2006 325i E90
E90 BMW 325i 2006
Tuesday 24th February 2015
I'd been looking to change my 2006 Vectra 2.0T since last summer but only really half heartedly. However, with the annual service due in March (as well as the insurance) and the tax at the end of February it seemed a good time to look a bit harder.
My criteria were pretty flexible - had to be a reasonably practical family car, have a reasonable turn of speed/be ok to drive, preferably low in miles with a decent service history. No great need for a diesel as it won't be doing huge miles - anywhere between 10-15000 miles annually. Budget up to £8k, though ideally a bit less.
Previous cars include a Subaru Impreza WRX, Civic Type R, Peugeot 206 GTI 180, 3 Vectras, various small engine VWs and a Mondeo 1.8. Of those, my favourite was the Impreza and I would have gladly had another this time but nothing much cropped up in the months I was looking (being Norfolk based can be a bit of a pain when it comes to car hunting, compared with other places I have lived). Cars I did consider along the way - a 4WD 2.0T Insignia, a Mazda 6 MPS (sold within about a day of appearing on AT), a Mazda 3 MPS, various Focus STs and (for some reason the ones I quite regret missing out on as they look really decent cars) a couple of Mondeos with the 2.5 turbo engine.
Anyway, I've never owned a BMW or even considered them when looking for a car. Probably because the quicker versions of them, and most of the premium brands such as Audi or MB for that matter, are outside my budget when considering my criteria. I know I shouldn't be scared to buy a car with a few miles on the clock if the condition and service history are all in order but I can't help myself.
So to the car I finally settled on -
-An E90 BMW 325i SE, 6 spd manual.
-Registered in December 2006
-1 previous owner, with 22258 miles and a full (mainly BMW) service history.
-Fresh MOT and service by the dealer, 3 month warranty (obviously checked the dealer out for any iffy reviews etc and couldn't find any so reasonably confident in this respect).
-The price was £7995 (- £1500 which they gave me for the Vectra). Again, did my research on the likes of AT and the car seemed sensibly priced.
Here's a picture or two on the drive back after picking it up -
So far as the ownership experience goes, it's obviously early days. I've maybe done a couple of hundred miles so far. It's certainly a really comfortable place to sit on a journey, even with the ride you get from the much maligned run flat tyres. Economy is around the mid 30s mpg, although I've mainly used it for a couple of longer journeys and driven reasonably sensibly.
Performance wise, the car has the 2497cc, NA 6 cylinder engine. The owner's manual tells me it does 0-60 in 7.0s and a top speed of 152mph. Depending where else you look it may be a little under or a little over 7 seconds to 60 although a lot of the stats out there seem to be for the 3.0 engine which was in the later 325i. Must admit I struggled a bit when researching the engines in the 325i and could not really work out when the 2.5 engines were officially replaced with the 3.0.
Anyway, it does not really feel like a 7 second 0-60 car, although I haven't really pushed it towards the redline yet, so that may be why. It does feel pretty swift when moving through the gears though, despite its modest torque figure of something like 185ibs/ft (my Vectra had more). Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how it drives, I certainly get where people are coming from when they talk about the smooth power delivery of these engines.
Before I bought this, I did a lot of reading over on the various BMW forums - if I had a quid for every time somebody said something along the lines of ignore the 325 as you'll just wish you got a 330/335 or even a 320d instead, then I'd be a rich man. However, that's certainly not me as those cars where never on my radar. Who knows, there may be a time when I wish I had a bit more oomph that the Impreza or Mazda MPS turbos would bring me, but that's probably just the yob/boy racer in me. The fact is, I'm now a 41 year old family man now, it's probably time to drive something a bit more grown up and I have a feeling this car may just fit the bill.
A pic from the dealer ad -
If someone said to me, what's the worst interior you can think of, I would probably go for light cloth!
(Another pic from the dealer ad as mine are more than 2mb apparently)
And a couple more from today, sorry about the dull location and the cropped photos (still having problems with the file size) -
And finally a picture with the other car currently in the Andyrun household. The thread is here -
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by andy118run on Tuesday 24th February 23:10
Wednesday 25th February 2015
Looks great, would probably have spec'd black leather but the beige cloth is nice.
Definitely invest in a tin of scotchguard for the cloth if you want it to stay light.
Wednesday 25th February 2015
I ran one of these as a company car for 3 years & 90k miles & loved it.
Mine had sport suspension option & stepped/wider alloys so the ride on the runflats was taxing at times tbh!
