gangzoom Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 (edited) Was busy preparing the 335i for the planned Europe road trip; and found nice pool of oil by the oil cooler... First thought it must be a problem with the oil cooler connection etc(newly fitted/upgraded non-stock item), but closer examination shows lots of oil around the oil filter.....Quick look on Dr Goolge....and Yeaph most likely a oils filter gasket failure....just ANOTHER 'known' problem with the 335i. So going back to see Andy/Mitz at CS, for probably the 6-7th time this summer....No offence love visiting the guys as CS, but probably seen more of them than most of my mates this summer Father in-law than phone....been having problems with his E class Merc for a few weeks with uneven tire wear at the rear, £700 lighter at the Merc garage and they still haven't got a clue....Oh and their Mini is also playing up. They use to have a Toyota Avensis, 120k with no issues. The only conclusion I can draw is 'German engineering, what a load of B*******S'. Predictably our Civic (UK built) remains as faultless as ever, 81k now and still not had any mechanical failures. Now seriously considering leaving the 335 at home and taking the Civic for the Europe trip. Really don't fancy the idea of been broken down half way up a Swiss Alpine pass!! Edited August 3, 2014 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 I did a road trip last year - e46 m3 blew an SMG pump fuse up a mountain pass. Took about 5hrs to get recovered. In the rain... Meanwhile the Z and a Lotus Elise were both fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 All cars break down, fact of life sadly. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. No doubting that quality control has dipped a bit in recent years, but that goes for Jap stuff as well as German. The reason people notice it more with German cars is that there's a lot more of them now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted August 6, 2014 Author Share Posted August 6, 2014 (edited) All cars break down, fact of life sadly. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you Just like the idea every animal is equal, but some are more equal than others I can fully accept components break down but all the failures I've had on my 335i are 'known' problems, and many parts have been revised at least once by BMW. This shows that BMW clearly don't do much product testing, and happy to use badly deigned components. What's worse is that BMW simply deny any of these issues are as a result of a design/manufacturing fault.....But in the US when they were taken to court by unhappy owners they backed down and offered free extended warranties, showing clearly BMW knows about these issues. I'm certainly never going to buy another BMW again, or any other 'premium' German car, the 335 was the first German car I've owned and will also be the last. I don't mind paying for quality but there's nothing high quality about some of the components used in my 335. Would be quite happy shifting the thing off to WBAC and getting a Lexues ISF, but have sunk far too much £££ into it, so going to have to put up with it for a while longer.....just glad at least CS are so good at fixing the thing Edited August 6, 2014 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 I won't buy BMW (Mini) again but that's because their customer service is crap. My Zed had a few parts break, so did my MR2, so did the 911, and my VXR220 left me stranded once. It happens. Ironically, when the 911 did let me down I had such good customer service that I would definitely buy another one because of that. All manufacturer's revise parts, the Japs do it as much as anyone. It's a good thing, as it shows that they're not just inserting crap and ignoring it. Don't kid yourself that a Lexus will never let you down: You could just have ended up with a Friday afternoon special 335i, and you could end up with another Friday special from Japan. Your car is also massively modified, you can't expect it to be 100% reliable. It's the price we pay for modding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted August 6, 2014 Author Share Posted August 6, 2014 (edited) The mods on my car have nothing to do with the break downs. If anything they actually help to reduce the strain on the engine, I've only ever run the car on an aggressive map on a few occasions, most of the time (95%) it's actually been run on a stock map. So no, I don't accept it's the mods on the car causing reliability problems. You might be right about Lexus not been any better but all I know is that in 15 years + of owning various Jap cars, I've never had so many issues as I've had with the 335. Infact I reckon ALL the issues from my previous cars combined still don't come up close to the amount of problems on my 335....and if you visit a BMW forum you will see nearly every 335 owner have experienced the same issues....unfortunately with 335s it seems to be a Monday-Friday problem Edited August 6, 2014 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Oil filter housing gasket failure. 'Twas the one thing I had wrong with that hateful Z4. Pretty much the only non consumable problem that can go wrong with that engine and I had it 3 months into 6 months of ownership! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WINKJ Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 (edited) Had a lot of problems with our mini which is soon gone! Also my family have always had mercs/bmw's and I have never known them not to have an issue, from engine problems to window problems and so on...... Edited August 6, 2014 by WINKJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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