Car Model Guide/ BMW/ 3 Series/ E91

BMW 3 Series Touring, E91

The practical one, and the only body here you can genuinely use as a family car, with a panoramic roof that will try to fill it with water.

Overview

The E91 is the wagon BMW 3 Series, built 2005–2012 and facelifted in 2008. 17 standard engines are documented here, each with its own issue list, inspection sequence and price band. Asking prices across the standard range run €2,750–€14,350, and 6 of the 17 carry a risk level of 4 or 5; the facelift cars sit at a premium over otherwise identical pre-facelift ones. The cheapest way in is the 318i N46 from €3,300, while the 323i N52 is the lowest-risk engine at €4,300, which engine you buy matters more here than which year. Prices are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology.

BMW 3 Series wagon (E91) · photo BMW E91 LCI 330xi Touring Arctic Metallic (2) by Damian B Oh · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Body style	wagon	Production	2005–2012
Platform siblings	E90 sedan · E92 coupe · E93 convertible	Facelift (LCI)	2008

What changed at the 2008 facelift

Revised lights and bumpers; N53 replaced N52 in most European markets; N57 replaced M57 in the 330d. The engine changes are the ones that matter, a car built in the changeover year can carry either engine, so check the engine code on the block rather than the registration date.

Engine matrix: pre-facelift, 2005–2007

The 14 variants sold before the 2008 facelift. Power and years come from the variant records; prices are illustrative, not sourced.

FilterFuelGearboxRisk ceilingGood buy under14 of 14

Badge↕	Engine	Fuel	Years↕	Power↑	Torque↕	Risk↕	Issues	Price band↕	Good buy↕	Verdict
318i	N46	petrol	2005–2007	143 PS	190 Nm	R3	14	€2,750–€5,500	€3,300	Buy w/ conditions	View
318d	N47	diesel	2007–2007	143 PS	300 Nm	R5	18	€3,700–€6,800	€4,350	Avoid	View
320i	N46	petrol	2005–2007	150 PS	200 Nm	R3	14	€3,050–€5,850	€3,600	Buy w/ conditions	View
320d	M47	diesel	2005–2007	163 PS	340 Nm	R3	16	€3,400–€6,450	€4,050	Buy	View
320i	N43	petrol	2007–2007	170 PS	210 Nm	R4	17	€3,500–€7,000	€4,200	Caution	View
323i	N52	petrol	2005–2007	177 PS	230 Nm	R2	18	€3,600–€7,000	€4,300	Buy	View
320d	N47	diesel	2007–2007	177 PS	350 Nm	R5	18	€3,900–€7,400	€4,650	Avoid	View
325d	M57	diesel	2006–2007	197 PS	400 Nm	R2	18	€4,650–€8,700	€5,500	Buy	View
325i	N52	petrol	2005–2007	218 PS	250 Nm	R2	18	€4,250–€8,250	€5,050	Buy	View
325i	N53	petrol	2007–2007	218 PS	270 Nm	R4	19	€4,650–€9,100	€5,550	Buy w/ conditions	View
330d	M57	diesel	2005–2007	231 PS	500 Nm	R2	18	€5,300–€10,200	€6,300	Strong buy	View
328i	N52	petrol	2006–2007	234 PS	270 Nm	R2	18	€4,550–€8,900	€5,450	Strong buy	View
330i	N52	petrol	2005–2007	272 PS	315 Nm	R2	18	€5,000–€9,750	€5,950	Strong buy	View
330i	N53	petrol	2007–2007	272 PS	315 Nm	R4	19	€5,300–€10,400	€6,350	Buy w/ conditions	View

Engine matrix: facelift / LCI, 2008–2012

The 12 variants sold from the facelift on, priced at a 9% premium over the pre-facelift car.

12 variants from the facelift on, carrying a real market premium of roughly 9% over an otherwise identical pre-facelift car. Variants appearing in both tables were sold either side of the changeover, the build month decides which one you're looking at, not the model year.

