BMW E90 330i 2006, with 224K miles, my experience in the last 13 years

224K E90 2006 BMW 330i, My Experience

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly...

In todays vlog I am going to tell you about everything that has gone into maintaining my car in shape for the last 13 years.  As I said in most of my car vlogs... my car has 224,000 miles, it's a 2006, E90 BMW 330I, I will try to include as much details as I can... if you have an E90, some of his may seem strangely familiar, I think...

One by one and I will tell you everything that has gone wrong with the car, or what has deteriorated to a point that I had to change or upgrade to maintain my car running in tip top shape.

My Cars Life Story

 This is the story of my car, the issues are in no particular order.  I will include a link if I made a vlog post.  My car was born in February 2006, and these are the items that have gone wrong since I first got my car in a cold february day...

Windshield top plastic trim: I remember when I looked at the plastic and it was looking very cracked, so much so that I pushed on it with my nail and a little chunk came out, I couldn't believe that such a thing would happen.  Over the next month before I got to replace it, it got extremely ugly.  In this article I show you how to replace it, I also include the video I made in the article.

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2013/07/windshield-trim-replacement-bmw-330i.html

Fuel Pump:  The fuel pump was one of the first things that I replaced on my car back in 2007, when all of sudden on the freeway the car just died, later I found out there was a recall on all E90s because the fuel pumps were failing.  By far the scariest thing I have experience with my car...  All of a sudden, doing 75 mph by the way... all of sudden my car turned OFF, and the car all of sudden slowed down, thankfully it was a morning I was going home early from work and there not many cars on the road...

Chances are that by now you probably already changed your fuel pump because it failed already... if you haven't... Congratulations, you got a good one!

Here is a link to BMW's own website for Recalls, enter your vin to find out...:
https://www.bmwusa.com/safety-and-emission-recalls.html

Navigation:  The navigation stopped working about 2009, it just stopped working, the screen went black, I was still under warranty and they replaced it for free, luckily.  Back then this was a very expensive thing to replace, I was so happy to still be under warranty at that time, to my surprise, the new screen was not the same as the old one, the new one didn't have same pictures as the old.

Now it's only a $100 dollar proposition, which is not bad, considering you can now get an upgraded Android version online for about $400 dollars, which is something completely different I know, but I just thought I would mention it. 

Google : e90 navigation upgrade  to see what I mean...

Transmission Fluid / Filter: Replaced about 3 years ago, when I noticed that when I exited the freeway my car would suddenly jerk forward as I slowed to a stop.  It did this progressively stronger jurk, until I decided to replace the Transmission fluid.  Of course BMW claims that you never need to replace the fluid, me knowing better, I went forward replacing fluid and filter... and my transmision worked normal since then...

Battery:  I've replaced the battery 4 times so far, in about 3 year intervals roughly, that is how long they last, so I am not surprised.  The car does warn you when the battery is starting to fail, sometimes it doesn't... be very careful because this will leave you stranded, if you can't find a jump...

BMWs own Battery replacement Website, https://bmwusaservice.com/batteries

will tell you price and location to replace, I recommend replacing the battery with original BMW because they will program the battery to your car.

Valve Cover Bolts:  I had a few bolts snap in half, honestly I didn't even notice it much at first, but I like to check the oil level periodically and I noticed that the oil dropped suddenly and when i checked the engine I could see a lot of oil around the engine, and so I opted to do the work myself.

Valve Cover Gasket: The same time I replaced the Valve Cover Bolts, I replaced the gasket, very easy to do.

My own Blog post:  https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2013/07/bmw-330i-2006-broken-bolts-valve-cover.html

AC compressor: The AC compressor lasted all way up to 2015, it had a good run.  It just seized, completely, it actually ripped the belt when it stopped spinning, it was making a lot of noise until the last days, I knew I had to replace it, I was not surprised when it stopped working, unfortunately it did stand me, I had to call a tow truck, plus to add insult to injury, the shop doing the ac compressor replacement ripped me off.  $1500 dollars it cost me to replace an ac compressor and condenser, but later I found out the condenser was not replaced... very upsetting... but hey sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

Next time I will replace it myself... in about 10 more years... lol

Tensioner:  Soon after the AC compressor went out I replaced the Tensioner, I did it myself not very difficult to do.  Very easy to replace

Link to my Blog post: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2014/10/is-there-cricket-in-my-engine-bay.html

AC Freon:  I've refilled the system one time so far since I had the car, lucky it was just that, no other service necessary. VERY easy to do, if you have this problem, try doing it yourself.

