[colew.22]

As you can read I'm looking to buy an F31 wagon. I wanted to learn more about the car from owners of the 328i F30/F31 models about things such as reliability as a daily driver, mods that won't hurt reliability too much, general maintenance of the car, and cost of ownership. If there are any out there willing to answer my post thank you very much and I look forward to what you have to say!

[wrongmark]

I have an F31 328i (with the N20 engine). I bought it from a franchised dealership (in the UK) around 18 months ago. My wife drives it the most and is very happy with it. We did have to return it to the dealership for a replacement turbo after it was leaving a cloud of blue smoke on startup if left standing for a few days. This was covered by the used car warranty but I believe it would have been a very expensive fix otherwise. I would imagine many just don’t bother fixing it.

There are also a lot of stories of timing chain problems with this engine, but I haven’t experienced this issue… yet.

[colew.22]

Originally Posted by wrongmark

I have an F31 328i (with the N20 engine). I bought it from a franchised dealership (in the UK) around 18 months ago. My wife drives it the most and is very happy with it. We did have to return it to the dealership for a replacement turbo after it was leaving a cloud of blue smoke on startup if left standing for a few days. This was covered by the used car warranty but I believe it would have been a very expensive fix otherwise. I would imagine many just don’t bother fixing it.

There are also a lot of stories of timing chain problems with this engine, but I haven’t experienced this issue… yet.

Very nice, can I ask how many miles it has on it?

[erickonphoenix]

I've owned three BMW tourings. An E30, E46 and now the F31 over the past twenty years.

I bought a 2014 F31 last October. This replaced my E46 touring. The 328xi had 53,000 miles on it and I've put about 12,000 more miles on it so far. I don't like other people working on my vehicles so I self warranty it.

So far I've replaced the spark plugs, coil packs, front control arms. The windshield cowl was changed, as well as a two oil changes to date.

Troubles?
I have had a chronic problem with the driver rear running light intermittently going out. Replacing bulbs wasn't helping so I replaced the bulb housing which temporarily fixed the problem but then found the problem is still occurring. This appears to be caused by distortion of the metal tongue that seats the brake light bulb. Using a pick to pry it back out has solved the problem so far but I know it will re-occur. It's quite possible the harsher ride from the H&R lowering springs may be a root cause but I'm still evaluating it.

My other major problem is the iDrive or EntryNav unit. This failed on me in April and I had to do quite a bit of research on how to fix it. I ended up finding a used L7 EntryNav and replacing it. The physical replacement is a very easy job, but coding it so it would work with the car was a bit more labor intensive. However after a few weeks studying on how to code with Esys, I got it to work. The only problem remaining is under the language settings, Italian, English and German will not function. However, I can 'kinda' read French so I set it to that so it's functional. Plus, now I feel like I'm on vacation in Europe whenever I'm driving it. I'd suggest, unless you enjoy programming and coding make sure you have a warranty that covers the electronics on the car.

The timing chain issue will effect mine since I have the old timing chain guides. If you open the oil filler cap and shine a light in there you'll see them. If they're dark red they're the old ones, if they're white they're the new ones. I'll probably do that project in the fall. In the meantime I do frequent oil changes. No longer than 5,000 miles.

The turn signal design is ridiculous but you'll get used to it.

Things I looked for on mine.

• Inspect for oil leaks. Thoroughly....

• Look for chalky coolant residue on the expansion tank and the underside of the hood.

• If there are lug locks, make sure they key is with the car and in good condition. My key was present but marred and had to be replaced.

• Check the date on the battery. They last about 7 years

• Find a sample with an electronic waste gate. I think they're more reliable than the hydraulic ones.

• Find a sample with the xenon headlights, the halogens suck.

• Make sure they have both sets of keys, a replacement key is $460

• Inspect the headliner in the rear compartment. This gets chewed up on models that were used to haul stuff.

• Make sure the pet barrier is in the car. It's missing on many samples.

• Make sure it's got the medical kit in the rear compartment. I missed that on mine.

Other than it's a great vehicle and one of the nicer looking wagons out there. I also found the N20 is surprisingly quick for a 2.0 I4 and has great legs. It can cruise at very high interstate speeds which it handles no problem at all. The temperature stays glued around 230 and with the xDrive it's wet weather manners are impeccable. As with all BMWs, stay on top of the maintenance and you should be rewarded with a reliable fun to drive vehicle.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by colew.22

As you can read I'm looking to buy an F31 wagon. I wanted to learn more about the car from owners of the 328i F30/F31 models about things such as reliability as a daily driver, mods that won't hurt reliability too much, general maintenance of the car, and cost of ownership. If there are any out there willing to answer my post thank you very much and I look forward to what you have to say!

I would recommend looking at 2017 - 2019 330i’s rather than 328i’s. The B48 is a better motor.

[colew.22]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I would recommend looking at 2017 - 2019 330i’s rather than 328i’s. The B48 is a better motor.

The reason why i'm looking at the 328i over the 330i is price, if i had the money i would definitely do that tho

[colew.22]

Originally Posted by erickonphoenix

I've owned three BMW tourings. An E30, E46 and now the F31 over the past twenty years.

I bought a 2014 F31 last October. This replaced my E46 touring. The 328xi had 53,000 miles on it and I've put about 12,000 more miles on it so far. I don't like other people working on my vehicles so I self warranty it.

So far I've replaced the spark plugs, coil packs, front control arms. The windshield cowl was changed, as well as a two oil changes to date.