FilterFuelGearboxRisk ceilingGood buy under12 of 12

Badge↕	Engine	Fuel	Years↕	Power↑	Torque↕	Risk↕	Issues	Price band↕	Good buy↕	Verdict
316d	N47	diesel	2009–2011	116 PS	260 Nm	R5	16	€3,800–€6,950	€4,450	Avoid	View
318i	N46	petrol	2008–2011	143 PS	190 Nm	R3	14	€3,000–€6,000	€3,600	Buy w/ conditions	View
318d	N47	diesel	2008–2011	143 PS	300 Nm	R5	18	€4,050–€7,400	€4,750	Avoid	View
320i	N43	petrol	2008–2011	170 PS	210 Nm	R4	17	€3,800–€7,650	€4,550	Caution	View
320d	N47	diesel	2008–2012	177 PS	350 Nm	R5	18	€4,250–€8,100	€5,100	Avoid	View
325d	M57	diesel	2008–2010	197 PS	400 Nm	R2	18	€5,100–€9,450	€6,050	Buy	View
325d	N57	diesel	2010–2012	204 PS	430 Nm	R3	19	€6,450–€11,800	€7,650	Buy	View
325i	N53	petrol	2008–2012	218 PS	270 Nm	R4	19	€5,100–€9,950	€6,100	Buy w/ conditions	View
330d	M57	diesel	2008–2008	231 PS	500 Nm	R2	18	€5,800–€11,100	€6,900	Strong buy	View
328i	N52	petrol	2008–2012	234 PS	270 Nm	R2	18	€4,950–€9,700	€5,950	Strong buy	View
330d	N57	diesel	2008–2012	245 PS	520 Nm	R3	19	€7,650–€14,350	€9,050	Strong buy	View
330i	N53	petrol	2008–2011	272 PS	315 Nm	R4	19	€5,800–€11,300	€6,950	Buy w/ conditions	View

Market availability varied by country; check the engine code stamped on the block rather than the badge on the boot. · Compare every engine side by side →

Model-year availability

Which engines were on sale in which year, from the year ranges in the variant records. Availability varied by country.

Variant	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12
316d N47					◐	●	◐
318i N46	●	●	●	●	●	●	◐
318d N47			◐	●	●	●	◐
320i N46	●	●	◐
320d M47	●	●	◐
320i N43			◐	●	●	●	◐
323i N52	●	●	◐
320d N47			◐	●	●	●	●	●
325d M57		◐	●	●	●	◐
325d N57						◐	●	●
325i N52	●	●	◐
325i N53			◐	●	●	●	●	●
330d M57	●	●	●	◐
328i N52		◐	●	●	●	●	●	●
330d N57				◐	●	●	●	●
330i N52	●	●	◐
330i N53			◐	●	●	●	◐

● full year · ◐ arrives or leaves mid-generation. Years from 2008 in the accent colour are facelift (LCI) cars. Verify the engine code, not the model year.

Rating map, price against risk

Good-buy price plotted against risk level for every standard engine, so the value corner is visible at a glance.

Every standard engine in the chassis, plotted at its good-buy price against its risk level. Cheap and low-risk is the top-left; expensive and fragile is the bottom-right. M cars are excluded, they would stretch the price axis and tell you nothing about the rest.

Buy / strong buy Buy with conditions Caution / avoidLeft is cheaper, up is safer. The top-left corner is where the value is.

Prices across the range

Where the money sits across the whole chassis. Every figure here is an illustrative placeholder, not a sourced market sample.

Every standard engine on one euro axis: the bar spans the 10th to 90th percentile of asking prices, the tick is the median and the green marker is the good-buy figure. M cars are excluded; they sit an order of magnitude above the rest.

Cheapest good buy€3,300318i N46

Median good buy€5,050across 17 engines

Dearest good buy€9,050330d N57

Full range€2,750–€14,350P10 to P90

Every standard engine · cheapest first · 328i N52 highlighted as best value

€5k€10kGood buy

318i N46€3,300 320i N46€3,600 320d M47€4,050 320i N43€4,200 323i N52€4,300 318d N47€4,350 316d N47€4,450 320d N47€4,650 325i N52€5,050 328i N52€5,450 325d M57€5,500 325i N53€5,550 330i N52€5,950 330d M57€6,300 330i N53€6,350 325d N57€7,650 330d N57€9,050

at or under the good buy · good buy · median · bar spans the 10th–90th percentile

Chassis-wide issues, every engine inherits these

Faults recorded against the bodyshell and running gear rather than one engine, so every variant on this page inherits them.

Front control arm bushing wearE9x chassis€300–€700

Knocking over bad surfaces, vague or wandering steering, uneven front tyre wear, steering shimmy under braking. The front lower arm bushings are a known wear item on this chassis and go well before the ball joints.

Check: Drive over a rough road at low speed with the windows down and listen. Check the inside edges of the front tyres for feathering.

SuspensionuniversalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented80–150k km

Panoramic roof drain blockage and water ingressE91 body€150–€1,200

Damp headlining, water in the footwells, musty smell, and then electrical faults as modules get wet. The panoramic roof's drain channels block with debris and the water finds its way into the cabin instead.

