3SGTE sits sideways… but doesn’t leak oil. Toyota.

i told my friend she's should get a corolla as her first car. Told her time and time again, buy japanese for a daily. NOPE, she had to keep up with the joneses and shes too image conscious to drive a corolla. So she ended up with this used 2012 bmw 328i xdrive as her first car.

ENJOY

https://i.postimg.cc/gjzfcyFW/ed024d...a990faeec4.jpg

What happened to it? My friend had one and the ECU just died.

Not too certain anymore, shes pretty shy about the maintenance required on that car because she knows ill just rant on her.

i know in this particular instance, it was because she had a cracked wheel and costco would not let her drive it away. Last time at bubble tea she also mentioned she had to replace 2 HID xenon bulbs... the list continues

iirc many of transverse Toyota engines from the late 80's onwards do. All the S and A series engines at least are at 22* or so.

3S-GTE :sweetjesus:

Haha well actually the 3S will... cuz the bolts back out over time slightly, but if you remember to give them a twist every now and then everything is okay.

OK, so here's the thing. If BMW's suck so much, why do people keep buying them? For some it's the desire to be baller on a budget, but I know better than than that, yet I still really like them. Every time I've sold one of my used BMW's it's not long before I'm back in the market looking for another one. The only one I've ever owned that was a money pit was my N54 engine 335i (and even on that one the money pit wasn't too deep.)

I wonder how many of the horror stories have a history of maintenance neglect that is not being spoken about? If you can't or don't want to turn wrenches and if ignoring service intervals is one of your hobbies, a Toyota Camry is definitely a better choice than an aging BMW.

I've owned 3 different BMW's with the N52 or M54 engine, they've been easy to maintain and DIY (with a huge internet knowledge base.) Buying parts from wreckers, FCP Euro and Rockauto they've been pretty affordable to keep running. I've never had a catastrophic issue that left me stranded on the side of the road because I've done routine maintenance which goes a long way to preventing failures in the first place, and when I've been in there doing maintenance I've identified when parts needed to be replaced (gaskets, hoses etc.)

Given the tone of the last day of posting I really shouldn't share this but I haven't been flamed in a while sooooo.....

I'm strangely tempted to buy this because it's a bit unusual.

https://b-pro.ca/car/2007-bmw-6-series-630i-64000km/

https://b-pro.ca/wp-content/uploads/...BM283555-5.jpg

I've always kinda liked the E63 6 series even though they have a bit of a douchey vibe (especially the vert). I feel like much of it is from the people who bought them when they were budget ballers and their questionable aesthetic choices (douchetastic aftermarket wheels, shiny wraps, upbadging and other offences.) The E63 is one of the Bangle designs that I think is aging well. The main issue I have is that it was only ever sold here with 2 of BMW's least reliable engines, the unreliable and expensive to fix N62 V8 or the unreliable and wildly expensive to fix S85 V10. That JDM example with 64,000 km on an N52 engine would make a nice daily driver, a grand touring coupe with a smooth I6 engine, not super fast but pretty comfortable and it's the same money as a LHD E90 with double the km.

Flame away!

I mean buying a N52 E63 is as offensive as buying a 6 cylinder mustang. Yuck.

Europe/Japan always got weird BMWs. Crazy variation of diesels, 4 cylinders, and all of them are spec'd with M-Tech Aero Kits or some kind of crazy rare option LOL

I can see the value of that 630i as a comfy cruiser with some style. Put some different BMW spec wheels on it and feel pretty upmarket.

It doesn't give off the tryhard vibe a V6 Mustang does haha... just a shame its RHD that's pretty annoying for most people.

i dont think bmw's suck, i think they drive great, look great, and in general are fantastic cars.

Only thing thats weak is their questionable engineering for the sake of engineering. A very typical german thing to do. Cant leave things well enough alone, always have to reinvent the wheel every few years just for the sake of reinventing the wheel. Look at the god awful cupholders on the e90's. The pop out ones. WHY COULDNT YOU JUST MAKE NORMAL CUPHOLDERS!?!?

