Considering 2009 35i - reliability a concern?
 

I'm currently in the process of selling my car (heavily modded '06 530Xi - let me know if you know anyone who might be interested :thumbup: ), and for the next one, I'm looking into a 2009 X6 35i.

I understand the 2009 came with the N54 engine, which has the HPFP issue - I know plenty of people with 535s and 335s, and I know how much PITA it can be. The car I'm looking at is on West Coast - I'm in NYC. I'm honestly most scared that it will die on the way across country, somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Any advice? Is it even worth worrying about?

TIA

PS couldn't hold back - uploaded a couple of pics of my 5er :)

Check the service records and see what has been done to it.

I had a 535i. Had a HPFP fail early on (2008). Reduced power mode, drove it in to the dealership fine. It only had the power of a 528, but it wasn't a big deal. No further issues. Flash forward to 2011. Went in for the last prepaid oil service. Dealer said there were two campaigns to do on it. I hadn't received letters yet, but he said they would be coming shortly, and they could do the work then. Got a new HPFP (latest generation, new supplier). No problems prior to change, but it responded more crisply after (likely software). Dealer says they have seen no problems after the latest pump came out. They are doing all of them, pre-failure, and there is still the extended 10 year warranty.

I wouldn't hesitate at all to buy another 35i.

Thanks! It's just that all the horror stories get me unsure about the cross-country trek. My friend had a 535, after 5 times at the dealer, his HPFP was still crapping out - but that's more the dealer's fault, than anything. I have a feeling the dealer he used just wanted to bill BMW as much as possible, so they purposely did crappy job on his car.

Another buddy with a 535 in Florida has horror stories of having been stuck with the car in the middle of intersection etc etc.

Again, if I didn't have to worry about the car making the x-country trip, it wouldn't even be an issue - I know good dealers in the area, and even if I do get some problems, I know how to get them resolved. To me, it's worth the trade-off to have that awesome n54 power and potential for tuning. It's just the fact that it might get stuck somewhere in the desert, or in the Rockies - hundreds of miles away from civilization. And I might end up having to trek it to a dealer, where it might sit for another week... that's what I'm concerned about - as far as having the car here, I'm good with that. I'm prepared for a certain degree of HPFP issues and willing to trade off that risk for the power and sheer awesomeness :)

Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.

Just get the service records and see if it has the new style fuel pump.

:iagree:

That's what I'm going to try to do. And if I can't get the records, or if it has an old pump, I'll just have the car trucked. Still worth it to get a clean SoCal car. Besides, it'll probably get a whole bunch of paint chips, if it gets driven across anyhow...