I never felt that mine was a 7 sec 0-60mph car either, although you do have to use all of the rev range to get the full performance & it is creamy smooth all the way to the red line, so no hardship there!
Lovely balanced handling & possibly the last of the 'drivers cars' 3 series, if my current F30 320d is anything to go by.
The engine is the best part of that car imho, never tired of the straight 6 soundtrack
Enjoy!
Wednesday 25th February 2015
I've owned a 2005 early (first production month) E90 325i SE for about 18 months now, and the engine really gets into its own near redline and I find the handling and chassis balance rather quite good, it's my daily driver (have a Civic type-R for 'fun' stuff) but before I got the civic I took my 325i to Santa Pod, and with half a tank of fuel it ran a 15.4 at 90.7mph with a 60ft time of 2.1, when you calculate it and break that down it's bang on 7.0 secs to 60 for the weight of the car! It's just so refined and smooth you never really feel it's going that fast but it is!
Enjoy the car in 18 months only 1 thing has gone wrong (fault when I bought it) of which the valvetronic motor packed up, £220 inc. VAT from BMW for a replacement but that's been the only bill in 18 months bar service parts and it's been wonderful! Such a smooth engine/drivetrain package.
Wednesday 25th February 2015
Some interesting observations above^^^^^^^^^^
I think I will have to lower the window to fully appreciate the straight six soundtrack I've heard mentioned a few times now.
I'm not sure many people in their right mind would spec a light beige cloth interior but beggars can't be choosers now, I suppose.
Wednesday 25th February 2015
Also as yours is manual like mine, get the CDV (Clutch delay valve) removed or replaced with one with a bigger diameter hole in it, it improves clutch feel and gearshift smoothness by a massive amount, I did it 6 months into ownership and can't think to myself why I didn't do it sooner!
Wednesday 25th February 2015
ShafzC said:
Also as yours is manual like mine, get the CDV (Clutch delay valve) removed or replaced with one with a bigger diameter hole in it, it improves clutch feel and gearshift smoothness by a massive amount, I did it 6 months into ownership and can't think to myself why I didn't do it sooner!
Interesting. It did occur to me that the gearshift is not as smooth as some I have experienced though I put that down to the new/different car experience and it taking a bit of time to get to know it.
Wednesday 25th February 2015
Nice car, OP.
Not sure the seats would stay that colour for long if it were mine though. 
Thursday 26th February 2015
ShafzC said:
It's just so refined and smooth you never really feel it's going that fast but it is!
yes, often i find myself looking down thinking, its not going that fast is it, before thinking better of it and lifting off.
windows down sun roof's (there is 2 of them) open is great.
I have the same N52B25 engine, though I think mine is the K revision (2008)
same beige leather interior as well.
had it 12 months now, 8000 miles (13,000km) and its needed nothing other than some rear discs which I probably should have done when i bought it. I also changed the oil 6 months ago out of habit but that was it.
Ryan
Saturday 14th March 2015
Should have given it a clean, really, but couldn't resist a few pics while by the Norfolk coast earlier -
Saturday 14th March 2015
That's such a lovely low mileage example and I bet you are well chuffed with it, thanks for sharing the pics. 
Saturday 14th March 2015
Very nice, I think possibly will be my next car too
Saturday 14th March 2015
Lovely looking car OP!
I hope you enjoy it.
From my various browses of classifieds 325's do seem easier to find than 330's.
Iirc the later N54 3 litre engine only has the same power as your N52 2.5 litre and I have read of issues with the N54 engines' high pressure fuel pumps and injectors, plus some say they don't sound as good.
My Z4 Coupe has the 3 litre version of the N52 and it does seem to like some revs!
Sunday 15th March 2015
Nice ar OP.
I have a 330 of similar vintage although with a few more miles on the clock. In 18 months it's been pretty good, just needing the VANOS actuators replacing and it's still suffering from a split fuel tank vent pipe (which I still need to get sorted). Agree that they don't feel all that fast...until you look at the speedo.
Now we have a kiddie, I wish that I'd held out for a touring because the saloon is useless for ferrying stuff about.
Sunday 15th March 2015
Court_S said:
Now we have a kiddie, I wish that I'd held out for a touring because the saloon is useless for ferrying stuff about.
Interesting! We have a 5 year old and another on the way in October. My first thought was that the boot does not look particularly large.
However, changing the car will not be an option so I think the plan will be a) purchase a fairly compact pushchair and associated baby equipment or b) Mrs Andyrun will replace her Saab shed with a suitable estate shed, maybe a Volvo or something similar.
