335 overheating is real

[jbass524]

Does it easily overheat?

I know this was a topic of discussion soon after the 335 was introduced. I read some threads saying it was engineers from other mfrs. saying the 335 overheats and to not pay attention. I didn't. I wanted the 335 and I told myself if there was a real problem BMW would take care of it.

I'm here to say it is a real problem. My normal driving has not suffered but I took my car to the track for HPDE with BMWCCA. We were at Infineon and it was not even warm; 60ish degrees. My car only went as hi as 275 - 280 at the end of my hardest sessions. There were 2 other drivers in 335s who had to limp in with overheating cars. This is within 20 minute sessions at around 60 degrees. This doesn't sound reasonable to me.

I had much discussion with them and other 335 drivers about this and we are all concerned and hopeful that BMW will address this. It will be especially interesting, or dejecting, in the summer with the AC on.

The one question raised was "Is BMW going to do anything about this?". I have heard that it is real concern of theirs but it's being kept quiet.

I hope I'm only being paranoid and all will be fine.

This won't stop me loving my car and being tickled that I get to drive it.

Last bit. There is a review of the new Infiniti G37 that talks about the 335 overheating during a head to head comparison. This was in the Desert heat and after a lot of driving.

[steve99m3]

AT or MT?

[SocratesBMW]

Most of these claims come from testing done on tracks. Are you going to be driving your car 150mph for an extended amouint of time in 110 degree weather?

Also, if I remember correctly, someone posted on here that they day that claim came out, it was immediately rebuked by witnesses at the track. I think the comment originally came from an Audi forum or something like that.

[bmwave]

So if overheating is an issue with stock....what would a Vishnu or Eurobahn system do to the engine?

[harryu]

...when you're not at the track. Just driving around town. I noticed this week as it started warming up in chicago that the temp gauge went past the mid range.

[radgator1]

Originally Posted by SocratesBMW

Most of these claims come from testing done on tracks. Are you going to be driving your car 150mph for an extended amouint of time in 110 degree weather?

Also, if I remember correctly, someone posted on here that they day that claim came out, it was immediately rebuked by witnesses at the track. I think the comment originally came from an Audi forum or something like that.

Dude, the OP is telling you his personal experience with 2 overheated 335i's and one getting close after around 20 minutes of track time. It's time to stop defending purely because of the badge. I would say at this point it is pretty well established that the 335i has a propensity to overheat if pushed to its limit on the track.

You may not care about that but many owners do and it will definitely get BMW's attention in a hurry when sales start to decline as more and more overheating events are reported. I personally hope they are working on a solution and it better not be to detune the car but rather to improve cooling somehow. Possibilities such as a larger radiator, larger intercooler, larger oil cooler (and adding an oil cooler to the cars like mine that came without one!!), etc come to mind.

[Mark335i]

Originally Posted by steve99m3

AT or MT?

Every one of these that I have heard about seems to be on an AT.

[2002 tii]

I was chatting with a very well placed guy at the BMW dealership, I will not reveal his position or the location of the dealership for obvious reasons. He confirmed that 335's are having an overheating issue due to the placement of the turbo chargers..... He went into details but since I'm not into technical stuff and have decided not to buy the 335 I really didn't pay much attention to details.

[jiggawat2000]

A

[bmwave]

Well if this becomes a pervasive and notable problem will there be a fix from them?

Would a better cold air intake as part of a stage 0 kit help?

[CountMontego]

Aftermarket Oil cooler would fix this problem...but thats Money we shouldnt have to spend. I have it from someone who tested the 335i for BMW here in the States said that the car was definately having overheating issues...but I trusted BMW would fix this going into production. The engine temp and lack of a LSD were the test drivers only complaints about the car. Other than that said driver had only good things to say about the car. This driver knows BMWs too. Has tested&Raced the best incuding the rare V8 M3s of legend.



...just an example pic.

[T Rex]

I can only comment on highway cruising.....i drove for 4 hours straight at between 100 and 120 mph, all around 3.5-4K rpm (autobahn, of course).....the temp gauge stayed a little past midrange, but still well below overheating....outside air temp was 62 degrees F.....this was during breakin....

this in contrast to my '95 5-series, which stays parked at exactly the midrange of the temp gauge no matter how far and fast i drive it.....

considering this, well, you be the judge.....sounds to me like the radiator can't keep up with the engine heat....if i'd been driving in 90 degree weather the temp gauge may have gone somewhat higher....

[SocratesBMW]

My point was about tracking the car. Most people are not - therefore they will probably not have any issues. Mine run s at ~250 constantly - it's about 65-70 here and normal city driving.

