After a 5 year hiatus, looking to get back into an E53

[DiscoStu]

I'm a former E53 X5 owner (2002 3.0) that might be looking to get back into another one. I'm curious to know though how well these cars have aged. I remember our old X5 seemed to have something break every week. It was usually something small (broken door handle, AC buttons falling off, cooling system, inactive airbag suspension, etc.), but nevertheless I seemed to constantly be working on it. Looking back, I never realized how much I missed hating that car. There was a certain level of pride and satisfaction in fixing it.

My question is, and setting the "small" stuff aside, are there any major issues that have crept up with the E53 now that they're around 15 years old? I would be looking for a facelifted model, most likely a 2006 somewhere in the ballpark of 100-110k miles. I will also only be considering the M54 3.0 engine. I did some reading last night and it seems as though the automatic transmissions are prone to failure? This wasn't something I've ever dealt with on my older X5, but it seems to be the "norm" now. Can anyone shed some light as to whether the E53 3.0 has widespread transmission issues? Is it inherently flawed, such as the E46 rear subframe, or are cases isolated?

The car would be for my wife, who currently drives a very reliable, yet incredibly boring, Toyota Highlander. She's hinted at getting back into an X5 and I personally love the idea. We also have two young children, so reliability is important. The reason we are targeting the E53 is better reliably and past experience. I will without a doubt get a PPI on which ever car I chose. I also have plenty of experience working on BMWs of this generation, in particular the M52/M54 engine. I owned an E46 328Ci for 10 years and currently own an E46 330Xi. I plan to do all maintenance and work myself.

So, good idea or bad idea?

[tmv]

E53 X5 has aged quite well, IMO. The drive is still solid 15yrs later. The M54 engine is reliable too.
Transmission issue is rather case isolated. We can't tell when one will failed. If you're getting one in 100-110 k miles range, at least do a tranny fluid drain and refill a couple times to get as much new fluid in there as possible.
With your experience in working on bimmers in this era and the wife's support, I would say: go for it.
Good luck.

[dannyzabolotny]

It's a shame you're limiting yourself to only a 3.0, the V8 X5's are so much fun, especially the 4.6 and 4.8. Though I'm sure it'll be fine if it's mostly for your wife.

[DiscoStu]

Originally Posted by tmv

E53 X5 has aged quite well, IMO. The drive is still solid 15yrs later. The M54 engine is reliable too.
Transmission issue is rather case isolated. We can't tell when one will failed. If you're getting one in 100-110 k miles range, at least do a tranny fluid drain and refill a couple times to get as much new fluid in there as possible.
With your experience in working on bimmers in this era and the wife's support, I would say: go for it.
Good luck.

This sounds a little more promising. Again, just going back to my reading, it seems folks had transmission issues after replacing the fluid. Some seemed to abide by the BMW lifetime fluid and the "don't fix it unless it's broken" attitude, and others seems to religiously replace the fluid on a quite frequent basis. I'm used to manual transmissions so these automatics are foreign to me. I'll keep reading up.

Also, FWIW, I'd like to only spend about $1-1.5k annually on maintenance. Again, assuming I'm doing most work myself. A $4k transmission would be brutal.

Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny

It's a shame you're limiting yourself to only a 3.0, the V8 X5's are so much fun, especially the 4.6 and 4.8. Though I'm sure it'll be fine if it's mostly for your wife.

Truth be told I'd love to go out hunting for a 4.8is. I'd like though to be able to share parts and knowledge with my current M54 330. I'm not ready to dive into the world of German V8s just yet

[Ricky Bobby]

Once you get "caught up" from the previous owner after the first year I have no doubts you can easily get by with 1-1.5k a year in maintenance - Inevitably theres always a few things to fix that the PO didn't get to -

[CleanIsFast]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Once you get "caught up" from the previous owner after the first year I have no doubts you can easily get by with 1-1.5k a year in maintenance - Inevitably theres always a few things to fix that the PO didn't get to -

I must be experiencing the first part because every other week seems like something needs attention. I'm hoping to get over that hump soon where I can rely on this vehicle year-in and year-out with just normal maintenance. For now, i'll keep pounding sand

[DiscoStu]

Originally Posted by CleanIsFast

I must be experiencing the first part because every other week seems like something needs attention. I'm hoping to get over that hump soon where I can rely on this vehicle year-in and year-out with just normal maintenance. For now, i'll keep pounding sand

This was my exact dilemma with our first X5, although the weekly attention seemed to last for years! I was convinced at the time it was due to either it being an early model (MY02) or a lemon. I'm hoping everything was sorted by 2006, which is the year I'm targeting. I'm also hoping a PPI can help identify anything that needs resolved, and of course to make sure nothing major is wrong with the car.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by CleanIsFast

I must be experiencing the first part because every other week seems like something needs attention. I'm hoping to get over that hump soon where I can rely on this vehicle year-in and year-out with just normal maintenance. For now, i'll keep pounding sand

It gets better for OCD owners like us - my first year to year and a half were brutal on the wallet - the last 2 years besides my alternator taking a dump have been just oil changes and normal maintenance and some preventative things -

[CleanIsFast]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

It gets better for OCD owners like us - my first year to year and a half were brutal on the wallet - the last 2 years besides my alternator taking a dump have been just oil changes and normal maintenance and some preventative things -

Yea I am getting hosed right now through the first 2-3 months. Hoping it slows down because I really do like the 4.6

Originally Posted by DiscoStu

This was my exact dilemma with our first X5, although the weekly attention seemed to last for years! I was convinced at the time it was due to either it being an early model (MY02) or a lemon. I'm hoping everything was sorted by 2006, which is the year I'm targeting. I'm also hoping a PPI can help identify anything that needs resolved, and of course to make sure nothing major is wrong with the car.

Best of luck, would be nice to add another E53 to the NoVa area

[DiscoStu]

Thanks for the replies all. It seems like most are happy with their 3.0 E53s with little to complain about other than the typical BMW "stuff".

While on the subject of getting back into an E53, I have a question about navigation and bluetooth on the later models. I've noticed on a few I've looked at they have these large masses of dead pixels on the nav screen, almost as if someone poked it too hard thinking it was a touchscreen. Are the nav screens known to be delicate or wear-out? Also, it is my understanding that bluetooth phone support only comes with the BMW assist option? Where models sold with bluetooth but without the navigation?