F30 328i N20 4cyl Turbo

[B C]

I have been stuck in an infinite loop of what  car to purchase next. Its a constant battle between what my heart wants and what my brain wants which is much easier to resolve for those of you who either have a bigger budget or are willing to finance vehicles.

in my perusings I bounce between 3 different cars that my heart wants and 3 different cars that my brain wants. Today I stumbled upon an option that looked like a very pleasing compromise between heart and brain. An F30 328i

Without much research and homework involved I imagined an F30 328i rwd auto with paddle shifters, bolt ons, some upgraded suspension and a second set of tires and wheels.

in theory it would have the thrust I desire, be lightweight (relative) and tossable, despite electric steering. It has the ZF 8 speed slushbox of my dreams (excellent transmission, try one out sometime) which is wife and commuter friendly, and with a 4cyl it would be good on gas and easier to do fit my sausage fingers in the engine bay to save money on upkeep.

So the research commences:

I first start seeing the usual worthless owner feedback:

”ive had my F30 328i for 4000 miles now since rolling off the showroom floor and its been dead reliable! No complaints!”

And then I find what I wanted to (or didnt want to) find

timing chain/sprocket failures

spontaneous random oil pressure loss

broken camshafts

and other stupid critical failures being reported on 40-70k mile, unmodified, tamely driven cars.

So my question:

Has anyone heard of this engine (N20) lasting more than 70,000 miles before shitting its pants?

im not considering a test drive anymore because it seems like a terrible car/engine. Just genuinely wondering if anyone has made it close to 100k without something completely stupid happening to the engine

[Rekpoint]

My friends mom has one that has over 100k with no problems that I've heard of.

I drove it in sport mode and it has some beans..

[HipMF]

I've heard nothing but bad things. That being said, no one is likely to pop up in your feed and say, apropos nothing, "Hey, I have an N20, and I haven't had any problems with it." I'm also sure that most red-blooded car guys are going to hate on a 4 cylinder BMW whenever the slightest opportunity presents it's self.

However, I have to question your use of the word "tossable"...

[patsbimmer1]

Stop it.  Don't be dumb and look at a stats sheet to pick a car.  Its an emotional purchase where logic only needs to apply to keep you from going broke.  Compromise can be had but for you its not in an n20.

[YoungCR]

I bought parts off from a guy who owned a X3 with a N20 that grenaded from oil pressure loss. Said BMW fought him on warranty for it but eventually he won. Told me he didn’t plan on buying another BMW after that and his E60 issues.

[B C]

HipMF said:

I've heard nothing but bad things. That being said, no one is likely to pop up in your feed and say, apropos nothing, "Hey, I have an N20, and I haven't had any problems with it." I'm also sure that most red-blooded car guys are going to hate on a 4 cylinder BMW whenever the slightest opportunity presents it's self.

However, I have to question your use of the word "tossable"...

My goodness, its supposed to be 200 lbs lighter than the E90. Air quotes might not even be appropriate for the word “tossable”

[suspenceful]

@SteelBlue has one: 

Maybe he'll chime in.

[straight6pwr]

buy a nice e46 6-popper, and pocket the extra cash for repairs.

[Jdesign]

So you think that all you have to do is change the first letter in the engine code?

"E & M" is much better than the "F & N" brutha. If you look at it backwards the "E&M" is technically "ME" backawards which would make one think its part of "ME" or in this case, YOU. "F&N" just doesnt pan out the same way. Backwards its basically N&F which I see translationg into No Fucks. Did BMW do this on purpose because they had a lack of care for the oil presssures issues? Or does this translate into the replacement of "ME" because you will have "No F"un with this new car?

[patsbimmer1]

Also, This is also probably one of the worst places to ask opinions about a modern BMW.  Let me summarize the responses past and future.  "E30!  Gahhhh!"  "Anything over 3200lbs is too heavy!" "TECHNOLOGY IS THE DEVILS WORK!" "I6 or die" "BMW hasn't made a good car since '91!"

[B C]

E90 M3 DCT and move to a non-salty/snowy state is becoming a more viable answer

[i_love_cars]

[Jdesign]

I dont have much against new cars, but I am personally old school from a mechanical perspective. Being a designer I see new tech everyday which makes me aware of all the crazy advancements we humans develop. New cars are great for so many reasons and statistacally they are 100% better than their ancestors. With that though, comes additional issues, maintence, costs, mandated regulations, etc. Think about emissions control for one,  carbon build up now gets so bad that you have to add an additional process; walnut blast, just to keep your car running in healthy shape. Most high end cars are designed to have a shelf life, and this has been true for along time, and there is proof dating back to the late 80's early 90's. The only user they are designed for is the first buyer signing the check to the manuafacture. Once that happens, it no longer matters. The brand as a whole, has already been built and has a following, they no longer need to prove they are a viable and robust company to create sales, as they have done so already for so many years.  

In my eyes, if I didnt want to turn wrenches anymore, and could a afford a brand new car every 2-3 years, I wouldnt hesitate to do so.

[i_love_cars]

Jdesign said:

I dont have much against new cars, but I am personally old school from a mechanical perspective. Being a designer I see new tech everyday which makes me aware of all the crazy advancements we humans develop. New cars are great for so many reasons and statistacally they are 100% better than their ancestors. With that though, comes additional issues, maintence, costs, mandated regulations, etc. Think about emissions control for one,  carbon build up now gets so bad that you have to add an additional process; walnut blast, just to keep your car running in healthy shape. Most high end cars are designed to have a shelf life, and this has been true for along time, and there is proof dating back to the late 80's early 90's. The only user they are designed for is the first buyer signing the check to the manuafacture. Once that happens, it no longer matters. The brand as a whole, has already been built and has a following, they no longer need to prove they are a viable and robust company to create sales, as they have done so already for so many years.  

In my eyes, if I didnt want to turn wrenches anymore, and could a afford a brand new car every 2-3 years, I wouldnt hesitate to do so. 

I fear that in general these tech advancements are basically the end of the DIYer as we know it. When I look at the S4 under the hood, or when I pulled the wheels off to put my winter setup on and I took one look at the suspension and barfed, all I can think of is "dear god how would i ever work on this?" - the complexity involved in removing stuff for replacement on newer cars is becoming absurd. Combined with the amount of electronics to deal with that are all intertwined, it scares the shit out of me in terms of maintenance costs. 10 years from now, a new car will be completely foreign to me I think. As cars move further and further towards being 100% appliance as opposed to "driver engagement required" products, more and more will become internalized and black-boxed. The tech is impressive and I love my S4 - honestly it is so much fun to bomb around in that I don't even care that it's autotragic. But I still wouldn't want to touch the thing outside of warranty. 

The F30 is trash to me and I also know people with them who have had engines grenade below 60k. IMO it's a reflection of why BMW has lost me as a customer for anything new and why I am currently in an Audi. There's way too much bad shit being posted about F30s online for such a highly mass-produced bread and butter car. I get S65 and S85s blowing up with rod bearings 10 years ago because M cars are performance oriented which carries some risks, and are lower production. A basic beta bitch 328 that they produced hundreds of thousands of should not be so unreliable and it goes to show how badly the bean counters have taken over.

[B C]

Agreed.

The future is electric/hybrid and the technology cost will necessitate the end of car "ownership". They will eventually become lease-only if for no other reason than potential battery replacement costs

[SteelBlue]

My 328xi is at 92K. Would have to review the carfacts, but I’ve put 15k on it since buying and have just done the oil.

I commented my other comments and thoughts adnauesium on your F10 5 series post.

[Jdesign]

Welcome to the future... A bunch of vegtables transported by a machine smarter than its contents.