Monday 16th March 2015
andy118run said:
Interesting! We have a 5 year old and another on the way in October. My first thought was that the boot does not look particularly large.
However, changing the car will not be an option so I think the plan will be a) purchase a fairly compact pushchair and associated baby equipment or b) Mrs Andyrun will replace her Saab shed with a suitable estate shed, maybe a Volvo or something similar.
It's not! It'll be better once mini me is out of his stupid travel system and into a normal pushchair which will at least mean the boot will be semi usable. Trouble is, I really like the car so I guess a 335 touring may be next or a B8 S4.
Monday 16th March 2015
Lovely car, nice spec and comfortable looking interior.
I'm not fussed on those wheels though (just IMO of course).
Wednesday 10th February 2016
- ######## UPDATE ##############
Well it's the best part of a year since I last posted, and a couple of weeks short of a year since I purchased the car so high time I posted a little update.
There's actually not a lot of news - the car hasn't missed a beat all year. My annual mileage stands at 8318, thanks to a short daily commute and the fact that I often use my wife's 307 to potter around in. The BMW has made quite a few longer journeys from Norwich to the likes of London, Manchester and Reading throughout the year to visit family and friends. MPG is usually between 32-36 on the longer trips, around the city it is pretty poor, low twenties is the norm.
It hasn't required a lot of maintenance - it's just been in for its annual service at a cost of £256 at my local 'German car specialists'. The same place also MOT'd it a few days later - all was good with just advisories for an under tray fitted and one tyre close to the limit.
Owning a rather common looking motor I'm not used to receiving compliments but the chap who worked on the car described it as immaculate and easily the best BMW of its era that they'd seen so I was pretty pleased with this (as well as relieved that there appears to be nothing pending in terms of maintenance, apart from the tyre).
As for the year ahead - more of the same I hope. I used to like changing my cars every year or so but I would really struggle to part with this one right now. The only grounds for this may be my growing family, but considering it's reliability, low mileage (30576), and general competence, I doubt it.
Finally, a few pics from today, though nothing much has changed -
Wednesday 10th February 2016
nice update, OP.
Funnily enough last year I did something similar - sold on a Vectra C (1.9 CDTi 150) and bought a 2008 E90 320d. Mine's on bigger miles than yours (currently at 180,000 km) but it seems to be wearing the mileage considerably better than the Vauxhall did.
Bearing in mind the condition of your 325i, unless your circumstances change dramatically and/or you decide you want something monstrously fast, I can't see much of a reason to chop it in!
Does it also qualify for the cheaper road tax? Bonus if it does!
Thursday 11th February 2016
Thankfully a change in my job location allowed me to get rid of my 4 hours commute and my E46 320td compact and search for a 3 series. I was looking for a diesel, but with all the issue I had with my previous diesel and a mistake when searching I found an E90 330i on ebay advertised locally. I went and saw it in the dark and rain and it was being sold by a friend of the owner since the owner had moved back to Greece - all a little iffy and not what you should do when buying a car!
Anyways - long story short - £3.7k later I bought an E90 330i SE manual with full BMW S/H, 2 owners and 63k miles... It had been driven few miles each year but hadn't been looked after other than when it pinged up a light it went to the Garage - so not much care when parking or a great deal of cleaning of the car, so a few dings on the body work and a lot of leaves in the engine bay drainage channels and alike!
After deciding to get some paint on the bumpers front and back because I wanted to tidy it up a little it ended up being not much more expensive to buy an original sport kit in the same colour and fit that, I wanted the staggered wheels and in 18" as well - so another £1K including full service and MOT and the result is below.
. 
I thought the 325i E90s were the same 3.0 N/A engine with a different tune?
Anyways 1 year of ownership only issues I have had are the vanos solenoid going which was an £80 fix and an issue with the windscreen wipers where they will only turn off when I turn the car back on and off (I haven't checked into this much and thank god for Rain X). average about 29mpg but only a short commute.
I cant wait to get rid of the run flats once the tyres which came with the wheels are worn and when it goes in for its next service will be looking at the CDV since I do think the gearbox is unpleasant and mainly down to this.
All in all a risky ebay car buy against all the "rules" but ended up with in my opinion a lovely car and a cheap one at that and that engine really is a treat and even compared to my E36 M3 Evo really goes well when you want it to.
Good Luck/ Have Fun & Happy Driving
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