E90 N52 330i Kaufberatung


    Hi and welcome to the community.
    Definitely a good decision to look for the N52B30 derivative of the E90 family. From my experience one of the best engines ever made.
    High mileage won't be a serious problem for this reliable machine but you must be aware that there are a lot of other parts involved, like suspension, differential, clutch, cooling system and so on and so far. Just a heads up, to prevent surprises.
    Concerning rust, the shown pictures are more or less normal for a all year driven E90 and are the result of the salty roads. It maybe doesn't look good but in fact isn't serious from the technical or safety point of view.
    You mentioned the E46 330i, and as a matter of fact I had the convertible version and the E90 330i for a long time in parallel. The N52 has more punch especially at rpms > 5000. Beside of that not the annoying Oil consumption problem of the E46.
    And as we are talking about Oil, I recommend to use the BMW LL01 or LL04 standard and change as required by service interval, except you intend to redline the engine every single day at the race track.
    I hope that helps a bit, in addition you can check my linked 330i thread.

    Hanks guys for all the great info :)
    Especially about the areas with less salt, although I did paint the subframe once, I can do it again if I need to :P


    I am mechanically inclined having done every single thing on my M47 (cluch+flywheel, water pump+belt, swirl flap delete, glow plugs and all sorts of little things).
    I also did a lot of homework for the N52 and am quite confident I can manage it nicely, also looked at realoem.com (absouletly fantastic site), found the common parts that go wrong on the N52, looked up the prices on daparto.de and summed up all the expenses, not too bad, I just hope things don't go wrong at the same time, lol


    I think the biggest challenge will be finding one as they are too rare..

    The N52 really is a forgiving Engine to wrench on, given that it is a fairly modern one. I learned to wrench on Cars on my N52.


    There are a few odd / annoying Things (Aluminium Bolts - one Time use only!) but nothing that's a real downturn.


    If you tore apart your M47, the N52 will likely be easier to work on. No Turbo, no Commonrail (the M47 has one, right?), no swirl Flaps etc.

    Zitat von boyo

    Hanks guys for all the great info :)
    Especially about the areas with less salt, although I did paint the subframe once, I can do it again if I need to :P


    I am mechanically inclined having done every single thing on my M47 (cluch+flywheel, water pump+belt, swirl flap delete, glow plugs and all sorts of little things).
    I also did a lot of homework for the N52 and am quite confident I can manage it nicely, also looked at realoem.com (absouletly fantastic site), found the common parts that go wrong on the N52, looked up the prices on daparto.de and summed up all the expenses, not too bad, I just hope things don't go wrong at the same time, lol


    I think the biggest challenge will be finding one as they are too rare..

    You are welcome.


    If you are able and want to do the mechanical stuff on your own, you can take the risk and buy models with high mileage.


    However if you have enough money, spend it on a low or medium milage model with available history.
    I am long enough into the car scene to know, that these kind of engines will increase their value in future. For sure not tomorrow but in 5-10 years, cars representing in mint condition will bring money. Think about the E30 325i or E36 328i.

    I agree, they will reach a pretty good fan base as they are the "last" NA I6 from BMW, not counting the mixed bag of N53.
    In your opinion, will there be a big difference in value between higher and lower mileage cars when/if they become desireable at some point in the future..?
    I plan to use mine as a daily (12-14k/year), that's why I'm asking

    For sure. Look at the e46 330i or the e36 330i.


    But of you dont want to sell the car, and daily it I wouldnt bother finding a perfect one. Even if it then has 250k km, you can still enjoy it as a drivers Car.

    Zitat von boyo

    I agree, they will reach a pretty good fan base as they are the "last" NA I6 from BMW, not counting the mixed bag of N53.
    In your opinion, will there be a big difference in value between higher and lower mileage cars when/if they become desireable at some point in the future..?
    I plan to use mine as a daily (12-14k/year), that's why I'm asking

    There will be definitely a considerable price difference, especially concerning cars under 100t kilometers. However this is maybe our last chance to drive a naturally aspirated straight six engine. As far as I am concerned I will take that chance and by the way your mentioned yearly usage doesn‘t seam to be unusal.

    Zitat von BMW_335i

    There will be definitely a considerable price difference, especially concerning cars under 100t kilometers. However this is maybe our last chance to drive a naturally aspirated straight six engine. As far as I am concerned I will take that chance and by the way your mentioned yearly usage doesn‘t seam to be unusal.

    It's my yearly average since I've been driving :D
    I mostly go local, here and there a few long trips out of town.
    And hopefully soon I'll change to a job I can walk/bike to, so that will be a big save on fuel and km/year.
    I don't plan on buying a car under 150k as they are more expensive and are at my budget limit unfortunately, and I still need to keep a spare 500/1000€ for surprises after purchase :P