Looking at an E92 coupe - 328xi

Anybody have any experience/wisdom regarding a 2013 328xi coupe? Looking for a used, not super expensive, fun and fairly reliable MT coupe as a DD so I won't have to take the Tundra everywhere. I want X-drive as I live in the northeast and intend to daily it through the winter.

I hear good things about the N52 motor (NA 3.0L I-6, 230hp).

I have a line on one and hope to check it out soon. I've poked around some of the BMW forums and have driven a few (not a 328i) but have never owned a BMW before.

Thoughts/experiences?

 

I've driven a 135i M-sport and it was pretty great, though my understanding is that motor can pose reliability issues, and anything I'm looking at would like be a ~100K mile car...the 135i was a lot of fun, but I was looking more at the NA 3.0L six as from what I read it's pretty bulletproof. Some people say the turbo's great, some report nightmares, but the NA seems a safer, if slower, bet. I'm all about a sport-package car, but would like AWD because I'd daily it year round. RWD would work if I daily my Tundra during the winter, as of now it's my only daily and it'd be nice to have something smaller, with a stick...exploring possibilities, I guess.

Thanks for the tips! I'd heard about the run flats and rear subframes, but not about the headlights; something to look out for. Good to hear about the X-drive, too. What is it you hate about the F30? Just yesterday had a euro car mechanic telling me how he loved the F30, lol.

Guess I'm not in a super rush, but have decided I'd like to get a reasonably reliable, possibly/preferably all-season/AWD, manual transmission BMW as a daily, and not have to take the Tundra everywhere. Preferably a coupe, open to a sedan but not my first choice. I'm somewhat familiar with BMWs but not fluent in them. I've seen the E90 328xi sedans and they look pretty nice, they're in a sweet spot price-wise and if I can find a nice stick example I'd probably just go for that. I have zero interest in anything automatic.

In an ideal world, I think I'd like a 128i M-sport coupe - I like the small coupes - with a 6-speed stick and X-drive, but I don't think such a car exists. The 2-series X-drives don't appear to come with a manual transmission, plus they're newer and more expensive. Looking for something I can leave in the driveway. Not a beater, but a daily driver.

Any suggestions?

 

So I ended up passing on the 328xi...found a 2-owner, clean Carfax 2011 128i with the sport package and 6-speed manual at a pretty reasonable price. Figured I can always take the Tundra if the snow gets bad, and the 128i came with a set of snows with only one season on them.

Happy to have a small coupe with a stick as a DD again.

 

Nice! The first car I rented through Turo was a 135i (stick) on a trip to LA awhile back - had a blast with it in the canyons out there - 300hp and pretty sure they all came with the M-sport suspension, it's a sweet package.

No XDrive on mine, E82 is RWD only, but I bought it anyway. Decided I'd rather have that small chassis than the larger E92 with XDrive. I just loaded some tube sand into the trunk for the winter, but when it's really bad (like today), I have the Tundra.

I've put around 2000 miles on the 128i since I bought it, loving it overall.