2010+ 135i?

In my quest to ditch the BRZ and own another BMW, I thought, "Hey, you liked these when they came out, and while not as fancy or new as the M2, you can find a clean one for about 1/3 the price."

I'm interested in the 2010+ for the N55 over the N54. With the DCT gearbox. For a DD, occasional HPDE car, it seems like it would fit the bill while also being much cheaper than some of the other options I've considered........that's a good thing. 

The only real negative I'm seeing regarding the occasional track day, is if you want to run a square setup, you can't really get much tire under the front. Seems 245 is all you can do.

I've seen turbos go on 2 135s on track. They need extra cooling I think but not 100% sure.  

Any idea if they were the N54 (twin turbo) or N55 (single twin scroll) engine?

Pretty sure 2010 was the break to the new body (diff hood lines) and the N55 but bimmerforums.com will clarify if need be.

I have a 6MT 128i, so I can't comment directly on the engine or the transmission, but I really like the chassis. It's one of the last, if not the last, BMW that adheres to the traditional corporate formula about driving first and everything else later. Sport package seats are a necessity IMO, and if you intend to do track days, try to find one with manual seats, which are lower and lighter than the power ones.

I avoided the 135i because of the increased difficulty of working on the engine due to packaging combined with the additional common failure points. The DCT is OK, I guess, but it's stupid expensive to fix if it goes wrong.

In reply to z31maniac :

One was an '09. Not sure of the other one. 

02Pilot said:

I have a 6MT 128i, so I can't comment directly on the engine or the transmission, but I really like the chassis. It's one of the last, if not the last, BMW that adheres to the traditional corporate formula about driving first and everything else later. Sport package seats are a necessity IMO, and if you intend to do track days, try to find one with manual seats, which are lower and lighter than the power ones.

I avoided the 135i because of the increased difficulty of working on the engine due to packaging combined with the additional common failure points. The DCT is OK, I guess, but it's stupid expensive to fix if it goes wrong.

True. But my local indie shop has said outside of the occasional gasket leak, the DCTs are pretty solid.

That bonus is smoldering in your pocket eh ?   

759NRNG said:

That bonus is smoldering in your pocket eh ?   

Not yet, but I really want something other than the BRZ, and the 1 series will still make fun turbo noises, it's a tune away from M2 power levels, can still get a DCT. And it's still a "relatively" lightweight 2 door coupe that should be more than fun to drive. And the price point means I don't need to wait for anything.

More was hoping to here owner experiences and other common problems so I know if it's worth to keep looking. I really like their price point. You can find clean ones under $25k with the DCT. 

Yes please.

They remind me of the 2002Tii pure and simple..

Anyone else? We don't have anyone here who has owned an N55 135i or 335?

I had an N54 135i and it was a riot.  As noted the drawbacks on these are tire limitations for track usage.  I went from 215 to 235 on the nose of mine, and even those rubbed on occasion.  245's take quite a bit of fender manipulation up front if you're not hacking it up for flares or the like. 

The second issue is that underhood temps climb quickly on these when pressed hard.  An aftermarket oil cooler is pretty much mandatory if you plan to increase boost levels or drive it hard.  

Beyond that, it was a phenomenal GT type car, and was a riot to drive fast.  Mine was tuned with intercooler/exhaust/oil coolers and was just shy of 400hp.  That straight six makes beautiful noises, and the torque curve is a freaking riot.  

I did the E9x M3 front control arm swap which gives a bit more camber and aggressive alignment characteristics, and swapped on coilovers at the same time.  Once aligned, the car was dialed and fun.  I miss it.  

The characteristics of the N55 should be very similar, but with slightly less maintenance issues.  Mine was a 6-speed, so no experience with the DCT.  

Not exactly what you are looking for but I own a manual 2010 135i with the N54. Its my daily driver which I autocross a few times a year. Yes, I've had to replace the water pump, fuel injectors, spark plugs, and brakes but none of that bothered me as much as it does the rest of the internet. 

I bought the car used with 29k miles and actually cross shopped it against a new BRZ. More power, better brakes, and better visibility are what sold me. Yeah its 600 lbs more then a BRZ but it carries it well. 

Stock the car has zero camber but adding Dinan fixed camber plates gave me -2.5 camber. That greatly improved turn in at autocross and I still run staggered 235/265 RE-71R tires. Before the camber plates the 235's would rub up front. I might be able to get away with a 245 up front depending on the tire brand. Worse case a light fender roll should make them work.

I'm also running a MHD Stage 1 tune using their cell phone app. Nice bump in power and allows and has a setting for more linear throttle input. Think they offer tunes for the N55 now too. 

Cooling systems......yeah, thats a given on any BMW sold in the last 3 decades, so the water pump stuff doesn't bother me as much. Extra cooling for a turbo car to track, also not a surprise.

The only other big thing I've read about on the N55 is to replace the chargepipe that likes to disintegrate and possibly get ingested by the engine, and that the stock intercooler will heat soak under heavy use. 

Other than the high cost of putting a proper differential in it, this may be the winner.  

