New M 235i owner.

Jaystol

Active member
Howsit everyone.

Earlier this year, had to make the incredibly difficult decision to sell my Z4MR due to various practicality issues and the potential of immigration.

The practicality issues came true, and I'm now parking on the street without cover. Hence I made a decision to not ruin the Z4.

Anyway, as the title states, I'm now the new owner of an M235i. Got the car from BMW Constantia, and it comes with an interesting story.

It's a fairly high mileage example, sitting at roughly 155k km now. There's a but though.

About 4k km ago, the previous owner took the car for service at BMW. After the service, the car was taken for a test drive. BMW managed to blow the motor, meaning they replaced it with a brand new one.

With that said, and being typically afraid of high mileage, thought it was a good decision.

The car has been meticulously maintained, it honestly doesn't look like its even covered half that mileage.

Loving the car so far, much more practical than I imagined. Comfortable and has some power. OBVIOUSLY it's no s54, but the next steps will hopefully bring some of that missing soul out.

Next steps, and a little help needed:
1. I'd like to do downpipes and charge pipes at the same time. Any members know a good spot to do this in WC? I've spoken briefly to Wulfchiptegnic - they seem decent.
2. Software. Absolutely necessary I feel. I'm considering going with MHD, since there's various other benefits that come along with the software.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I'll throw up some pics once I've had the car washed!
 

Spanky

Well-known member
Congrats man!

How did they manage to blow the motor during a test drive? Have any specifics?

Can't go wrong with MHD, IMO - very userfriendly and versatile.
 

Jaystol

Active member
Congrats man!

How did they manage to blow the motor during a test drive? Have any specifics?

Can't go wrong with MHD, IMO - very userfriendly and versatile.
My understanding, and hence not mentioning the specific BMW, is that the mechanic that did the service didn’t top the oil up prior to driving the car.

I think MHD is the way to go. Had it on my n54 a while back, very impressive stuff.
 

Moto_GP

Active member
At that mileage the bearings would also be quite sus. Let I'm happy to take this car off your hands when you emigrate:LOL:
 

Benji

Well-known member
My understanding, and hence not mentioning the specific BMW, is that the mechanic that did the service didn’t top the oil up prior to driving the car.

I think MHD is the way to go. Had it on my n54 a while back, very impressive stuff.
You wont believe how often this happens. A mate took his car to Volvo for a flywheel issue. They replaced the flywheel and test drove the car with no oil in the gearbox. They put in a brand new box and test drove the car with no oil in the box again!
 

Jaystol

Active member
So an unfortunate occurrence.

Jumped into my car this morning, about 10 seconds after turning the car on, massive bang.

Tried to figure out what it was for about 20 minutes. Eventually went to play some music, and the speakers are gone. All audio. Music, Bluetooth, pdc, the usual bmw chimes too.

So it looks like I’ve lost an amp. Doesn’t seem to be entirely uncommon too.

I’ve looked around a bit and it looks like replacements are pretty rough.

Anyone got some experience with this/ some input/ some direction would be highly appreciated.

I’ve checked a few fuses. Could be looking at the wrong ones. Not entirely sure where the fuses for the amp are.
 

Gordvisr

Well-known member
i know of a similar story at agents, i'll be pissed if this should happen to me. At least agents replaced motor, the other story i know, the engine was replaced at cost to owner.
 

Jaystol

Active member
Update:

Did a lot of research, replacing an HK amp in these didn’t look like a fun time.

Called around a bit, got in contact with OEM audio here in CT.

Took the car through, they pulled the amp out and confirmed some corrosion. Apparently it’s pretty common for these to corrode over time. Seems there’s many little spots for water to get in and out.

They took the amp apart, gave it a clean, removed the corrosion and put some silicon coating on to prevent it happening again as best we can.

She’s back to working perfectly.

Cost ran to roughly R2500. Significantly cheaper than even thinking about replacing it.
 

Jaystol

Active member
Over the weekend I also did a stage 1 MHD tune. Bought a wireless adapter off the forum. Super easy to tune, makes a good difference too (power and the pops).

Next steps are charge pipe and down pipe. Should wake the car up significantly after those are in.

Pics still to come!
 

StrollingCoal

Active member
My understanding, and hence not mentioning the specific BMW, is that the mechanic that did the service didn’t top the oil up prior to driving the car.

I think MHD is the way to go. Had it on my n54 a while back, very impressive stuff.
Ahh seems to be a common occurrence at BMW dealerships. A mate's M4 went for a routine oil change and returned with a new motor...

Anyway, congrats on the new wheels! Hope you have many safe km's.
 

F21GP

Active member
Car looks great and with a new motor that’s a winner. If I buy examples with some mileage on I like to get a base level of maintenance in place for my own peace of mind. This especially if going to tune.

Since you’ve got a new motor would be good to do:

Oil change (my own run in service)
Gearbox oil
Diff oil
Brake fluid

I’d assume the motor comes with a 2 year warranty on it as well? I suppose this would be irrelevant if you tune.


Definitely going to enjoy it mate


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Jaystol

Active member
received an sms from BMW two days ago. It appears that there is a recall on the m235is. Anyone got an idea on what the recall is for?
 

Gordvisr

Well-known member
they have a recall on a couple of cars, not sure what it is for i saw two posts on the forum asking about it and it is different model to yours, I also got a message from them on one of my cars, not sure if it is my 125i , X5 or my old 330i.
 
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