If germans were evolve a product over time then you have the 911. Just wish more german manufactuers did that instead of throwing everything out and starting from scratch with some unproven, cost cutting technology that they dont even know if it'll work or not.

^ You have a BMW Type R. You just went from and old BMW to a new one.

We are on the 3rd one. The M car has surprisingly been bulletproof. The Mini and X3 has never left us stranded but has a ton of little issues that needs to be warrantied. The bit about doing just good enough sounds about right as the Mini had a ton of revision parts already 3rd year into the MY.

I remember test driving a 2011 335is 6mt... back in 2017 maybe

oh man. it was fun. I was astounded by how differently it drove compared to my previous Japanese cars at the time. Responsive turbo, linear power, really planted my ass into the nice sport seats. Sales guy was in the car so I didn't hoon it too hard, just took it to maybe 70km/h?

One thing I noted was how... connected to the ground I felt through the steering wheel. It was new for me lol. Maybe it was the low profile tires.

Definitely one car I'd come back to look for when I have more $$$ to play with.

I love BMW, I just don't want to work on them anymore.

Deliver me from this punishment. (My Z4 friend just bought that blue EJ Forrester).

Stay tuned. I'm about to learn how to do a HG.

lol

Arguably, Subarus are like the BMWs of the Japanese world. But worse reliability, somewhat cheaper parts, but catastrophic results. For all the problems each has, I'll take the BMW. At least it feels like a finished product.

Subaru are more of then than not deadnuts reliable **if you keep it stock** and do your maintenance.

BMW's reputation for less than stellar reliability began with the E36 chassis. Prior to the 1990s, it was people who truly had money that drove BMWs. In my view, it was the E36/E46 cars that became truly accessible to the masses. Of course, most people don't maintain their cars as they're supposed to be maintained, which explained the exploding expansion tanks and other issues associated with plastic parts which gave BMW their reputation.

I grew up driving B-series engines and they were great cars in my 20s. However, once I got a taste of an M20 engine, I understood what enthusiasts were saying for years and came to appreciate BMWs.

I had to take a hiatus from BMWs for a while (because life). I got back into an old E46 recently and I've probably spent more time addressing neglected maintenance rather than driving it. I drove it downtown to the office this week, with the top down, on the Barnet and it was a lot of fun.

I just had lunch with her today and i asked her how her car was, she said it was okay, but noticed that there is a coolant leakage. Also the back trim next to her brake light came down.

I fixed the trim and popped the hood and saw this.

https://i.postimg.cc/tCc3Ms0p/IMG-3656.jpg
Head cover gasket seems to be going soon, i see some oozing of oil next to it.

https://i.postimg.cc/NGp7RNpy/IMG-3654.jpg
Power steering pump is covered in fluid.. seems to still operate okay though

https://i.postimg.cc/gkjysvTg/IMG-3655.jpg
wtf is this hole for?

The hole is for you to thread a tow hook thing into and chain to an engine picker.



https://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j...-Assembly.webp














You so can take care of all the leaks.

classic leaking PS housing. Tell her to put a sock over it. Or replace the cap gasket

Wow i didnt know that was a real thing. her hubby is suppose to take care of this shit (hes the IS300 guy) but hes too busy taking that damn thing to the autocross in mission nowadays hahahah

That oil leak is not a head gasket leak - that's a valve cover gasket which is common on all modern BMW engines. I believe on N52 engines, there's a concern that oil could drip onto the drive belt over time, so it can't be left for too long, unlike on the E46/E36 cars.

Dealer will probably charge 4 hours labour, plus the cost of the gasket and grommets.

Ask me how I know, go ahead. Every single BMW motor I've touched has a leaky Valve Cover and Oil Pan.

yes valve cover. I dont know why i said head gasket. i had to do the same on her dad's 128i.