Thoughts on the X5?

[BoxDriver86]

Now that you are looking at an E46, stay far away from the early auto transmissions. Tend to last all of 100k and then have major issues. Later ones are better. The Vanos repair is fairly simple to do and cures a lot of the surging at idle. Be ready, though. It can take more than an hour to just change spark plugs.

Appreciate the advice. The wife agreed for us to get a manual if the price is right. I'm looking at '02 325s, not interested in the ix...more stuff to break and replace. The steptronic is a must have if we're going auto and it appears the earlier autos didn't have that.

[kway]

Figured I would update this thread here. My wife and I drove the 3.0 and really liked it. It was slow as molasses, but still a nice vehicle for what we wanted.

The kicker on this: my wife noticed an '02 325xi wagon with 148K on it for 2 grand less. She wanted to give it a go, so we took the keys and headed off. Although this won't be THE car, that's the direction we decided to go. We liked it way more than the x5, found that it had plenty of space and the fuel economy was much better. We're currently on the hunt for a better condition e46 wagon as this one was pretty beat. I'm now doing some research on the 323 vs. 325 and xi vs standard RWD.

I do want to say thanks for everyone that chimed in here. When comparing the typical problems of the E53 to the typical problems of the E46, it seems that the E46 issues are significantly more manageable.

You're better off, I'd say your line of thinking is spot on. X5s aren't too bad overall, but the e46 will be cheaper to run over the course of ownership. I'd say go RWD to minimize complexity/maintenance, but if you go AWD it's not the end of the world.

[SteveJ]

I got to drive the X5's at the release get-together years back. BMW basically set up some autocross courses and had some insturctors on hand. About 10 of us club autocrossers/track junkies showed up and formed one group. We did set FTD (I missed it by .1), put one of the X's up on two wheels, and just drove the snot out of their cars. They would not let us disable all the nannies - DSC, etc...

So, they do handle. They ARE big and wallowy and top heavy compared to an E30. I'll keep my small cars, thanks.

Now that you are looking at an E46, stay far away from the early auto transmissions. Tend to last all of 100k and then have major issues. Later ones are better. The Vanos repair is fairly simple to do and cures a lot of the surging at idle. Be ready, though. It can take more than an hour to just change spark plugs.

[BoxDriver86]

I have a 2010 X35 D, It's the shit. Diesel power and 25MPG

I'm too cheap to spend that kind of money...I prefer to buy cars on their last leg. Keeping them alive is all the fun for me. I also refuse to have car payments. If I can't pay cash for it, then I'm not buying it...with the exception of my house.

I can pick up a decent mileage e46 325it with 150Kish on it for $7,500 give or take and be more happy than a new car that I'll be paying on for the next couple of years.

[brickwhite]

I have a 2010 X35 D, It's the shit. Diesel power and 25MPG

[BoxDriver86]

Figured I would update this thread here. My wife and I drove the 3.0 and really liked it. It was slow as molasses, but still a nice vehicle for what we wanted.

The kicker on this: my wife noticed an '02 325xi wagon with 148K on it for 2 grand less. She wanted to give it a go, so we took the keys and headed off. Although this won't be THE car, that's the direction we decided to go. We liked it way more than the x5, found that it had plenty of space and the fuel economy was much better. We're currently on the hunt for a better condition e46 wagon as this one was pretty beat. I'm now doing some research on the 323 vs. 325 and xi vs standard RWD.

I do want to say thanks for everyone that chimed in here. When comparing the typical problems of the E53 to the typical problems of the E46, it seems that the E46 issues are significantly more manageable.

[Raxe]

Most problematic vehicle BMW has built to date. When I was still at the dealer it wasn't uncommon for literally half the work load on any given day to be E53's. But other than that... go for it... I guess...

[ohthejosh]

Lemon laws typically apply to new cars.

My brother and I bought a used 06 645i that constantly turned on the check engine. The car battery would die if it were not driven more than 15 miles at a time. How did I get that figure? The dealership explained it that way. Sounded like a load of shit to use and we grew tired of constantly going back and forth to see why the service light kept going off.

After almost 3-5 visits to the dealership a month for 3 months. My brother had enough evidence to prove the car was a sold as a lemon.

[LJ851]

X5 with manual trans are rare machines. The 6 cyl ones stress the drivetrain less thus making them more reliable, particularly with higher mileage.

My girl has a '04 4.4 X5 , i tried to talk her into a 6 cyl one but she wanted the V8 power.

[Vivek]

Make sure you read all the fine print on that warranty. I wouldn't trust anything that the dealer tells you. Make him wait 5 min for you to read it, it's your 8k. If the warranty looks good, like josh said you can likely get quite a bit of your money back after 3 years.

[SpeicherBimmer]

X5s are nice and that warranty, if it covers EVERYTHING, is great. I would personally go for the manual 3.0; the simpler the drivetrain, the less that could go wrong. I heard some bad stories about those panoramic sunroof motors going bad and costing north of $3k to fix...

[agent]

You have the lemon law on your side I believe. Because it should have been completely fixed and inspected before resale.

Lemon laws typically apply to new cars.

[e30Nicko]

My parents own a 4.4 v8 03 model x5

While it is a fantastic car, the engine pulls great and it feels incredibly safe (big yet not clumsy)
The ride isn't the best, and there has been a few problems (exhaust manifold gasket) and transmission (auto) not changing through the gears correctly (would rev to 4k before changing even when driving normally).

Put all those probably isolated problems aside and its a great car! comfy interior and engine is nice!

Go for it

[ohthejosh]

Be sure the other one comes with a similar warranty. To be honest the warranty is what is best about the deal. After 3 yrs you can pretty much get anywhere from 50% to all your money back on it.

If the repairs were not done properly and you get electrical or mechanical gremlins use the warranty, when it becomes extremely common occurence and you are more and more frequenting the dealership for service. You have the lemon law on your side I believe. Because it should have been completely fixed and inspected before resale.

[nomansland92]

my dad has the 4.4 V8 and i think its a little nicer then the x3 that we had before. The 3.0 x3 are under powered IMO. So far we haven't had any major problems with he x5 besides the rear hatch button went bad. I've heard a lot of people say they have transmission problems but i think that's just for the older ones not the 4.8. That does seam rather cheap though but it has a warranty so i would get it.