Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

I'm talking in comparison to other like-age vehicles with proper maintenance performed, when I mean "hiccup" I mean basically taking a vehicle that you know and know well and keep up with maintenance on, the E53 is not going to spotaneously combust and leave you on the side of the road if you keep up on your maintenance, and do some preventative repairs for parts that may wear due to mileage, OR age, which most people don't think of. So yes, I would say its more in the context of leaving you stranded completely unexpected. This is a rare occurrence. For example, my front suspension needed a complete replacement last year, at 70k. Sure, it seems soon due to mileage, but 11 years on those rubber bushings and ball joints in the Northeast winters I will chalk it up to age as well.

Comparing a 5 owner 200k mile 2001 X5 (and the 5th owner just registered here) to a 1 owner 200k mile Toyota Rav4 is not a justifiable comparison when talking about their experiences as new members here.

For the majority of us who have owned our E53's for a couple years or more now (some since new), I don't think any of us would hesitate to drive the vehicle, yet the majority of complaints are from fresh owners (who are 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc) who have not had the time to catch up on a proper maintenance regimen to have their E53 be as "trouble free" as they can be.

Of course I believe in major/minor repairs, most of the items you mentioned are routine maintenance on other vehicles as well, and some are well known BMW maintenance regimen items:

Or no major/minor repair at all? Which is hard to believe that nothing happened in 14 years (battery, alternator, cooling system, OFG , Vanos, VCG, door carrier, misc suspension, door actuator, window regulator, panoramic roof

-Show me a battery that lasts 14 years, or an alternator for that matter

-As we have mentioned here countless times, cooling system should be done prior to 100k for peace of mind, some still do it at 70k. It's a routine maintenance regimen for the most part, the Tstat, water pump, expansion tank etc do have a limited lifespan and should be changed at a regular regimen, they are not lifetime items

-OFHG? Only thing that would create is an annoying oil leak and is an easy DIY or a couple hours for a shop

-Vanos? Does not leave one stranded, and I have yet to see a Vanos unit completely fail on this forum, sure it may give bad running condition if its extremely bad but it won't strand you

-VCG? Again, rough running or an oil leak, and again, if you are over 80k miles or so its probably something that should be tended to due to age and mileage (**I do not have V8 experience but this is my M54 advice)

-Suspension? ---- It's a well known fact on this forum that driving these 3 ton trucks around, you will need suspension overhauled at least every 80k miles, the thrust arm bushings are a 60k wear item, again, on most SUV's and trucks you will need some suspension item servicing by the 13-14 year and mileage marks we have now

-Door carrier? Window regulators? All annoyances. The carrier is again a simple fix, and annoying when fails, Window regulator failure is more about the $2 clips that break, and if you avoid shutting the doors with windows open or cracked open it's not an issue (I havent had a bad regulator in 2.5 years of ownership following this practice)

-Pano roof? TBH most people I've seen just disable the tilt on the rear and don't have problems. For what its worth and I have no experience with it, the ones who have actually properly installed the front/rear repair kits have not had issues, but most don't want to drop the $$$ to do so.




Just my experience and opinions, but yes to answer your question I would never use "without a hiccup" to mean that our E53 can go 14 years without a decent repair to perform. But the notion that the E53 is the worst made and least reliable Bimmer to grace our roads is also a false notion in my opinion, from my own experience and also as a 3rd owner of one.