If it really becomes that much of a problem I'll get my lawyer to get them to give me a new car. Otherwise, I'm sure they'll issue a recall and take care of it.

We have no idea how these guys were driving. I'd have to see times and tachs to make a better statement.

My point being that I could track my car in 3rd gear for 20 minutes and probably get it to overheat as well.

[steve99m3]

I'll be sorely disappointed if this nearly $50K car overheats during a track event! I bought the car with the intention of running some HPDE's with it, just as I had done with my '99 M3 and my heavily modified (i.e. custom turbocharger install) '98 Impreza 2.5RS.

Honestly, I'll be pissed!

[Kevlar]

I don't think any professional race series raced the big motor from the non-M 3 series. I think they've always used the 325/328 for the series and then they use the M3 for the next class up.

[JNMACE]

There have been a few turbocharged cars in our family and I am really hesitant at the thought of buying another. I REALLY like the 335i Coupe and when my 328i Coupe goes to my sister I was considering the 335i. I just don't know if I want to take the chance of once again being stuck with a car that spends significant amounts of time at the dealership for repeated fixes.

Do any of you know if it would have been better to use a supercharger instead of two small turbos on this car? I had considered keeping my 528i (before what I believe was a dealership 'mistake' caused its premature death) and supercharging it. Those who have done it have said it is really nice like this...why turbos?

[EURO M3 CSL]

very intrested.. subscribed

[Kevlar]

Originally Posted by JNMACE

Do any of you know if it would have been better to use a supercharger instead of two small turbos on this car? I had considered keeping my 528i (before what I believe was a dealership 'mistake' caused its premature death) and supercharging it. Those who have done it have said it is really nice like this...why turbos?

Turbos mean more torque at lower RPMs... superchargers will only yield maximum torque when they are spinning at redline (when they are making full boost).

[bmwave]

I had 2 Audi TTs for a total of 6 years and both were turbos and neither had problems at all with the engine. So you cannot make a blanket statement that turbos are to blame for a car's engine woes...you need to know how to drive with a turbo charged car. Adequate warm up and cool down can help reduce the chance of blown turbos. I look forward to the 335 and trust that the 4 year + 3 extended warranty will protect me from any problems with it being a first-run vehicle!

[EURO M3 CSL]

Originally Posted by bmwave

I had 2 Audi TTs for a total of 6 years and both were turbos and neither had problems at all with the engine. So you cannot make a blanket statement that turbos are to blame for a car's engine woes...you need to know how to drive with a turbo charged car. Adequate warm up and cool down can help reduce the chance of blown turbos. I look forward to the 335 and trust that the 4 year + 3 extended warranty will protect me from any problems with it being a first-run vehicle!

well i believe audi has been playin around with turbo cars for many years now. its been over 30 years since bmw even put A turbo into their cars and now they come up with one with 2 turbos... im not at all surprised about this. just hope they figure out how to fix this problem.

[Kevlar]

BMW has plenty of turbo knowledge brought forward from their diesel applications.

[EURO M3 CSL]

Originally Posted by Kevlar

BMW has plenty of turbo knowledge brought forward from their diesel applications.

really? hm.. i should research more.. oops

[Chuck77]

I've had two Audi TT's also, current one a 1.8 litre chipped to over 250 hp and 275 ft-lbs w/ no overheating ever. That's 140 hp/l vs 100 hp/l for 335, so it's not intrinsic to turbcharging boost. They must not have the cooling right yet. My 335xi is in build now; hope the famous BMW engineers have or will fix this promptly. Audi recalled my 2001 TT to install electronic stability system, providing a rental replacement for the several week process. I hope that won't be necessary for my new BMW, my dream car finally available with all-wheel drive and a high performance engine.

[bmwave]

Nice to meet ya Chuck! Sounds like we have similar taste in cars! I also was recalled in 01 and shortly after I got the ALMS edition. Couldnt resist the red on tan!

When do you get your 335?

[dmundy]

Originally Posted by Kevlar

Turbos mean more torque at lower RPMs... superchargers will only yield maximum torque when they are spinning at redline (when they are making full boost).

Um Kevlar? There are a whole lot of qualifiers that I'd put in that statement. 2 small turbos work pretty well at low RPM, but a traditional low compression / high boost set up makes pretty much nothing at low RPM. A centrifugal type supercharger works a lot like a turbo in how it makes boost, and generally needs fairly high RPM to put boost in the system. On the other hand a roots type blower or screw/ twin screw set up pretty much makes instant torque and does it throughout the entire rev range. The real advantage to turbos is that they are very close to being free power (mechanically not financially). The FI forum here is really very good, and I'd advise interested folks to lurk over there for a while.