Advice on a used X5?

[Ryan Stewart]

Hmm, one of the most complicated BMWs and made in the good ole USA..... sign me up!

They have dragged down BMWs reliability statistics pretty effectively. If you get one get it stripped if possible.

[bmwm3n528]

Stop messing around with an X5...

[Ryan Stewart]

For each set of tires you could buy an X5.

[AdamF 88iS]

Hmm, one of the most complicated BMWs and made in the good ole USA..... sign me up!

They have dragged down BMWs reliability statistics pretty effectively. If you get one get it stripped if possible.

Come on man, qualify that. I'm by no means an X5 fan, but aside from the hoses I already mentioned, and the occasional front CV joint boot (neither of which are wallet busters), they are no worse than any other V8 powered BMW from their time period.

[bmwmike]

yeah i really dont see what people are crying about. I know someone whos owned one for about 3 years, has had few problems (which were covered by warranty anyway) and loves the thing. Maybe someone had 1 bad experience and thinks they're all big pos's just like Ive had 1 good experience and must now think they're no worse than any other bimmer of well maintained. Maybe the reason so many go to shit is women drive them and dont take care of them. No offense ladies, but whenever Im with a girl in her car and the check engine light has been on, they dont even know what it means... Or they dont seem to notice or care about a weird sound the car is making. My favorite time was when one of my best friends drove from the mall to my house (about 5 miles). She asked me to look at her car because it was driving funny and making a lot of noise. She also said she hit a curb at the mall. I walked up to her car and pointed at the tire and said, yup, theres your problem. The tire was almost completely off the rim. True story

[europeanplates]

Check the tranny, sold mine only 1 month after buying it. Tranny was bad, rattles, etc. As far as driving and power it was great. I had the V8

Tyler

[Ryan Stewart]

Come on man, qualify that. I'm by no means an X5 fan, but aside from the hoses I already mentioned, and the occasional front CV joint boot (neither of which are wallet busters), they are no worse than any other V8 powered BMW from their time period.

Except all wheel drive and made in the USA.

Of course, I am just going off the service manager at our local dealerships regarding BMWs reliability ratings. The X5s and the 7s dropped them down because they are a little more complicated than the average 3 series and not put together as well.

Most of the issues mentioned besides the tranny weren't crucial to the operation to the car. It was more with stuff coming loose, parts cracking, and electronic periphrials(sp?) failing.

If you get lucky and find one that wasnt the wifeys unmaintained daily beater then you would be fine, but only the 4.6is' are like that here. The rest are falling apart.

[AndrewBird]

Stop messing around with an X5...

I know a guy who's dad owns one of those. Red too!

[AdamF 88iS]

Except all wheel drive and made in the USA.

Of course, I am just going off the service manager at our local dealerships regarding BMWs reliability ratings. The X5s and the 7s dropped them down because they are a little more complicated than the average 3 series and not put together as well.

Most of the issues mentioned besides the tranny weren't crucial to the operation to the car. It was more with stuff coming loose, parts cracking, and electronic periphrials(sp?) failing.

If you get lucky and find one that wasnt the wifeys unmaintained daily beater then you would be fine, but only the 4.6is' are like that here. The rest are falling apart.

7s, yea. But I work on many X5s and I've rarely had to take care of any X5 or AWD specific problems other than the CV boots. AWD aside they are no more complex than a 540i wagon.

The unmaintained wife-mobile theory is true though. I once had to replace the self leveling control unit in one (mounted below the trunk floor) because the woman thought she could bring a mound of snow home in teh trunk.