Oh charge pipe, yeah forgot I replaced that too.. Stock plastic one will shatter where it clips to the throttle body. I'm sure running more boost didn't help things. About $100 will get you an aluminum replacement. 

One other general maintenance point on the N5x engines: if the accessory belt slips off, it will very likely wrap itself around and behind the crank pulley, destroying the front crank seal and creating an expensive but inert lump of metal out of your motor. Replace the belt, tensioner, and idler if there is any sign of the belt not being properly centered on the idler and/or tensioner pulley. Check frequently, especially if you're tracking the car.

02Pilot said:

One other general maintenance point on the N5x engines: if the accessory belt slips off, it will very likely wrap itself around and behind the crank pulley, destroying the front crank seal and creating an expensive but inert lump of metal out of your motor. Replace the belt, tensioner, and idler if there is any sign of the belt not being properly centered on the idler and/or tensioner pulley. Check frequently, especially if you're tracking the car.

Well that sounds terrifying, I'm guessing when that happens it destroys the crank nose, hence the inert lump of metal part?

z31maniac said:

02Pilot said:

One other general maintenance point on the N5x engines: if the accessory belt slips off, it will very likely wrap itself around and behind the crank pulley, destroying the front crank seal and creating an expensive but inert lump of metal out of your motor. Replace the belt, tensioner, and idler if there is any sign of the belt not being properly centered on the idler and/or tensioner pulley. Check frequently, especially if you're tracking the car.

Well that sounds terrifying, I'm guessing when that happens it destroys the crank nose, hence the inert lump of metal part?

My understanding is that the belt gets shredded and the bits gets forced through the front crank seal and into the internals, making an awful mess.

02Pilot said:

One other general maintenance point on the N5x engines: if the accessory belt slips off, it will very likely wrap itself around and behind the crank pulley, destroying the front crank seal and creating an expensive but inert lump of metal out of your motor. Replace the belt, tensioner, and idler if there is any sign of the belt not being properly centered on the idler and/or tensioner pulley. Check frequently, especially if you're tracking the car.

Mine did this - it is actually caused by wear on the motormount which causes the polymer pulley to slap the front rail.  The pulley fractures on the backside (where you cannot see eet) and then eats the belt.  The belt then eats the crank seal and snout...  

My 335I N54 was the least trustworthy and most expensive thing to own that I have ever had.  in retrospect, I did not do enough homework before buying or would have known.  Aside from injectors and high pressure fuel pump (done under recall early on), I took every fault and maintenance failure that they are know to have in an 18month time frame and had enough.  Ironically the car is probably borderline reliable now but I just couldn't have it in my life after our time together.

Side note - best handling and fastest stock vehicle I have ever had.  Fantastic haptics and spot on power/tranny everywhere.  

84FSP said:

02Pilot said:

One other general maintenance point on the N5x engines: if the accessory belt slips off, it will very likely wrap itself around and behind the crank pulley, destroying the front crank seal and creating an expensive but inert lump of metal out of your motor. Replace the belt, tensioner, and idler if there is any sign of the belt not being properly centered on the idler and/or tensioner pulley. Check frequently, especially if you're tracking the car.

Mine did this - it is actually caused by wear on the motormount which causes the polymer pulley to slap the front rail.  The pulley fractures on the backside (where you cannot see eet) and then eats the belt.  The belt then eats the crank seal and snout... 

According to my trusted local BMW indy shop, the idler and tensioner pulleys are the most common causal failure points across the whole N5x family, though the failure you describe would certainly be a more likely mode for a tracked car experiencing greater engine movement.

Is there any suggested interval on those? I know the water pumps are "typically" 60-80k miles. 

Sounds like that would be another thing to do for preventative maintenance.

z31maniac said:

Is there any suggested interval on those? I know the water pumps are "typically" 60-80k miles. 

 

Sounds like that would be another thing to do for preventative maintenance.

I don't recall if there's a mileage-specific interval in the book, but mine is every 50k for the belt, tensioner, and idler pulley. The OE Continental kit is just over $100 and it takes maybe an hour if you work slowly (a little more for the tightly-packaged turbo motors).

Mine was street driven and dealer maintained as a family cruiser but it all went at 63K.  The waterpump was price but not terrible to do.  The Oil filter/cooller housing gaskets are another common failure.  I ended up resealing the majority of the motor, including turbo feed lines to get it sorted.  

Again - great car if I had done my homework I wouldn't have been surprised.  

84FSP said:

Mine was street driven and dealer maintained as a family cruiser but it all went at 63K.  The waterpump was price but not terrible to do.  The Oil filter/cooller housing gaskets are another common failure.  I ended up resealing the majority of the motor, including turbo feed lines to get it sorted.  

Again - great car if I had done my homework I wouldn't have been surprised.  

Hmmm, going to have to have a look at my motor mounts to make sure I don't have that issue.

Someone I know has a 335i with a N55.  He had the waterpump failure, transmission failure and metal shavings in the oil (root cause undiagnosed) all <60k miles.  Another guy I know had ignition coils go and a few of other medium-ish level problems which I cannot recall at the moment.