Thoughts on the X5?

[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.

[brickwhite]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.