Get back into a 328i E92 as a daily? Am I asking for trouble?

Hi everyone. So, recently, I've been itching for a new daily driver. As you may be able to tell by my name, I enjoy Japanese cars, and currently have a 2006 Accord 4 cylinder with a 5MT that I daily (and a NB Miata for fun/project).

My Accord has been serving me well, and its a great daily driver. However, it just isn't what I would call fun. Sure, its more fun than my mom's Corolla and my dad's CRV, but it still is a family sedan. I've been going off and on whether I want to get rid of it after my 5 years of having this car, and moving onto a new daily. I wouldn't be buying for another couple years, but the itch to start looking at and possibly saving up money for a new daily has been around for several months now.

I'm looking into a 328i E92 to replace it with. Funny enough, my Accord replaced my first car, which was also an E92 328xi. A little background on that:

I was fortunate enough to have a father who recognized my love for cars when I was young, and so he surprised me in high school with his perception of a sports car (e92 328xi). I was grateful and REALLY enjoyed the car. However, being a high school kid at the time working minimum wage and having no mechanical experience at the time, the BMW had to go when I was starting college. Got the Accord and was very happy with the purchase. But, I always had a missing feeling in me for that E92, since I couldn't do all that I wanted to do with it, and it was a fun car to drive.

Fast forward to present day, and I've become more mechanically inclined, starting from basic oil changes to now pulling the engine out of my Miata and turbo'ing it. I've learned a lot over the years, and have a better job now than when I was in high school and college. I've also built up a decent collection of tools and skills during my time wrenching. I find myself missing my E92 as a daily, and everytime I see one I just long for another.

Am I going to just get back into this viscious cycle again if I get another E92, or do you all say I should go for it in a couple years? I'm more mechanically inclined now, and don't mind doing my own repairs and maintenance; I actually want to and enjoy it (unless a bolt breaks).

I just miss it and think it would be a great, fun daily to go alongside the Miata. So, do you guys think the E92 is worth it for round 2? Anyone here have any experience they want to share about their own 328i e90/92?

Sorry that the post is so long, I appreciate any feedback!

I heart mine!

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

I heart mine!

Looks really nice! Mine had the same wheels. How many miles on it and has it given you much trouble?

Honey I Shrunk the AngryCorvair

In reply to Japanspec :

Currently 77k, I bought it 4 months ago with 71k. No problems yet, but I'm expecting the electric water pump to go in the next 50k.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Sucks that the water pumps on these cars are so expensive.

In reply to Japanspec :

It's expensive, and a pain to replace, but it's not like you have to do it that often. Replace every 100k miles, and if you buy from FCP Euro, you'll get free replacements for life. How many hundreds of thousands of miles are you planning to put on the car?

In reply to 02Pilot :

That is true, its not something that needs replacing all the time. Although from searching BMW forums people recommend every 60k to 70k miles for the water pump. Still not too bad. I'm almost going to have put 100k miles on the Accord, so I'd imagine it would be the same for the E92 before I'm looking for something new.

Just curious, do you happen to have an E90/E92 and what your experiences with ownership are?

In reply to Japanspec :

I have an E82 128i, so there's a lot of similarity. Like most BMW engine components (especially cooling system stuff), life expectancy is directly related to underhood heat, so the water pumps tend to go faster on the turbo 135/335s than on the NA engines.

As far as general experiences, overall very good, though I just resolved a long-running driveline vibration problem that took a long while to sort out. I love the car - I wouldn't have put as much energy and money into fixing it if I didn't. It's at 135k miles or so.

A friend of mine is BMW tech and owned an E46 M3, and loved it so he has a pretty high threshold for pain. He has told me multiple times the e9x 328 is the last bmw he would consider reliable. IIRC he said the turbos and port injection was his main reasoning. He always recommended it if you wanted a modern BMW for a daily that was relatively reliable.

Significantly less trouble than the turbo models. Ask anyone who has owned one.

It's not just the turbos, but all the other issues that come along with them: tighter, hotter packaging, plus direct injection (so lots of work to get even the valve cover off, plus intake valve carbon issues), and the fact that the turbo cars tend to be used harder, particularly by cheap-ass fourth owners who think maintenance is a suggestion, not a requirement.

The N52 is basically the last classic NA BMW inline six. It's not my favorite - that's the M30 - but it's a good, solid engine.

100% do it 

we need more entertainment around here 

Thanks guys! Maybe I will give the E92 another go now that I have more mechanical experience and more income available to fix/maintain one.

I have big mixed feelings on the e90/e92 BMWs. They are nice cars, comfortable, and even the 328 has half decent power. But man I hate messing with them. They aren't technically that hard to work with, BMWs have a ton of info online for parts and how-tos, and even most of the electronics stuff can be done with a cheap laptop and cable and some software available online, but I just have not liked working on the 2 that I've dealt with. 

I'd only buy one if I was getting a 335i, or a 335d, because either way the power for the money is great, and MIGHT offset some of the frustrations. 

02Pilot said:

In reply to Japanspec :

I have an E82 128i, so there's a lot of similarity. Like most BMW engine components (especially cooling system stuff), life expectancy is directly related to underhood heat, so the water pumps tend to go faster on the turbo 135/335s than on the NA engines.

As far as general experiences, overall very good, though I just resolved a long-running driveline vibration problem that took a long while to sort out. I love the car - I wouldn't have put as much energy and money into fixing it if I didn't. It's at 135k miles or so.

Same experiences with my 128i (minus vibration), also at 135k interestingly.  Not to hijack, what ended up as the vibration culprit?

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

Don't give in to the temptation. The 335i has all the aforementioned turbo problems, and from what I've heard from my indy the 335d is an order of magnitude worse, mostly due to emissions.

I'm curious what you worked on that left you with a bad taste. Generally I've found these cars easy to work on, with a few exceptions mostly attributable to packaging. Maintenance, suspension, and most mechanical stuff is pretty straighforward.

In reply to racerdave600 :

Driveshaft. The replacement was out of balance too, which led me to replace the diff. That solved nothing, so I warrantied the replacement driveshaft, and the new new one finally solved it.

In reply to Japanspec :

have you already chosen one? because i'm thinking about selling mine.  it just feels wrong to me to have this much $ tied up in a daily driver. i'm cheap.

I highly. And I mean highly. Recommend sprinting backwards to an e46 330i. Do whatever mental gymnastics it takes to get the last great 3.0L bmw 6 cylinder made in a race worthy chassis.

That's all.

Why not get a nice Lexus is350 or something like that instead? At least you won't need to wrench on it as often and won't need a backup car when it's broken. 

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Japanspec :

have you already chosen one? because i'm thinking about selling mine.  it just feels wrong to me to have this much $ tied up in a daily driver. i'm cheap.

I haven't chosen one yet, still have a year or two before I will have the funds available for one. I just like doing early research.

The e46 seems nice too, and the Lexus is definitely the more responsible choice for me, I just miss the nostalgia of my e92. Really didnt get to fully enjoy it when I had it.

02Pilot said:

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

I'm curious what you worked on that left you with a bad taste. Generally I've found these cars easy to work on, with a few exceptions mostly attributable to packaging. Maintenance, suspension, and most mechanical stuff is pretty straighforward.

Packaging has a lot to do with it I'd say. The suspension isn't bad to work with, that's true. 

The answer is yes.