Quote:
Originally Posted by Daytomann
Well, while you guys were posting some very helpfull info, I went back and looked at the 3.0i...
From your replies, its not looking good, but heres one last ditch effort.
I have definately nixed the 4.6is.
I've turned my attention to the 3.0i. I was mistaken on the year of that vehicle..
The 3.0i is an 2001 with 88k miles. I found out its a local car. I talked to a BMW enthusiast friend of mine. He's a bit more optimistic about the vehicle, not sure if he's got his BMW homer hat on but between him and his dad, they have owned several older, high milage BMWs. There is only one BMW delaership in my town and because of this, my friend says that there are 2 or 3 very good indy's around.
I got the VIN off the 3.0i and called the local dealership. Sure enough, it had been serviced there. They had all the records. The service guy ran down the list and said all the regular maintenance was done to the letter and that it had been well maintained. The #1 inspection was done and checked out. Hoses and elts replaced, bushings replaced, some kind of seal was replaced, air bag sensor module replaced. He basically said that everything that normally goes wrong with these vehicles has been replaced and all service bulletins and recalls had been done...a few other things but I cant recall. The last time he saw it was Seept 09 with 85K on the clock. The guy said it due for #2 inspection at 90K mikes and that I might wanna change the plugs at 100K.
My next step is to drive it over to the Indy shop my friend suggested and have it checked out and see if I'm in for anything major.
What do you guys think so far?
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I think you're right on target. If you have a good indy shop that does reliable work and won't try to sell you on things you don't absolutely need, that will help you out a lot. If I were you, I'd have your indy mechanic go over the car with a fine tooth comb and pick out anything that might need replacing, focusing especially on suspension (control arms, cv joints etc). Also Brakes - they're expensive. If the engine has been maintained as well as you say, it'll go for 300K miles. The other thing is that you'll never find another SUV that drives like an X5 and it will drive tight and solid for a very, very long time. I have a friend with a Nissan Xterrra and its been a maintenance nightmare. You never know but if this 3.0 has been well maintained and driven well, you should be in good shape. Worst case scenario is that you're unhappy with it and sell it in 2 years. If it's had the maintenance done on schedule, with a little luck you should be able to get a few years out of it without anything major. Keep us posted....