Troubles?
I have had a chronic problem with the driver rear running light intermittently going out. Replacing bulbs wasn't helping so I replaced the bulb housing which temporarily fixed the problem but then found the problem is still occurring. This appears to be caused by distortion of the metal tongue that seats the brake light bulb. Using a pick to pry it back out has solved the problem so far but I know it will re-occur. It's quite possible the harsher ride from the H&R lowering springs may be a root cause but I'm still evaluating it.

My other major problem is the iDrive or EntryNav unit. This failed on me in April and I had to do quite a bit of research on how to fix it. I ended up finding a used L7 EntryNav and replacing it. The physical replacement is a very easy job, but coding it so it would work with the car was a bit more labor intensive. However after a few weeks studying on how to code with Esys, I got it to work. The only problem remaining is under the language settings, Italian, English and German will not function. However, I can 'kinda' read French so I set it to that so it's functional. Plus, now I feel like I'm on vacation in Europe whenever I'm driving it. I'd suggest, unless you enjoy programming and coding make sure you have a warranty that covers the electronics on the car.

The timing chain issue will effect mine since I have the old timing chain guides. If you open the oil filler cap and shine a light in there you'll see them. If they're dark red they're the old ones, if they're white they're the new ones. I'll probably do that project in the fall. In the meantime I do frequent oil changes. No longer than 5,000 miles.

The turn signal design is ridiculous but you'll get used to it.

Things I looked for on mine.

• Inspect for oil leaks. Thoroughly....

• Look for chalky coolant residue on the expansion tank and the underside of the hood.

• If there are lug locks, make sure they key is with the car and in good condition. My key was present but marred and had to be replaced.

• Check the date on the battery. They last about 7 years

• Find a sample with an electronic waste gate. I think they're more reliable than the hydraulic ones.

• Find a sample with the xenon headlights, the halogens suck.

• Make sure they have both sets of keys, a replacement key is $460

• Inspect the headliner in the rear compartment. This gets chewed up on models that were used to haul stuff.

• Make sure the pet barrier is in the car. It's missing on many samples.

• Make sure it's got the medical kit in the rear compartment. I missed that on mine.

Other than it's a great vehicle and one of the nicer looking wagons out there. I also found the N20 is surprisingly quick for a 2.0 I4 and has great legs. It can cruise at very high interstate speeds which it handles no problem at all. The temperature stays glued around 230 and with the xDrive it's wet weather manners are impeccable. As with all BMWs, stay on top of the maintenance and you should be rewarded with a reliable fun to drive vehicle.

If you don't mind sharing how long did it take for you to put the 12k miles on it and how much did each of these replacements you have made cost?

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by colew.22

The reason why i'm looking at the 328i over the 330i is price, if i had the money i would definitely do that tho

If you can swing a 2016 328i go for that. You’ll get the LCI/facelifted version and the timing chain guide issue was corrected in about March of 2015. The timing chain guide won’t affect every N20 motor, but if you get a pre-March 2015 unit the potential will always be there.

[colew.22]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

If you can swing a 2016 328i go for that. You’ll get the LCI/facelifted version and the timing chain guide issue was corrected in about March of 2015. The timing chain guide won’t affect every N20 motor, but if you get a pre-March 2015 unit the potential will always be there.

Alright, thanks for the heads up

[tturedraider]

Have you seen this - https://www.volkswagenofmarietta.com...=328i%20xDrive ? It’s a little pricey, but it’s right in your backyard. They can come off that asking price by $2,000 - $4,000.

[erickonphoenix]

Originally Posted by colew.22

If you don't mind sharing how long did it take for you to put the 12k miles on it and how much did each of these replacements you have made cost?

sure, I ran about 12k miles over the course of the last eight months. The bulk of it is three trips to Austin, two trips to Midland and one to Dallas.

Costs have been rounded to the nearest whole number
Control arms - $180
Plugs - $60
Coils - $170
Oil change kits $110 x 2
Window cowl - $160 (dealer)
Misc bulbs - $20
Bulb housing - $60
EnryNav - $300 (used, related costs below)
- Esys - free download
- Win7 ebay laptop - $100
- New external 350gb hd $50 (needed so Esys full pszdata file would fit on it)
- Enet cable $22

so far around ~ $1342. Obviously distributed over the last eight months.

[erickonphoenix]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I would recommend looking at 2017 - 2019 330i’s rather than 328i’s. The B48 is a better motor.

If you can swing the cost upcharge of the 2017 give it a shot. I found the price point for a moderate mileage sample was getting very close to a the higher performance F30 Gran Coupe with the B58 engine.

There were a couple of high mileage 330 touring's I thought looked good and if I had an annual mileage expectation of less than 12,000 miles a year I would probably have moved on.

[colew.22]

Originally Posted by erickonphoenix

sure, I ran about 12k miles over the course of the last eight months. The bulk of it is three trips to Austin, two trips to Midland and one to Dallas.

Costs have been rounded to the nearest whole number
Control arms - $180
Plugs - $60
Coils - $170
Oil change kits $110 x 2
Window cowl - $160 (dealer)
Misc bulbs - $20
Bulb housing - $60
EnryNav - $300 (used, related costs below)
- Esys - free download
- Win7 ebay laptop - $100
- New external 350gb hd $50 (needed so Esys full pszdata file would fit on it)
- Enet cable $22

so far around ~ $1342. Obviously distributed over the last eight months.

Ah, that's not bad, thanks

[R2Dad]

Maybe you've moved on but if you're still in the market I would not discount the 328d Xdrive. I have a 2017 with 80K miles. All I've done are oil changes and transmission fluid/pan at 75K. Brakes will be due in 10 or 15K miles. Otherwise, the diesel has been trouble-free. Great in the snow and ice.