2006 BMW 335i

Background

Take any journey and you’re more than likely to come across at least one BMW 3 Series, since 1975 this jack of all trades has been clocking up miles around the world. offered in almost every conceivable body style the 3 Series is the benchmark for any car in this sector.

In 2005 the 5th generation hit the roads, and a year later it would receive the title of ‘World Car of the Year’. You could have your new 3 series as either a Saloon, Coupé, Convertible, Touring, or the legendary M3.

If you were after an under-the-radar executive car that could keep up with the fast saloons of the day you could opt for the 335i. Sitting just below the M3 the 335i benefitted from a twin-turbocharged 3.0l inline-six engine. Pumping 306hp to the rear wheels you could certainly win a few rounds of traffic light drag racing.

At the time BMW was using the slogan ‘the ultimate driving machine’ and they weren’t wrong. What petrol head doesn’t want a 300hp, manual, rear-wheel drive saloon?

The Vehicle

What you’re looking at here is as near as you can get to a ‘new’ E90 335i in 2023. With less than 9,000 miles on the clock and sitting in totally original condition (including the 2006 stamped tyres) it is a very rare find indeed.

From new this car has only had two owners, the first being an elderly couple who owned the car from 2006 until 2021, and the second being the current owner who acquired the car on the 25th of March 2021. Between the two owners, this car has been looked after properly, always living in a garage when not in use and having a service every 1,000 miles it is like it has just come out of BMW’s heritage department.

Everything on this car is believed to be original. It still wears its original Bridgestone Potenza tyres on each unmarked alloy and even the wipers are believed to be the originals. Having never really seen use in the wet they haven’t been used regularly. In the boot, you will also find the original first aid kit, and importantly the full tool kit.

Thanks to its pampered life this BMW 335i is now one of the best E90s on the market. Where else are you going to find a car like this?

On the Outside

Having rarely seen a UK road the exterior of this car is in near-perfect condition. Its sleek silver paintwork has not been subject to salt, stone chips, or car park mishaps meaning that it is still as good as the day it left the factory some 16 years ago.

Looking in more detail we can see that the front bumper area, which would usually be peppered with stone chips, looks amazing with no obvious areas of stone chipping or paint bubbling. For a BMW from the mid-noughties, this is almost unheard of. This lack of stone chips/corrosion carries on over the bonnet and along the rest of the car.

Just to put into perspective how well this 335i has been looked after the current owner told us that they had one of the alloys refurbished for you due to a small mark. It was something that you may overlook on a daily driver, but the current owner wants to make sure that you are getting a ‘museum quality’ car for your money.

Looking at a few other areas that can sometimes be a cause for concern on older cars, such as the sills, wheel arches, and underneath, we can see that they are presented in ‘like new’ condition.

This is one of the cars that has to be seen to be believed. It is in such a condition that you’d expect it had just rolled off the production line.

On the Inside

Inside, the condition follows the same trend as the outside. Everything housed within the interior is in amazing condition, from the unmarked headliner down to the black carpets you would have to search with a fine tooth comb to find any unsavoury damage.

Let’s start by looking at the areas that you will interact with most as the driver. You can see that your seat is completely unmarked and with so few miles on the clock, there is no un-due bolster wear or leather damage. This condition is mirrored on the front and rear passenger seats as well. As the two owners have only ever had the need to transport front passengers there is a chance that the rear seats have experienced no use at all.

As you can see from the photos the steering wheel and gearstick are also in great condition. There are no marks on the steering wheel, nor are there any large scratches to the top of the gear stick. Set behind the gear stick you’ll find the radio, in some BMWs of this age the LCD screen can sometimes leak and become a bit tatty. However, as you might expect from this car, its radio screen is perfect and very easy to read.

Other, sometimes overlooked, areas of the interior are also in great condition. these include the carpets in the front and the rear, the headliner, the leather central console/armrest, and even the black dashboard.

Overall, the interior of this 335i is ‘like new’. With no marks on the leather, a perfect radio screen, and even immaculate BMW plastic sill protectors it is like this car has never been driven.

Underneath

Unsurprisingly the underside of this 335i is in great condition. Having rarely seen wet tarmac the underside has not been subjected to any corrosive/salty conditions that can be the Achilles heel of so many BMWs.

Fitted with a twin-turbocharged 3.0l inline six this car has some poke out on the road. A short drive was undertaken on the day of the photographs, it performed perfectly on this test drive. There was no loud knocking from the suspension nor any steering wheel judders within the residential area where it was photographed.

The current owner has made sure to always run this car on Shell Vmax unleaded petrol a trend that is said to have started with the previous owner as well. This means the car has never reportedly run on supermarket petrol.

There are some photos of the underside that show that towards the rear the exhaust and diff look nice and clean. The current owner has also supplied a video of an underside inspection carried out by BMW technicians.

When the car is running there is no worrying blue smoke coming from the tailpipes. This can be seen in the video below, as the car was photographed on a cold morning there is some slight condensation, but this is expected.

History Highlights

Ordered new from Coopers of Reading for the sum of £30,350.01 on the 29th of December 2006 this car has gone on to live an extremely good life.

The first owners were an elderly couple who rarely used the car, hence the odometer reading, the current owner has carried on this usage pattern.

Within the history folder, there are several important invoices and MOT certificates. The car is of an age where all of the MOT history is available online through the GOV.UK website or phone applications, they also document the mileage accurately which proves that the mileage is genuine.

There are also a lot of BMW booklets/pamphlets that are still present in their leather-bound holder. The most important booklet in this collection is of course the service book, with 8 stamps the service history is as follows:

• 6,110 – 08-12-08
• 6,424 – 13-12-10
• 61,695 – 12/12/12
• 6,650 – 12/12/14
• 6,746 – 12/12/16
• 7,358 – 10-12-18
• 7,398 – 23-03-21
• 8,383 – 03-05-22

It would appear that the technician who entered the 2012 service must have written the wrong number as the MOT data from that year puts the car at 6,521 miles which would make sense when you compare it to the 2014 service.

You’ll also be happy to hear that the car still has its two original keys present.

What We Think

Marketed as the ultimate driving machine back in 2006, this is still the case 16 years later. With the combination of 300hp, rear-wheel drive, and a manual gearbox this is one of those cars that will sadly never be built again.

Over the years this car has been doted upon, this level of care and attention has resulted in a pristinely presented driving machine that any petrol head will want to add to their collection.

Selling with NO RESERVE this is your chance to grab a stunning vehicle. Cars like this rarely come up for sale so don’t miss out on this opportunity. If you don’t bid on this 335i it will always be the one that got away.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Video Review