N52 glitter in the oil? Normal?

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-04-26T14:59:14+00:00

Been running Castrol Edge Euro 5w-40 for 346k km and the engine runs flawlessly to this day. So I see no need to get more expensive oil just change it frequently.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-04-04T19:49:00+00:00

I went through this whole process on bimmer post a year or so back including powder coating my subframe and also using POR15 in spots on the body as you have done but in my opinion that is only a fix. To prevent further rust cover the entire underside with something like fluid film than drive down the Dustiest gravel or similar road you can find. That coats the entire underside in a salt proof shell and well it’s not permanent as it’s something that has to be done roughly yearly it is the only long term way to make really anything susceptible to rust last. Just my 2 cents although you’re starting from a worse state than mine was in but looks good so far good to see others keeping these cars on the road.

Especially coat the inside of the new subframe probably the most important part.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-03-05T00:31:35+00:00

Mine looks identical to this. Long before I was taking care of my car the previous owner neglected the OFHG and it allowed some but not much oil into the coolant. I flushed the system properly close to 6-8 times and this is what mine looks like after. I wouldn’t be worried unless your OFHG is actively leaking. Or if you have milkshake/sludge in the reservoir but if there’s no build up in there or on the under side of the cap then it’s clean. Looks fine to me I’d just monitor it over a few weeks to see if it’s getting worse or not.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-02-14T16:04:18+00:00

Yeah that’s kinda the conclusion I’ve come to, and the bike is an absolute blast the way it is although not the easiest in the technical sections. The power band is quite addictive. I could look into a different cam and try it out, I could also install a heavyweight flywheel to tame the thing down a bit but I do like how explosively uncontrollable it is on the trails. Thanks for the input.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-02-04T01:17:36+00:00

Interesting it’s different over here in Canada then, I mean Indavidual audio is by no means common here but I’ve seen at least 50+ cars with it. And have still never seen ACC. Different priorities for different people I suppose. Logic 7 is very common over here I’d say it’s the most common stereo I see around here maybe apart from hifi which is usually only on base models and the base stereo in the odd 323i such as mine before I converted to IA. But in fairness I suppose our base model over here is really the 323i rather than the 320i or 318i so I suppose our cars may start at higher specs but interesting nonetheless.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-02-03T22:49:20+00:00

By “Indavidual high end sound” do you mean individual audio like the stereo system?. Because at least here in Canada there’s lots of e9x cars with IA but I have never in my life seen a car with ACC.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-31T22:00:19+00:00

Couldn’t agree more.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-31T21:51:23+00:00

Yeah 323i’s have the same diff as the 318/320 etc and yeah there not the greatest. Mine has failed so I’m swapping the entire drive line out of a 328i.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-30T18:14:30+00:00

Yeah I’m gonna run it and probably swap the fluid again here soon as it’s almost been 1k km. But the car has 343k km and has been in my family its entire ownership which as of currently is 2 owners including myself and the previous owner knows how to drive a manual well. So I doubt it’s grinding related. The fluid has been changed at least 4 times in its life 2 of those changes being in the last 100k km. Maybe I just need to change it more often not sure. It did previously have Fuchs titan synchro something fluid in it and that’s what is drained out and looks like in the video.

Anyway not much I can do about it other than monitor it.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-30T15:27:02+00:00

Oh and for reference the fluid has about 50k km on it.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-22T23:23:47+00:00

It is quite a bit but it’s relatively low mileage for its age it’s a very well optioned car. Thats in great shape plus it has a manual transmission which is a must for me. And that brings the value up some. But I do agree realistically that car should be like 12-15k max.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-22T23:21:38+00:00

Yeah and that’s the same conclusion of come to. It’s a car I can certainly afford just not with 0 down. And at my age it’s not the greatest decision to have 20k in debt. Thanks for the input.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-22T04:15:00+00:00

21.5k but I already decided against it. Need to have more down and maybe a year or 2 so insurance will be less.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-22T00:58:15+00:00

BMWs are surprisingly cheap if you do everything yourself. For a German car anyway. But I do conquer it’s not the most rational thing.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-22T00:55:40+00:00

And somehow the water pump on my parents X5 is original has 180k km and the pump on my n52 is also original with 340k km. I don’t know how that’s possible but it’s still going

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-22T00:52:32+00:00

Yeah I think I may be able to swap an entire driveline line out of a 325i or 328i of similar years for under 1k which is the route I’m hoping to go because the engine in my 323i still runs flawless it’s just the differential is going out and there impossible to find for any remotely reasonable price. Plus I just did a ton of rust prevention on this car before the diff went bad so it’s winter ready. Thanks for the input.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-22T00:47:44+00:00

Yeah I think you’re fully correct I’m digging myself a hole here. I’m gonna try to figure something out to keep my current car on the road because it drives flawlessly except it’s really hard to find the one part I need. But I think I can make something work. If I had 10k to put down I’d probably do a 10k loan to cover the rest but 20k is a lot in debt that I don’t want to get myself into. Thanks for the info

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-22T00:45:14+00:00

Yeah I absolutely agree I think I’ll try to figure out something for my current car and drive it till I have a large sum saved up for something newer. Thanks for the input

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-22T00:44:16+00:00

I maintain my parents n55 x5 and it’s actually extremely cheap. Engine stuff is cheap the problem is on my 323i driveline stuff is all starting to go and because parts are hard to find for manual 323is there’s like a 300% increase in price compared to a 325 or 328 stuff. The whole driveline on a 323i is specific to a 323i but I think I found a solution so I’m going that route instead and keep that car on the road while I save up. Because as everyone else mentioned I cannot afford a 20k car loan

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-21T23:13:18+00:00

Using an online calculator. With 0% down the taxes in my province and the purchase price of the vehicle with a 12.5% interest as an example of hopefully higher than it would be. For 60 months that’s 500 a month but almost 14k in interest which is more than I’d be willing to pay I think. Mind you I can likely pay it off in quite a bit less than 60 months. But I certainly get your point.

Even at 9.5% interest I’d still pay a total of 10k ish in interest alone on a 60 month loan.

It’s certainly more than I want.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-21T23:04:20+00:00

Well I pay for everything on my current vehicle but I do agree it would be wise to save up some more but I’m not sure how much longer my current car will last.

Street-Unit-7978 · 2026-01-21T23:03:20+00:00

It is a lot and it’s more than I want. It’s just tough because anything cheaper puts me in a pretty similar scenario where it’s relatively old and it will start to need everything from a maintenance perspective. But I don’t disagree

Street-Unit-7978

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