Official 3.0 Diesel Engine Issues & Comments Thread

[stef]

I drive a 3.0dA e53 for 4 years. It has actually 165 000 km and had two issues :

- a steering box changed for a new one at 90 000 km
- a transfer case changed for a new one at 120 000 km

Theses two issues where took under waranty by my BMW Dealer !

The engine run great without any oil consuption, all the electric/electronic equipment works fine (NAV, TV, HiFi, Webasto, Xenon, etc...) and I respect strictly the BMW maintenance plan in my BMW Dealer's workshop.

I asked for a Automatic gearbox Oil change at 120 000 km wich is not in the BMW maintenance plan and will ask for a preventive water pump + accessories belt change during the next oil service.

Before the X5 I had a 530d Sedan that my dealer took in exchange at 210 000 km.

3.0d Engine is really solid with a low diesel consumption, perfectly adapted to France where 80% of the gas price are constituted by taxes...

;o) Stf.

[omodos]

Thanks for the update, being diesel is good out here in cyprus too, but by god do we pay high road tax, the larger the engine the greater the tax 615 euros a year for a 3.0l car....i am hoping they put the tax on fuel instead rather than engine size....

[blueagle]

I drive an 02 E3 X5 3.0d euro . Diesel price in the Philippines is cheaper than gas. I use my X5 as my daily driver. No major breakdowns except for replacement of FSR and auxilliary fan assembly....

[omodos]

Thanks for the reply....the more info we get on diesels the better.....

[JBF]

As a prospective 3.0D owner I would love to see a diesel forum. It woul d be nice to have all of the diesel related posts in one place.

I'm looking at selling my Boxster S and picking up a 54/05/55 plate X5 3.0D. There are a couple of things I'm concerned about:

Blown turbo seals? Saw a video of this on youtube and it looked horrific, I hate to think what fixing it would cost, I'm guessing new turbo/PCV/exhaust as a minimum?

Clunky ZG auto transmission. See to have been a lot of people complaining about the auto gearbox clunking and shunting the car when pulling away after slowing down for a roundabout. Quite a few have had the transmission fail.

[omodos]

I got a 2004 3.0d , ok so have had the negative camber 'issue' and the camber taken out to reduce tyre wear on the rear, I think i have the sway bar link clunking noise, and also a mystery coolant loss issue,had the odd shunt you mention twice in 6000miles of driving , car has 35000miles on it, and got the mystery creaking noises in the back that nearly all x5 owners mention...ok the turbo has got me thinking too although touch wood it is fine, but if i really wanted reliability i would have gone for a toyota rav or something?it's your call though

[JBF]

Is the negative camber an 'issue'? All X5s I've been stuck behind in traffic have had camber on the rears (bottom of tyre sticking out more than top). I think that's pretty normal on a lot of cars (my Boxster has it for sure) and I wouldn't have it taken out as it will effect handling in corners. It ensures that a maximum amount of tyre surface is in contact with the road while cornering. I wouldn't want to risk unexpectedly losing grip on a winding country road and ending up in a ditch.

I imagine sway bars, bushes and even rear shocks can all be changed at home pretty much so I'm not too bothered about that kind of thing. Vital components like the tranny, turbo and the main block are the things that worry me as we would be talking a few grand to replace them.

I had a 2001 3-Series Coupe a few years back (2.2 petrol), it had 100k on the clock and rapidly started to fall apart. In about 6 months I needed a new clutch (£1600 from BMW), Power Steering pump (£450 parts), Radiator (£180 parts), Thermostat (£50 parts), PCV and pipes (£100+). After all that I couldn't drive it without worrying about something else blowing up of dropping off. Fuel consumption was fine but the thing was drinking oil (1L every 1000-1500 miles) and even with a new clutch the gear change often felt a bit rough so I got rid of it before the gearbox disintegrated!

Do you remember when German engineering used to be rock solid and reliable? Doesn't seem to be the case with MB and BMW anymore although Audi and VW are still pretty good. I'm very happy with the Porsche in terms of reliability but I need something more practical and cheaper to run.

I've test driven a new style ML320, Toureg and RR Sport TD6 (TD8 is way over budget). The ML was way too soft and wobbly, the Toureg was gutless and the RR felt underpowered and was a little over my budget (tho the interior is lovely). Most of the Asian 4x4's look gay and also have ridiculously small engines and poor performance. I suppose I could consider a Land Cruiser or something like that but in that case I may as well consider a Discovery which in my opinion is just way too big for my needs.

Overall I like the X5 look and a 3.0D is perfect, I think after my previous BMW experience I'm just worried that it's going to fall apart after a year or two!

[omodos]

Originally Posted by JBF

Is the negative camber an 'issue'? All X5s I've been stuck behind in traffic have had camber on the rears (bottom of tyre sticking out more than top). I think that's pretty normal on a lot of cars (my Boxster has it for sure) and I wouldn't have it taken out as it will effect handling in corners. It ensures that a maximum amount of tyre surface is in contact with the road while cornering. I wouldn't want to risk unexpectedly losing grip on a winding country road and ending up in a ditch.