Here is my blog post, on how I did it: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2016/04/ac-re-fill-procedure-bmw-e90-2006.html



Windshield: I've had the windshield replaced once when something hit my windshield and cracked it, luckily it was under warranty so I didn't pay for anything, and they put an original windshield.

The company that replace it did a very bad job replacing it, but I do have an original BMW windshield, which is was my consolation prize for such an expensive ordeal, now it's not very expensive, but at the time, it was very expensive.

Halo Lights: I replaced the bulb with an LED bulb a while back and it looks better in my opinion, the color is not brown like the original bulb was, the LED makes it look more white color, than brown.  I've replaced the bulbs probably about 3 times, because they do go out, don't get me wrong, they last a long time, but since I've owned my car, I've replaced them about 3 times, by far the easiest mod I've done, with the most noticeable results.

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2018/05/angel-eye-upgrade-e90-halo-lights.html

Tail Light Bulb: I have only replaced one bulb one time for the tail lights, other than that bulb they are the original bulbs that came with the car.  I am very lucky in that by now I think they should of gone out, but haven't.  Very Easy To Do, link below on how to replace...

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2014/10/brake-light-out.html

Faded Headlights: The one things that makes my car look older than it really is, besides the paint of the car, is the Faded Headlights, I've tried using a headlight restore material but they fade back in about a month or so, I think the only thing to do is to get new ones unfortunately, ugghhh.

Body Paint:  Like I said the body paint is really bad, but considering how old the car is, I think its held up pretty good, but as you can see, its starting to show it's age.  I think I've hit a few rocks on the freeway over the years, even small rocks will damage the paint.

Interior Trim:  The interior of the car has held up pretty good, but there are a few areas that do show their age.  The silicone coat that they do on the plastics is starting to peel.



Speakers: I've had 3 speakers go bad, but I've fixed them myself, it was not easy but not difficult to do, I recommend you try it, I learned a lot from working on my own car. 

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2014/10/chime-speaker-broken-fix.html

Wheels: The wheels have held up pretty good, only the clear coat is starting to come off, I've considered applying a new clear vinyl myself, but I've never done it before, so I am a little scared to do it, if anything I don't want them to look uglier after I "fix" them...  lol, which is a possibility, so I don't have plans to do that anytime soon.

Belts:  I've only replaced the main belt 2 times, 1 time when it snapped because the AC compressor seized, and other when it was starting to look old.

VANOS: They have never been replaced, but they have been cleaned, MANY times.  If you get a code for the VANOS, take them both out and clean them.  I have a Vlog for that I will post a link below:

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2014/10/vanos-service-with-instructions.html


Floor matts: The main driver floor matt was so bad that I eventually decided to replace both of the front matts with plastic matts, I prefer them to the OEM ones because they are much easier to clean.

Oil Change and Oil Filter:  I usually do these every 6 months of 5K miles, I've done them sooner and I've done them way late, past 15K miles.  I don't recommend going past 5K miles, because it's bad for the engine.  Plus in my experience, the oil filter tends to disintegrate from normal use after 6K miles and then little pieces of the oil filter go through the engine and they get stuck inside the vanos!!! and then you will get codes for "bad" VANOS. 

Change your oil at 6K please, for the good of the car.

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2018/04/resetting-service-requirement-oil.html

Air Filter:  Usually replaced every 2 years or so, I eventually got a K&N filter instead, a bit more expensive but you can clean it and put it back, if you live in the city I recommend it, but if you live near any type of dirt road, I don't recommend it, because the air filter will get very nasty and it will clog up faster than you standard filter, as you know K&N filter use OIL on the filter, and that oil attracts dirt like crazy. 