Check: Lift the boot floor and the front carpet edges and feel for damp. Check the spare wheel well for standing water. A wet footwell on this chassis eventually means a failed module.

Body & corrosioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Run-flat tyres and kerbed or cracked wheelsE9x chassis€150–€900

Harsh ride, vibration at speed, slow punctures. Stiff-sidewall run-flats transmit impacts straight into the rim, and these alloys crack rather than bend.

Check: Inspect the inner rim edge of every wheel for cracks and hairline splits, not just the face for kerbing. Budget for a set of conventional tyres; most owners switch and the ride improves markedly.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Corrosion at the rear subframe and arch seamsE9x chassis€300–€2,000

Bubbling at the rear arch lip, scaling on subframe mounting points and rear suspension components. Age plus road salt. This generation isn't a notorious rotter, but nothing from 2005–2013 is immune in a salted market.

Check: Put it on a lift and look at the rear subframe mounting points and the arch lips from behind. Largely a non-issue on cars from southern Europe, a real one on northern and Baltic cars.

Body & corrosionoccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Footwell module (FRM) failureE9x chassis€150–€700

Headlights, indicators, windows, wipers and central locking stop working at once, usually right after a battery change or a jump start. The module's memory corrupts when supply voltage dips. It is the single most common electrical failure on this generation.

Check: Test every window, both mirrors, the wipers, all exterior lights and the central locking before you drive. If any cluster of these is dead, this is why.

ElectricalcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Rear shock mount wearE9x chassis€250–€500

Knock from the rear over speed bumps, a hollow thump from the boot area. The rubber mounts perish. On hard-used cars the mount can crack the surrounding turret metal, which is a far bigger job.

Check: Lift the boot floor and look at the top of the shock towers for cracking or a lifted mount. Listen for a knock over bumps.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented100–180k km

xDrive transfer case actuator failureE9x chassis€600–€1,200

Grinding or binding at low-speed full lock, 4x4 warning lights, a shudder when manoeuvring. The actuator motor and the transfer case's internal chain wear, especially on cars run with mismatched tyre sizes.

Check: Full-lock circles in both directions in a car park, slowly, listening for binding. Check all four tyres are the same brand and wear, mismatched tyres destroy these.

DrivetrainoccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented120–220k km

iDrive CCC head unit failureE9x chassis€300–€900

Black screen, rebooting, refusal to read the drive, non-functioning navigation. The early CCC unit's hard drive and mainboard fail with age. Later CIC units are more reliable.

Check: Turn it on and use it for a few minutes: navigation, radio, settings. Reboots during that window are the fault showing itself.

ElectricaloccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Coolant expansion tank crackingE9x chassis€120–€250

Coolant smell after a drive, slow unexplained loss of coolant, crusty residue around the tank seams. The plastic tank goes brittle with age and splits, usually at a seam or around the level sensor.

Check: Look at the tank with the engine warm, dried coolant leaves a white or pink crust. Cheap to fix, but it tells you how the car has been maintained.

CoolingcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented90–200k km

Unregistered replacement batteryE9x chassis€30–€60

Random electrical faults, warning lights that come and go, a battery that dies again within a year. The car's power management must be told a new battery was fitted. Cheap replacements are routinely fitted without coding, which then overcharges or undercharges the new battery.

Check: Ask when the battery was changed and whether it was registered. A car with a new battery, no registration and a scatter of odd electrical faults usually just needs coding.

ElectricalcommonPartly detectableevidence: documented

Written once against the chassis and shown on every variant page below, so nothing here is repeated 17 times: M cars included, since the bodyshell and electronics are shared.

Buying summary

Our read on the chassis, built on the records above rather than added to them.

Best value: 330d M57 Touring. Enormous torque, real 6.5 l/100 km, and enough space to justify the whole exercise. Best long-term petrol: 325i or 328i N52, the same durable six in the useful body. Avoid: 320d N47, for the same chain reason as everywhere else in the range. The trap specific to this body. The panoramic roof. Blocked drains put water into the footwells, and water in the footwells eventually kills a control module. So check the carpets and the spare wheel well on every single car you look at, before you look at anything else.

Cheapest and dearest in this chassis

The ends of the range by good-buy price. Useful for sanity-checking anything you're quoted.

Lowest entry price

318i N46 : from €2,750, risk 3

320i N46 : from €3,050, risk 3

320d M47 : from €3,400, risk 3

Lowest risk

323i N52 : risk 2, good buy at €4,300

325i N52 : risk 2, good buy at €5,050

328i N52 : risk 2, good buy at €5,450