2011 320i E90 Turbo Kit

G

GAVz96

Member
Another question guys, does anyone know of a place or places that can do LED Conversions and Customisation in the East Rand area, have bought a set of Angel Eyes with CANBUS, must just install them when I have a chance 👍🏻
 
TurboLlew

TurboLlew

Honorary ///Member
GAVz96 said:
No definitely, I’ve figured that out after a year of ownership 😅 I’ve never experienced issues on a car the way I have on the 320i E90.

I was looking at trading it in now recently but of course the shortfall that comes with financing is ridiculous, so might have to just sit with it a while.
Click to expand...

Am I reading this correctly?

Financed (with shortfall on trade)
E90 320i
R100K in repairs
Wants a project car
Wants to do a turbo kit

My brother in Christ, how do you have money to do the turbo conversion but not pay up the car or eat the trade shortfall to get something better? Please don't do this... or like @Nukleuz I will be watching with popcorn.

An E90 320i will never be a good project car - loads of great suggestions above.

You are not the first person to come with stories of spending the value of a 320i over in repairs and maintenance that you will never get back and neither are you the first who wants to mod one. This is called throwing good money after bad and you can read up on the sunk cost fallacy and others here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies (Please review all of those while you're at it. It will be more useful to you than reading any threads about 320i conversions of any kind)

You are not alone in falling into this trap, but please remove yourself from it before you're saying "well I may as well put a nice R35K turbo on now, cos my kak one died after 2000km and I am already in this 250K... then you wake up from your delusion one day, after intercoolers, boost pipes, ECUs, tuning, meth, eth conversions, cosmetics etc later and realise that you've spent the value of an F30 340i on a kak 320i that is still not nearly as fast, unreliable, thirstier and which nobody wants... Many of us have been there with much more desirable cars and then you must face reality come sale time.

A short term loss can set you up for longer term wins (in life in general)
 
G

GAVz96

Member
TurboLlew said:
Am I reading this correctly?

Financed (with shortfall on trade)
E90 320i
R100K in repairs
Wants a project car
Wants to do a turbo kit

My brother in Christ, how do you have money to do the turbo conversion but not pay up the car or eat the trade shortfall to get something better? Please don't do this... or like @Nukleuz I will be watching with popcorn.

An E90 320i will never be a good project car - loads of great suggestions above.

You are not the first person to come with stories of spending the value of a 320i over in repairs and maintenance that you will never get back and neither are you the first who wants to mod one. This is called throwing good money after bad and you can read up on the sunk cost fallacy and others here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies (Please review all of those while you're at it. It will be more useful to you than reading any threads about 320i conversions of any kind)

You are not alone in falling into this trap, but please remove yourself from it before you're saying "well I may as well put a nice R35K turbo on now, cos my kak one died after 2000km and I am already in this 250K... then you wake up from your delusion one day, after intercoolers, boost pipes, ECUs, tuning, meth, eth conversions, cosmetics etc later and realise that you've spent the value of an F30 340i on a kak 320i that is still not nearly as fast, unreliable, thirstier and which nobody wants... Many of us have been there with much more desirable cars and then you must face reality come sale time.

A short term loss can set you up for longer term wins (in life in general)
Click to expand...
Yeah I did a lot of thinking yesterday after I started this post 😅

I’ve lost a lot of money in this car already, someone suggested that the extra cash I have I should put into paying the car off so that it goes quicker and then look at getting another car.

I guess it was the fact that I’ve already spent almost a years worth of my salary on the car, believe me to pull R100k out in a year was not easy, it took weeks of the car just sitting at mechanic and me trying to find money 😂 it’s really been a money pit with this car.

But what I’ve learnt from this, don’t buy a BMW without a service book, or else you’re going to end up spending more than what the car’s worth.

Was actually looking at Weabank and AVO (Apparently MFC) second hand BMW’s but damn do they add a lot of mark up to cars that have got way more KM’s than what my BMW had when I got it 🤷🏻‍♂️

I just think a lot of dealerships are doing us a bit dirty here 🤦🏻‍♂️
 
R

rodga

Well-known member
GAVz96 said:
Yeah I did a lot of thinking yesterday after I started this post 😅

I’ve lost a lot of money in this car already, someone suggested that the extra cash I have I should put into paying the car off so that it goes quicker and then look at getting another car.

I guess it was the fact that I’ve already spent almost a years worth of my salary on the car, believe me to pull R100k out in a year was not easy, it took weeks of the car just sitting at mechanic and me trying to find money 😂 it’s really been a money pit with this car.

