[Alpine0003]

Hey all - first post!

Back in March I bought my first BMW. 2009 335i xDrive sedan. I was naive and didn't notice the problems that existed before I purchased the car.

Immediately off the lot (30 minutes into my drive home) the oil light came on. No big deal, I put in another quart, no issues

Later, after a few nights of driving, I noticed that the headlights seemed a bit off. Turns out, one of the adaptive headlights was broken. That one needed to be completely replaced (housing and all) and the motor on the other headlight needed to be replaced as well. Yay. Luckily I got the dealer (it was a Porsche dealer who I bought the car from btw) covered half the cost.

Even still. After driving for a while longer, I noticed slight rumbling in the tires. As it turns out, 3 of my rims are bent. Yay again. This issue I have yet to fix and will not be covered by the dealer.

Finally, within a week or so of having the car, the light came on for a break fluid flush. Also, not to be covered by the dealer.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Should I keep the car, replace the tires and pray nothing else happens to it? Should I get rid of it as soon as I can and get something different? It has 42k miles on it, otherwise I feel like it is in good shape (then again, I really have no idea, very ill experienced).

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[thenewrick]

I'd get a new set of rims and tires. They will perform much better and of course last longer. Brake fluid flush should be pretty cheap at an independent shop. If you have iDrive you can check the scheduled maintenance coming up.

[pepsih]

Personally i don't see nothing unusual with the car....
every car you would bought may had the same "issues".
it's just regular maintenance....
maybe someone hit a pothole really hard, that he bend the wheel and broke the adaptive headlight... drive it and love it

[DML]

Used car advance with caution

[ny325]

Good Luck.

[Titanium3er]

Did you have a pre-purchase inspection done? If not, maybe next time you will. Not bmw's fault.

[jwalker87]

The headlight thing sucks; those are expensive.

I have a bent rim but it isn't bad enough to do anything about; these wheels are notoriously fragile. Just something that happens.

Brake flush can be done by YOU for about $30 in fluid if you invest in a pressure bleeder. It's a regular maintenance item that just happened to come due shortly after you bought the car. If the light is yellow, then it's not due quite yet and it's just letting you know its coming up; if its red, then it is due. Either way, it isn't an emergency, just routine maintenance.

I'd recommend keeping the car; I love my 2008 335i! I've had some issues with the fuel injectors, but aside from routine maintenance it has been a blast! Don't let a couple of oolies turn you off.

EDIT: Also, every problem is an opportunity for improvement! Instead of stock wheels, get some lighter ones with stickier, non-runflat rubber. When you flush the brake fluid, put in some nice high-temp stuff (I use Motul RBF 600; good for the street too), and if it's a manual install the CDV since you're bleeding the clutch anyway.

[boyce89976]

I wouldn't say your car is riddled with problems. You aren't dealing with anything unusual, except maybe the headlights, which the dealer helped you get fixed. The rims were bent by the previous owner, and since it took you a week or so to notice them, they should be easily fixed or replaced. The brake fluid flush is a computer based service interval (which you should be able to see under the 'check control' messages... it will list all upcoming services and the mileage or time to reach them). 42K at almost 5 years old sounds like reasonable mileage. I would keep it, fix or replace the rims and see how it goes.

[Deep_Blue]

Only really concerning warning sign to me is three bent rims. What does that say about how the previous owner treated it? How much curb rash is on the wheels?

[JAL0988]

This is the exact reason why you purchase a CPO 335i from a BMW dealer.

[Dark_Knight_335]

You should feel lucky it ain't your turbos / wastegate/ HPFP.

[BoogeyMan'sBMW]

Although it is unfortunate that you had all these problems, its not the car you should blame.

The issues you had were not vehicle specofoc and could've happened just the same on any other car. That being said I wish you the best of luck so that you get none of the common 335 headaches.

Seems like your dealer was the biggest issue. Maybe you should let us know who they are just in case someone in your area is considering them

[smallseafishie]

Brake fluid is a maintenance item. Adaptive headlamp failures are known to correlate with hitting massive potholes which can be proven by 3 bent wheels. They are likely repairable without replacing headlamp (there are threads here that show the motor pivot popping out of it's sockets and how to repair / pop back in). Aside from that, your car doesn't seem "problematic" on it's own.

[Mayuri Krab]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

You should feel lucky it ain't your turbos / wastegate/ HPFP.

+1

The brake flush is just a normal maintaince, the other 2 (bent rims & headlights) were unfortunate, but not that bad compared to the other crap that 335i's can have.

[catcher22]

Depends on where you live, but over the course of a few years, it's very difficult NOT to have at least one or more bent rims.

Here in the DC/MD/VA, the vast majority of drivers have bent rims on their car. By the time I needed a new set of tires, 2/4 my rims were bent. There is practically no way (especially throughout the winters) to keep your rims in tip top shape, depending on where you live. I know that in NY/NJ/tri-state, you may as well give up unless you have a 60+ sidewall lol

My suggestion for you, in the short term, would be to Road Force Balance your rims/tires. It should cost about $30 per tire, but your ride will be smooth until you want to drop more cash on a new set of rims.

[shata]

That stuff isnt to bad, That could have been caught during a PPI.

Ya that sucks you have to put headlight and rims, tires plus brake flush right off bat. But buying used car you always have to be prepared to drop 1500-2000$ into car right off line. Even if you dont have issues I still replace all fluids to start new and set service intervals. And lets be honest most people dont sell car unless there is issues.

[Alpine0003]

Originally Posted by Deep_Blue

Only really concerning warning sign to me is three bent rims. What does that say about how the previous owner treated it? How much curb rash is on the wheels?

there is no cub rash, which was why i didn't think anything of it. also the test loop was pot hole city so i couldn't even tell rims were bent until i was on the highway cruising at 75 a few days later.

[Alpine0003]

Originally Posted by COBBTT

This is the exact reason why you purchase a CPO 335i from a BMW dealer.

sadly that wasn't in the budget. i probably would have had to spend another $7k to do that option. Then again, i guess paying for these issues shouldn't be a problem given the price i paid for the car. still just sucks that i didn't notice these before i purchased it/issues arose immediately after i got it.

[Alpine0003]

Originally Posted by catcher22

Depends on where you live, but over the course of a few years, it's very difficult NOT to have at least one or more bent rims.

Here in the DC/MD/VA, the vast majority of drivers have bent rims on their car. By the time I needed a new set of tires, 2/4 my rims were bent. There is practically no way (especially throughout the winters) to keep your rims in tip top shape, depending on where you live. I know that in NY/NJ/tri-state, you may as well give up unless you have a 60+ sidewall lol

My suggestion for you, in the short term, would be to Road Force Balance your rims/tires. It should cost about $30 per tire, but your ride will be smooth until you want to drop more cash on a new set of rims.

Thanks for the heads up. I live in NOVA. Way too new to know what "60+ sidewall" means tho haha.

To all - I bought the car from Porsche of Arlington. I would HIGHLY suggest to NOT go there. Crooks. The main issue was, I went late on a Sunday and didn't get the once over/cleaning etc. aka "delivery" of the car, because the guy who did that left earlier in the day. At that time, I was living in Upstate NY so I literally drove off the lot, and went 6 hrs to upstate NY. I wasn't exactly able to then the next day head to the dealership. I ended up moving down to VA 4 weeks later.