Daffy – what’s wrong with metallic black?

Its super straight, unmod’d and below average mileage. Not many of those around

Could always get it wrapped

😁

My 09 E91 325i (manual)is starting to show her age cosmetically, mainly because an idiot bumped it whilst parked recently, but mechanically, even at 160k miles it’s great. Okay, it’s the lower output 3.0 (217 bhp), it still pulls well and sounds great. I’m tempted to throw a few £££ to get a new bumper and wheels refurbished, but it’s probably making way for a van soon….

I’d be fully up for your 335i, Woody, if I hadn’t bought a new Cupra Estate last year… Different animal, similar performance, only a 4 cyl turbo but does the job well. Good luck with your sale. It’s a great car.

@woody71

I enjoy cleaning and polishing a car, but a black car isn’t even clean and polished just after you’ve finished polishing it.

I’ve had a car wrapped and would never do it again on a metal skinned car. The wrap expands slightly when the car is warm and moving and traps dirt IN the wrap when it cools. They’re almost impossible to clean properly.

I had a Z4MC wrapped in white.

Throw up some pics?

My N52 engined 330i auto is a 56 plate and only on 78k miles. It’s also metallic black which whilst it hides it’s age really well with the standard rear privacy glass, I hate looking at the paintwork close up as it is beginning to show it’s age as are the alloys. Inside is in really good nick though and it still drives perfectly.

No idea what I would replace it with and the cost of getting something newer and as good involves sums I’m not prepared to spend or can justify. Better the devil you know for me.

I ran a 330i Msport touring manual for a few years. Told myself it was a baby M3.
Sounded nice, super light on the back end made for interesting roundabout transitions
in the wet. In the end i spent a fortune on the car I thought, might as well run an actual M3… so i did. So many issues with the E90/91/92 platform. That said still a good looking motor that’s only interesting IMO in 335 or Aplina spec. Plenty of beemer lovers will lap one up.

[](https://imgshare.io/image/p5mILu)
[](https://imgshare.io/image/p5mAJH)

Obviously that WBAC £6k offer is derisory, but given current ‘Coronanomics’ etc, it’s not going to achieve £10k.

“coronanomics” is something you might want to take a look at with car prices as they’re going through the roof.

Example: I bought a highly specced, low mileage 2008 Mini Clubman at the end of 2019 for £5k from a Mini specialist. The same dealer now has a car thats a year newer (so same age as mine was when I bought it) with higher miles and a far, far lower spec for £2k more than he charged me for mine.

Woody – if you decide to sell the 335i for anything less than £10k which is far below what the market is for these, let me know and I’ll be selling my Mini back to the dealer I bought it from and buying the BMW.

@5lab – You’ll struggle to find anything over 15y old that’s in really good condition. The 328 e36 was rare and is tiny by modern standards. Face lifted E46s Tourings in good condition are becoming very rare (I know, I have one) and most have high mileage and some problems. e39s were always rare and the sport versions especially so. E61s are nice, but again petrol versions are rare as they were 2004-2011, so few were sold. They’re also, bigger, heavier and more prone to faults. The e91 by comparison is powerful, fairly reliable (especially the later engines/fuel rails) and can be found without intergalactic mileage. There also aren’t really many similar cars of that type (large engined, petrol estate) for that money. The only similar car is an S4 avant. C63s and RS4s have MUCH higher running costs.

I wasn’t claiming that e91s don’t do anything well, just that they are demonstratably not the cheapest way into a 6cl bmw estate. as for competitors, if you’re just after a large engine petrol estate there’s also options by volvo, subaru, jaguar, merc (350 and 500 engines are available as well as the amgs), skoda, vw, chrysler and even vauxhall. They might not all be direct competitors, but they all fit the bill

All these posts for gas guzzler that’s effectively killing the environment. 😞

The cars worth what it’s worth, people get to emotionally attached hence thinking it’s worth more than it is.

This forum is a funny place, if Borris endorsed big engines most of you you’d be saying how sh1t the car is.

It’s a gas guzzling piece of crap !

Get over it

The cars worth what it’s worth, people get to emotionally attached hence thinking it’s worth more than it is.

If you took the time to read the thread then I think the OP is actually being told that its worth more than he thinks. I consider myself to be more of a petrolhead than a biker these days and having owned a similar vintage BMW “gas guzzling piece of crap”, it was the best car I’ve owned. Given that cars like this won’t ever be produced again, its a last chance to own something a little special and as such, there is a) a market for them amongst those that know about these things (which its evident you don’t) and b) they command a huge premium over a run of the mill 320D or something.

Not sure who Borris is and what his endorsement of things has to do with this though?

I own an LCI E60 530i with the N53 engine in it.

It is getting a bit long in the tooth now and some of the facilities are a bit basic, but the engine is still lovely and the chassis is great.

My thoughts about ownership were very similar to @DaveyBoyWonder, i.e. the opportunity to own and drive a big engined petrol car are getting smaller and smaller nowadays.

It’s a gas guzzling piece of crap !

Get over it

What’s the alternative, ye miserable big knacker?

If you’re doing low mileage (which the OP clearly has), does it matter THAT much? My e46 330i does only 29mpg on short runs and only 36mpg on long ones, but it only does around 1500-2000 miles per year, so uses about 300 litres of fuel. If I replaced it with something that did 70mpg, it would save ~150 litres of oil.

My boiler on the other hand uses about 2000 litres a year to keep my house at a “balmy” 17.5deg. My neighbour uses 4000+ litres a year to keep their house at 22deg…

Context matters.

funny that as in typical singletrack style you presume I don’t know anything about cars !

Having owned numerous V8s and even a BMW 335i I know exactly what I’m talking about, I also read the OP, sell it to the highest offer and move on or don’t sell it and keep it in the garage.

What’s the alternative, ye miserable big knacker?

whatever you want it to be !

My toy is now an Audi TT 2.0 Quattro, its way more fun than the 4.2 V8 it replaced,

Big engines aren’t the way to go anymore, about time more people released this.