But what I’ve learnt from this, don’t buy a BMW without a service book, or else you’re going to end up spending more than what the car’s worth.

Was actually looking at Weabank and AVO (Apparently MFC) second hand BMW’s but damn do they add a lot of mark up to cars that have got way more KM’s than what my BMW had when I got it 🤷🏻‍♂️

I just think a lot of dealerships are doing us a bit dirty here 🤦🏻‍♂️
Click to expand...
I think bottom line is dont buy the worst engine in the line up and do proper research before hand.
 
G

GAVz96

Member
rodga said:
I think bottom line is dont buy the worst engine in the line up and do proper research before hand.
Click to expand...
If you guys had any advice as to where to get a more reliable BMW other than brand new or what to look for/at when looking at a 2nd Hand Bimmer.

Cause yeah mine was literally a rush buy due to the fact that I had to get my own car ASAP.
 
AshG108

AshG108

///Member
GAVz96 said:
Yeah I did a lot of thinking yesterday after I started this post 😅

I’ve lost a lot of money in this car already, someone suggested that the extra cash I have I should put into paying the car off so that it goes quicker and then look at getting another car.

I guess it was the fact that I’ve already spent almost a years worth of my salary on the car, believe me to pull R100k out in a year was not easy, it took weeks of the car just sitting at mechanic and me trying to find money 😂 it’s really been a money pit with this car.

But what I’ve learnt from this, don’t buy a BMW without a service book, or else you’re going to end up spending more than what the car’s worth.

Was actually looking at Weabank and AVO (Apparently MFC) second hand BMW’s but damn do they add a lot of mark up to cars that have got way more KM’s than what my BMW had when I got it 🤷🏻‍♂️

I just think a lot of dealerships are doing us a bit dirty here 🤦🏻‍♂️
Click to expand...
Here you go, clean car...great power and upgrade from the E90:

www.autotrader.co.za

BMW 3 Series 335i M Sport for sale in Randburg - ID: 27827106

Used 2013 BMW 3 Series 335i M Sport For Sale - R 339 900 - ID: 27827106
www.autotrader.co.za www.autotrader.co.za
 
DRCraig

DRCraig

Well-known member
What is your budget? E90 or F30? N47 or N57? What will the predominant usage of the car be? Commute- short/long distance? Give us a scope.
 
G

GAVz96

Member
DRCraig said:
What is your budget? E90 or F30? N47 or N57? What will the predominant usage of the car be? Commute- short/long distance? Give us a scope.
Click to expand...
To be honest I recon I could probably look at a car worth +- R200k at the most if financed (obviously only once my Current one has been paid off 😅)

And I mostly do short distance from home to work, once in a while I do long distance, Holiday / Weekend away with my Fiance to see family or get away.

So kind of need a balanced car.
 
G

GAVz96

Member
Sabretooth tiger

Sabretooth tiger

///Member
Take your time and look for a well cared for E90 320d/330d and post as many links here as you can.

Then there is also the quality of life no one talks about if you have a well sorted paid off car. You can do so much more living then chasing after power. (yeah my age is showing :ROFLMAO: )
 
G

GAVz96

Member
Sabretooth tiger said:
Take your time and look for a well cared for E90 320d/330d and post as many links here as you can.

Then there is also the quality of life no one talks about if you have a well sorted paid off car. You can do so much more living then chasing after power. (yeah my age is showing :ROFLMAO: )
Click to expand...
@Sabretooth tiger that’s what I was thinking I wanted something that can be driven daily no problems and then something that I can play around with on Weekends or Wednesdays at the Drags and Car Meets.
 
DRCraig

DRCraig

Well-known member
GAVz96 said:
To be honest I recon I could probably look at a car worth +- R200k at the most if financed (obviously only once my Current one has been paid off 😅)

And I mostly do short distance from home to work, once in a while I do long distance, Holiday / Weekend away with my Fiance to see family or get away.

So kind of need a balanced car.
Click to expand...
An E90 LCI 320d Auto (R130k-R140k region) would be ideal given your budget, but keep in mind that a diesel car takes about 10km to reach optimum operating temperature. Short daily commutes isn't ideal.
 
DRCraig

DRCraig

Well-known member
GAVz96 said:
@DRCraig my daily commute to work is about 25km.
Click to expand...
Cut your losses and go for a 320d. Just check for documented FSH and proof of maintenance, gearbox oil change has been done. vibration dampener and tensioner replaced. Coolant leaks might be coolant flange.

Once you buy your 20d ensure you decat it and do a stage 1 tune (includes egr and swirl flap delete)

Once the above checks out, you'll be seated in the perfect daily.
 
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