Went to the "dark side"

[ForcedFirebird]

Been a minute. The pandemic hit, we got slammed with orders at the shop, and one-by-one everyone left the ship. Got so buried in work, just did 14-16hr days for the last couple years. Changed the business model, stopped taking in "repairs", sold the race cars and kinda "started over".

Anyways, in the recent travels, happened upon a 335d. One owner, tides are good, and couldn't pass up the deal. The wife turned 50 last week, had the 540iS almost ready to give as a gift, but as the wind blows, ended up paying a few thousand for this...



By selling the e39, it will cover the cost of this thing, and I have always been anti-new Bimmer, just worked on them and took the money (I have an indy BMW shop). This is my first time meeting a "D", but have been consistently working on lots of 1's and e90/92, as they are the bottom of the barrel ATM. I bought the e30 in 2006 as a gift to the wife, it was 20yr old, this one is 11yr old, but has another 20k miles on it (e90+97k miles, e30 was 72k). Here it is 16yr later, and happen to stumble on another gem. One owner, local here in Florida, and it had all the fun nick knacks.

Anyways, quit all social media, forums and the like to catch up. Waiting for a part to come out of the machine, pretty stoked as to what it is (for those reading this, and know me billet upgraded m20 oil drive bearings that are currently NLA).

[lukeADE335i]

Welcome to the dark side :D

I really like my e92 diesel. The performance you get vs. the fuel mileage is fantastic & mine is also a very late build that I bought hoping BMW had ironed out the kinks by then. Thus far the only problem the car has had in my 3.5 years of ownership is a failed EGR sensor & I just replaced the EGR valve myself, reset the codes & adaptions and all was well again. Otherwise, just normal maintenance.

[ForcedFirebird]

This mazes me, following pic is light HYWY, mostly city. All stock, does 0-60 in 5.5, local customer with a z4 we are putting a turbo on has the same model (also 2011, silver on black) with a stage 2 tune and emission delete, it's a rocket (and his avg fuel consumption went to 36!!!). Will do just under 12sec on street tires lol.

We have an LS powered GM Express conversion van that eats $75-100 wk on today's fuel prices, this thing goes 2+ weeks on a tank (albeit $5.25 vs $4.30 a gallon).

[ForcedFirebird]

Welcome to the dark side :D

I really like my e92 diesel. The performance you get vs. the fuel mileage is fantastic & mine is also a very late build that I bought hoping BMW had ironed out the kinks by then. Thus far the only problem the car has had in my 3.5 years of ownership is a failed EGR sensor & I just replaced the EGR valve myself, reset the codes & adaptions and all was well again. Otherwise, just normal maintenance.

Dude! Not only is it my first (stock) turbo BMW, it's my first "gen 5" car. Just old enough to code, but just new enough to have all the cool features.

[AWDBOB]

Welcome back!!

[2mAn]

Those things are torque monsters!

[Northern]

quit all social media

Honestly I need to do this. My current soft approach is to just not sign up for anything new, but Meta isn't dying fast enough.

I would absolutely daily an E90. Thought about it many times but it would need to be an E91 (for the pupper and 'truck' duties) and they're very hard to find here.

[ForcedFirebird]

Welcome back!!

I guess? lol Already combing and trying to help...again.

Those things are torque monsters!

You're not kidding. The 16yr old daughter (HI!, has a 74 Beetle) gets nervous when punching the go stick.

Honestly I need to do this. My current soft approach is to just not sign up for anything new, but Meta isn't dying fast enough.

I would absolutely daily an E90. Thought about it many times but it would need to be an E91 (for the pupper and 'truck' duties) and they're very hard to find here.

Best thing ever was quitting FB. The rest was easy after that. Once in a blue moon, will post something on the shop Insta, but it's all a joke anymore. Won't get into it here, but anyone who is making billions off users' data, aren't worth the paper they are printed on. I'm into tangible products that won't disappear at the next Carrington event.

[e30davie]

I thought Mercedes was the dark side.

[ForcedFirebird]

I thought Mercedes was the dark side.

That's an Audi a7 next to it? Also diesel.

[Staszek]

Dark side as in diesel or just a newer BMW :). I guess compared to the E30 its newer but its not really new, the oldest E90s are 16 to 17 years old already, I still have an E93 and had an E90 330i, That being said welcome to the dark side, I like the platform a lot and love breaking out mine. I still think the E46 platform is one of my favorite of all of them, but the E90 still feels smaller and more BMW-like before they went to the F and G series.

[nando]

E90s are fantastic cars. I think they are pretty overlooked by BMW enthusiasts, especially the non-turbo models. Generally they're far more sturdy than an E46 (well, if you avoid the early 335i), comfortable, economical to own, and modern enough but not in the super ugly modern BMW way.

I've had my 330i for almost 8 years now - it has cost me peanuts to run. The biggest expense by far has been tire replacements. The only mechanical failures have been 1 coil and the expected water pump replacement - but new water pumps are lasting 200,000+ miles. you're not getting that out of an E46 cooling system!

I wish the 335D came with a 6 speed manual, but I'm sure the torque is still enjoyable.

[ForcedFirebird]

Dark side as in diesel or just a newer BMW :). I guess compared to the E30 its newer but its not really new, the oldest E90s are 16 to 17 years old already, I still have an E93 and had an E90 330i, That being said welcome to the dark side, I like the platform a lot and love breaking out mine. I still think the E46 platform is one of my favorite of all of them, but the E90 still feels smaller and more BMW-like before they went to the F and G series.

I agree. I've been working on more and more e9x and e8x lately, they are on the cusp of modern. Mine has iDrive, so it has all the cool features, but not modern enough to be a pain to work on. The e9x feels light years ahead of e46, and I have been working on both pretty much as soon as they were out of warranty.

E90s are fantastic cars. I think they are pretty overlooked by BMW enthusiasts, especially the non-turbo models. Generally they're far more sturdy than an E46 (well, if you avoid the early 335i), comfortable, economical to own, and modern enough but not in the super ugly modern BMW way.

I've had my 330i for almost 8 years now - it has cost me peanuts to run. The biggest expense by far has been tire replacements. The only mechanical failures have been 1 coil and the expected water pump replacement - but new water pumps are lasting 200,000+ miles. you're not getting that out of an E46 cooling system!

I wish the 335D came with a 6 speed manual, but I'm sure the torque is still enjoyable.

I also though the auto would suck, but it has a manual mode that actually is decent if you want to roll through the gears. Yes, the TQ is insane. Instantly sink into the seat, almost at any speed.

I've been letting friends drive it, and telling them to mash it to the floor, the looks on faces are great. One buddy is a Charger nut (I know his is a little faster on paper) but he said my car "felt" like it would rape his. lol. His has 475tq(?), but is also 1/4 ton heavier.

It's amazing, never realized how many e9x are on the roads down here, but most of them are non-turbo and in pretty rough shape. Parts are plentiful in the JY etc. When I bough the e30, it was 20yr old, but looked very different to 2006 cars - well, guess the e90 also looks different than modern pig-noses.