Project BMW 335i
PART ONE: Martyn Knowles introduces our 2007 BMW 335i Coupé project.
In my Editorial, I mentioned we bought this 2007 Coupé from the eBay sales. Priced at £6000, some would say that is alot of money for car approaching its 17th birthday. However, these cars are becoming collectable, especially those with this 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol engine. We paid £5800 after a haggle.
BMWs E90 3-series arrived here in 2005. On offer from the start was the E90 saloon and E91 estate – then in 2006 the E92 Coupé and 2007 the E93 Convertible completed the line-up.
The 335i N54 engine model became available in late 2006 – our car was registered new on September 1, 2007 at Sytner Stevenage BMW. Just over 300bhp was available, with 400Nm of torque from 1300rpm. With a view to handing this car over to our sister magazine, Total BMW, after our 8-part series (sponsored by Machine Mart), the publishers decided this modified 335i would be useful to have.
Our 335i isn't the M Sport model – these have slightly more aggressivelooking bodywork/wheels and sportier suspension – we've bought the SE spec. One of the attractions of this car was its 'extra cost' red leather interior, which still looks and feels amazing today. The silver bodywork shines like new with minimal stonechips. It has had some caring previous owners – and because I've not seen the V5C I can't tell you how many owners it has had.
Although I would prefer an automatic gearbox with these bigger-engined cars, this one has a six-speed manual. It's still a delight to operate, with a faint hint of stiffness going into fifth.
Bundles of ser vice histor y came with the original handbook – the 335i spending the last decade in the Falkirk area.
The modifications description came from the sellers brief. Stage 2 remap running at 420bhp and 650Nm with the following upgrades – Dual BMS performance intake filters; VRSF 3in downpipes; MTC front mounted intercooler, MTC upgraded charge pipe. I'm not up to speed with my BMW mods, though looking underneath, the downpipes look impressive. Though, my MOT tester didn't think much of them, especially when it failed on emissions at fast idle. These 335i's have four catalytic converters in the original system. So with a sports cat fitted up front, the two rear cats should still deal with emission outputs. Fuel level was low (less than 50 miles on the range) when testing.
I hadn't filled the tank since leaving the NEC in November. So, I bought a can of Cataclean, brimmed the BMW with 99 Octane and covered 30-mile runs every other day to get the Cataclean doing its thing, before presenting again t