I imagine sway bars, bushes and even rear shocks can all be changed at home pretty much so I'm not too bothered about that kind of thing. Vital components like the tranny, turbo and the main block are the things that worry me as we would be talking a few grand to replace them.

I had a 2001 3-Series Coupe a few years back (2.2 petrol), it had 100k on the clock and rapidly started to fall apart. In about 6 months I needed a new clutch (£1600 from BMW), Power Steering pump (£450 parts), Radiator (£180 parts), Thermostat (£50 parts), PCV and pipes (£100+). After all that I couldn't drive it without worrying about something else blowing up of dropping off. Fuel consumption was fine but the thing was drinking oil (1L every 1000-1500 miles) and even with a new clutch the gear change often felt a bit rough so I got rid of it before the gearbox disintegrated!

Do you remember when German engineering used to be rock solid and reliable? Doesn't seem to be the case with MB and BMW anymore although Audi and VW are still pretty good. I'm very happy with the Porsche in terms of reliability but I need something more practical and cheaper to run.

I've test driven a new style ML320, Toureg and RR Sport TD6 (TD8 is way over budget). The ML was way too soft and wobbly, the Toureg was gutless and the RR felt underpowered and was a little over my budget (tho the interior is lovely). Most of the Asian 4x4's look gay and also have ridiculously small engines and poor performance. I suppose I could consider a Land Cruiser or something like that but in that case I may as well consider a Discovery which in my opinion is just way too big for my needs.

Overall I like the X5 look and a 3.0D is perfect, I think after my previous BMW experience I'm just worried that it's going to fall apart after a year or two!

Na fella it won't tip over on corners, but I am sure it depends on how far you push it on corners???as for old german technology yup first car was a 1978 audi lovely, and next a 1983 merc 190e, was a tank SOLID...I have scanned bundles of posts on here fella and most people say water pump needs replacing at 50k miles, the rad expansion tank is useless and cheap prone to cracking, but the issue is that most posts are by v8 owners, not sure how good if at all 3.0d are compared.....?I think you are plagued by the same bug as me with the difference being you don't have a an x5 yet, been told to cross bridges as I get to them, but just cannot change my mentality and I freak out reading the stories...just for peace of mind before shipping my tank out to cyprus I spoke to BMW techinicians etc as couldn't locate the engine number and they all said it is a good car...it does go well, and I have been assured that getting superchips too 'tune' it makes it super to drive.

I get you point about the porsche, but i had the same issue too, wanted a more practical motor, Japanese well they are reliable as we know despite lacking in aesthetics although honda comes closet to european car finishes I think, I am going to see how the x5 3.0d behaves, any serious issues will post em here. I dont think it will fall apart, it is built well, but stuf like removing air filters is a nightmare according to posts here! all these little things really get on my nerves, but do you not buy a car because of these flaws???if my 1977 220d mercs engine never died on me I would have stuck with that out here, at least spares are cheap and plentiful believe it or not. I have also checked u.k x5 sites but to be frank most knowlede is found on this site and the people are very helpful....good luck

[JBF]

Water pump issue sounds serious considering I'll probably be buying something in the 40k-60k miles range. AFAIK a water pump failing can do some serious damage to the entire engine through overheating?

It's probably the case that most X5 3.0Ds are solid and will plough on through to 200k before they fall apart. I guess it's the nature of Internet forums that you only really hear about the problems, horror stories etc. I think I'll put the Porsche up for sale and see if I can get a reasonable price for it (resale prices have plummeted in the last 8 months). If I sell that then I'll have to decide on something or be stuck without a car

What are peoples opinions on the best way to buy an X5? Usually I'd look at private sales and auctions for the best value, however I'm a bit worried about buying without a Warranty! BMW Approved are way overpriced which would only leave independent used car sellers offering a warranty. Generally I would want to steer clear of used car dealers as you know they are only buying cars privately or from auctions and then selling on at a mark up. I went down to BigMotoringWorld a couple of months ago as they always have a good stock of X5s. They were unloading some cars they had brought from auction at the time -- one which they were putting out on display made the most awful squealing/grinding noise as it was being reversed. They didn't take any notice of it and I'm sure they would have sold it to someone like that!

Has anyone brought an aftermarket warranty for a car they've brought privately or from auction? Are they worth the paper they're printed on?

[omodos]

Water pump is serious yes, but alot of the posts on here I read mention they swap it out as routine, haven't searched the forum for symptoms of a faulty water pump so not sure if they just 'go' no warning, or if they make any sounds, but yeah you are right it may lead to overheating, I got 35k on mine, and today the temp out here is 27.5 c, summers hit 40C! so I am concerned too, but like I said don't really wanna get rid of the car on the basis of a what if this happens and what if that happens?

sorry I can't help ya on warranties etc, I bought private, and the only thing I did miss was the low coolant level in the expansion tank, they guy had his own garage that services his road laying trucks etc and hr agreed to let me get in under a pit and check anything out i wanted...thing is the guy was honest was clueless about cars and said if anything does need changin you the computer tells you! brake pad sensors played up at the time he had them sorted....ok c ya