yatzee
Top Post Dawg
After multiple PMs about my experiences with my 335d, I decided to do a post to answer some of the common questions:
For me, the 335d represented the holy grail of diesels. I’d worked my way up from an 86 Jetta TD (which consumed more oil than diesel), to a 98 TDI, then a 2000, a 2002, then a highly modified 2004. Once I was ready to sell the modded 04, I took a long look at the 335d before buying one. I read about the issues, spoke to the dealers, and tried to get an idea about what I was getting myself into
Last July, I picked up my white 335d with 74k on it from a local dealer. It had been a trade-in and had sat on their lot for months. They accepted my lowish ball offer, and a couple days later, I left with it.
These are experiences with the car.
Pros:
Power. Torque. Silly acceleration. Anyone who has only driven tdi’s will not know what’s hit them. 265hp / 425tq – it pulled like a freight train
Handling – Brilliant heavy steering. Canyon roads were no match for this car
Driving Comfort (with non-runflats) – once I got rid of the runflat garbage, the car was great in the city too. I didn’t feel every crack in the road anymore
Braking – The car gets moving easily, and stops just as easily
Styling – So much better looking that the VWs right now
Fuel Economy – I averaged 7.2l/100 over 35k (about 31 mpg over 20k miles)
Cons:
Comfort – Those seats have got to be the worst pieces of junk I’ve ever sat in. The seats in my current 04 Wagon are better. To be fair, I have a weak back, so I’m very sensitive to seats, and my seats were non-sport pack, but still. The car was 55k new!
Transmission – at low speed, I could not get it to shift smoothly. At WOT, it was buttery smooth but in the city, it would constantly shift a bit late and be generally a bit confused. I had the dealer do a software update, but that didn’t improve it. As per the forums, a flush was recommended, but the dealer refused as it is a ‘life time fill’. Now, let it be said – I’m a standard transmission purist. There is also a 2010 JSW with a DSG in the family, so maybe I’m spoiled….
Practicality – Guys – it’s really not all that big inside. The back seat is a joke, and the trunk isn’t all that spacious.
Lack of specialists – With the VWs, if there’s something that we don’t want to touch, there are guys in most areas who will take on the job. With the BMW’s, the number of garages outside the dealer who know the cars are very few. I spoke to a couple shops about a tranny flush and they weren’t interested in touching it.
Mods:
JBD – a tuning box came with the car. Did it make it faster? Sure, but you only felt the difference at highly illegal speeds.
Retrofit Center Speaker – I set out to improve the sound, so I retrofitted a center speaker with the help of the a post on e90post.com
JBL MS-8 – This is a really neat bit of tech – it’s a DSP (digital sound processor) with a small amp built in. A guy in Florida made a plug and play harness, so I was about to install it in the place of the stock amp easily. It really woke up the stock speakers.
BMW iPod kit – not a mod as such, and very expensive, but a must if you spend lots of time on the road
Ditching the runflats – The dealer scoffed at me, but it improved the car tremendously. I went from 17s with runflats to 18s with General GMax AS03’s – much more complaint ride along with better grip. I also bought a spare tire donut for the trunk form a vendor in the USA to cover me if I had a flat.
Conclusion:
I was sold as soon as I drove it for the 1st time and felt that wave of torque. Unfortunately, a host of little things made me fall out of love with that car.
In the end, I’ve traded it in on a 2015 GTI. I did badly in that transaction – no one up here wanted a 2009 335d, not even the wholesalers, but with a couple discounts on the GTI, I was able to get out relatively unscathed.
For me, the 335d represented the holy grail of diesels. I’d worked my way up from an 86 Jetta TD (which consumed more oil than diesel), to a 98 TDI, then a 2000, a 2002, then a highly modified 2004. Once I was ready to sell the modded 04, I took a long look at the 335d before buying one. I read about the issues, spoke to the dealers, and tried to get an idea about what I was getting myself into
Last July, I picked up my white 335d with 74k on it from a local dealer. It had been a trade-in and had sat on their lot for months. They accepted my lowish ball offer, and a couple days later, I left with it.
These are experiences with the car.
Pros:
Power. Torque. Silly acceleration. Anyone who has only driven tdi’s will not know what’s hit them. 265hp / 425tq – it pulled like a freight train
Handling – Brilliant heavy steering. Canyon roads were no match for this car
Driving Comfort (with non-runflats) – once I got rid of the runflat garbage, the car was great in the city too. I didn’t feel every crack in the road anymore
Braking – The car gets moving easily, and stops just as easily
Styling – So much better looking that the VWs right now
Fuel Economy – I averaged 7.2l/100 over 35k (about 31 mpg over 20k miles)
Cons:
Comfort – Those seats have got to be the worst pieces of junk I’ve ever sat in. The seats in my current 04 Wagon are better. To be fair, I have a weak back, so I’m very sensitive to seats, and my seats were non-sport pack, but still. The car was 55k new!
Transmission – at low speed, I could not get it to shift smoothly. At WOT, it was buttery smooth but in the city, it would constantly shift a bit late and be generally a bit confused. I had the dealer do a software update, but that didn’t improve it. As per the forums, a flush was recommended, but the dealer refused as it is a ‘life time fill’. Now, let it be said – I’m a standard transmission purist. There is also a 2010 JSW with a DSG in the family, so maybe I’m spoiled….
Practicality – Guys – it’s really not all that big inside. The back seat is a joke, and the trunk isn’t all that spacious.
Lack of specialists – With the VWs, if there’s something that we don’t want to touch, there are guys in most areas who will take on the job. With the BMW’s, the number of garages outside the dealer who know the cars are very few. I spoke to a couple shops about a tranny flush and they weren’t interested in touching it.
Mods:
JBD – a tuning box came with the car. Did it make it faster? Sure, but you only felt the difference at highly illegal speeds.
Retrofit Center Speaker – I set out to improve the sound, so I retrofitted a center speaker with the help of the a post on e90post.com
JBL MS-8 – This is a really neat bit of tech – it’s a DSP (digital sound processor) with a small amp built in. A guy in Florida made a plug and play harness, so I was about to install it in the place of the stock amp easily. It really woke up the stock speakers.
BMW iPod kit – not a mod as such, and very expensive, but a must if you spend lots of time on the road
Ditching the runflats – The dealer scoffed at me, but it improved the car tremendously. I went from 17s with runflats to 18s with General GMax AS03’s – much more complaint ride along with better grip. I also bought a spare tire donut for the trunk form a vendor in the USA to cover me if I had a flat.
Conclusion:
I was sold as soon as I drove it for the 1st time and felt that wave of torque. Unfortunately, a host of little things made me fall out of love with that car.
In the end, I’ve traded it in on a 2015 GTI. I did badly in that transaction – no one up here wanted a 2009 335d, not even the wholesalers, but with a couple discounts on the GTI, I was able to get out relatively unscathed.
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