleek 😂 but I can stick my neck out and say that if it was abused I'm sure something else on the drivetrain would of worn out before main engine components.

You make me feel better, I do hope it was a long distance car.
Definitely alot of km year by year!

I actually kept 500mm of the old oil that I drained out, I'm sure I can use that for an analysis.

 

[osiris]

I love threads like this, bringing an old girl like this back to her former glory is a very satisfying feeling.

As has been mentioned, check diagnostics on the car. I would always say rather get MHD not to tune the car but for their superior logging paramaters. That way you can actually go out and do a proper 3rd or 4th gear pull and get a proper log of exactly what's going on with the car. It will paint a very colourful picture of how every component is functioning with regards to the turno, the timing, short term and long term fuel trims. waste gate duty cycle(To see if the turbo is holding boost properly or not). Rail pressure, etc. There are tons of paramaters that you can check.

With regards to rod bearings, This one I am sceptical of. Id say if you don't hear any knock then leave them alone and get an oil analysis done and make a decision based on the results.

 

[David Kunitz]

I love threads like this, bringing an old girl like this back to her former glory is a very satisfying feeling.

As has been mentioned, check diagnostics on the car. I would always say rather get MHD not to tune the car but for their superior logging paramaters. That way you can actually go out and do a proper 3rd or 4th gear pull and get a proper log of exactly what's going on with the car. It will paint a very colourful picture of how every component is functioning with regards to the turno, the timing, short term and long term fuel trims. waste gate duty cycle(To see if the turbo is holding boost properly or not). Rail pressure, etc. There are tons of paramaters that you can check.

With regards to rod bearings, This one I am sceptical of. Id say if you don't hear any knock then leave them alone and get an oil analysis done and make a decision based on the results.

Many thanks for the very informative reply!

From what you have said, MHD sounds like a brilliant option for logging parameters, I will definitely have a look into the app.

And about the oil analysis, I think it would be my best option at the moment, just to make sure everything is in check before I push the car too hard.

 

[unobeat]

What a find.
I love such threads as they make for an interesting reading. I am already loving the work you have done to date.

Looking forward to more updates.

Sent from my SM-A307FN using Tapatalk

 

[AshG108]

Good on you bud, that car doesnt looks its mileage at all.
Also getting back the OEM rims was a good choice, more comfort compared to those other rims. Hope you have a ton of great kms ahead!
This is a testament to the N55 motor, there was someone on here who was afraid of the N55 at high mileage and this will help with some good proof on how far these can go.

 

[David Kunitz]

Thank you very much!

What a find.
I love such threads as they make for an interesting reading. I am already loving the work you have done to date.

Looking forward to more updates.

Sent from my SM-A307FN using Tapatalk

 

[David Kunitz]

Good on you bud, that car doesnt looks its mileage at all.
Also getting back the OEM rims was a good choice, more comfort compared to those other rims. Hope you have a ton of great kms ahead!
This is a testament to the N55 motor, there was someone on here who was afraid of the N55 at high mileage and this will help with some good proof on how far these can go.

Yes, the rims were one of the biggest changes for this F30, they change the look and ride completely.

The N55 is without a doubt one of the most reliable, robust amd enjoyable engine ever produced, I couldn't be more happy with it.

 

[Soprano890925]

Hey David
Hows the maintenance of the 335 going, keen to know how it as progressed over the last year.

 

[David Kunitz]

Hey David
Hows the maintenance of the 335 going, keen to know how it as progressed over the last year.

Sorry for the late response.

The 335i has been almost 100% flawless, I just replaced the tappet cover myself due to the pcv failure, not sure if I mentioned that before.

I have driven it around 300km in the last month, pushing it very hard and even power sliding it in the rain. It doesn't skip a beat. I genuinely think it is the most reliable petrol BMW you can buy. I have met several people with F30 335i and F10 535i models with over 300,000km since owning my car, and they all have had a solid experience aswell.