I know there are 2 schools of thought about this, but this has been my experience,

Cabin Filter:  In the last 4 years I've taken out the filter and cleaned it with soap and water and I put it right back, honestly, I don't notice the difference between a new CAB filter and me cleaning it, so now I just clean it and I put it back.  The only side effects about cleaning it yourself is that its never completely clean and it will smell moldy if you don't do it right.... if you don't want to deal with this replace it with a new one, about $15 dollars in Amazon, I will include a link below

Link : https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2019/05/cabin-air-filter-replacement-e90.html

Rear Window Tint:  I've had to replace the tint, because it started to bubble, I could of done it myself but I opted to have a professional do it instead.  I didn't want to risk it looking worse than it was and at the end having to pay a professional to do it.  From the heat inside the car, overtime the rear window tint will bubble up, this happens to most cars, and if yours is old like mine it will bubble up eventually... I guarantee it.

Window Regulators: Both the back window regulators stopped working, I replaced both with in 1 year, back in 2010.  I haven't had a single problem since.  I tried doing it myself, I replaced the first regulator, easy enough to do, but to "CODE" the window regulator I couldn't figure it out, so for about half a year, if I rolled the window up... all the way it... would just roll down half way down.  Very annoying, I never figured out how to fix it.  So when the second one broke I took it to the dealer and they replaced the bad window regulator and they coded the second one for free.

I have the instructions on how to reset, but didn't have the patience to figure it out myself, I was successful 1 time in resetting it, but it went back to not working when I kept trying it... the instructions are so specific, it's hard to do it without having a coding machine.

If you want to try it, I have the instructions in the blog below...

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2013/08/window-reset-instructions-bmw-330i-2006.html

CCV Valve:  Crankcase Ventilation Valve, by far one of the trickiest things to diagnose, because it doesn't give you a "code" telling you... It's this, and this is why the car is running crappy because you are losing vacuum... and also why you are losing so much oil from the engine...  and why when you accelerate hard you get a lot of smoke come out of the exhaust, but when you drive normal, no smoke....

The result of a bad CCV valve is that it sucks up a ton of oil back into the intake of the car and so it seems like you are burning an excessive amount of oil, but in reality it's just the CCV Valve diaphragm.  It makes the car smoke "sometimes" and the car hesitates, and it has less power.  I have a couple of great articles, where I talk about this... links below.

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2018/09/engine-oil-bmw-330i-e90-2006.html

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2018/04/ccv-valve-crankcase-ventilation-valve.html

Heater Hose:  Very tricky to replace, but not difficult, I started to see "smoke" come up from the windshield as a I waited in a traffic light, and it caught my attention, then when I pulled over and checked it was actually "heat" from the engine, you see this hose carries hot fumes from the engine and it recycles it back into the intake.  I don't know who it broke, but it was very brittle when I took it out. It's made of thin plastic unfortunately.

Starter:  Again very tricky to replace, but not impossible, I have an article on how I replaced mine.  Highly recommend you try doing it yourself, because the dealer will charge you an arm and a leg to replace it.  It's not that bad, see the article for more information, link below:

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2019/01/starter-replacement-e90-bmw-330i-2006.html

Alternator:  Very easy to do, I recommend you give this a try. One of the easiest things I've done to my car, link below for the article:

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2018/04/alternator-replacement-e90-330i-2006-bmw.html

Windshield Wiper Reservoir:  If you've never replaced this reservoir by now, it's probably very bridle.  My reservoir wouldn't hold any liquid, so I replaced it myself, very easy to do, just some time and the right tools.  Link below on how I did it.

Link: https://msauceda1.blogspot.com/2016/07/windshield-wiper-fluid-reservoir-nozzle.html

Accident:  Side note, I did have an accident with the car, a big metal rod came out of a big truck and it got stuck in my roof, very dangerous, luckily nothing happened, it was in the BMW shop for almost 2 months, while they "replaced the roof", total mistake taking it to the dealer to fix, they outsourced the repairs, but the entire time they told me it was in house repair.  They did a very bad job, and it cost me an arm and a leg, it left s very sour taste with that dealer, the same dealership closed a few years later...so I guess I wasn't the only one with issues.

I hope this was helpful to you.

I post a ton of BMW 330I E90 related content, I have a lot of other posts, check them out, link below to the main page.

Comment below if you have any questions...

Thank again and until next time

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