Help with what to look for in used '02 3.0

[AZBLACKX5]

Originally Posted by primetime

no it can't "fall" out..it can crack though...Its secure.

Thanks - I found something on the street outside my house that looked like that piece and I was kinda freaking out.

[tomgtv]

[QUOTE=AZBLACKX5]Hey tomgtv! Can that piece circled in green "fall out" of the X5? Sorry, don't mean to hijack the thread - but I am very curious.

No, it can't fall out........that was a funny comment though! My valve
covers were leaking for a while, not bad though. I finally got the motivation
to do the gasket when the oil dripped on the exhaust manifold and you
could see blue oil smoke coming out of the hood........plus it smelled like
the car was on fire.......

My oil level sensor gasket on the bottom of motor is leaking too. Kind of a
pain to remove support plate when you don't have a lift. That gasket was $8 and it cost probably .08 to make! If a shop does the job, at least a $100 in labor.

[ZsX5o3]

tom that is amazing. you may have the highest mileage posted on these forums. very impressed.

[tomgtv]

Originally Posted by ZsX5o3

tom that is amazing. you may have the highest mileage posted on these forums. very impressed.

particularly on a 3.0L. That motor was released after the V8 in the
fall of 2000. My car was built in Nov 2000 and I got it the last week of
2000 (Dec).

I took the BMW tour in SC two weeks ago. I thought about trying to
sell it back to BMW so they could take it apart and see how one of their
vehicles really did in the real world. Then I thought maybe just "run it
back through the factory" and let 'em do what needs to be done!

This car seems to be worth about $7000 or $8000. People would freak out
looking at the mileage even though most of the parts are now newer.

I think I would just part it out like we do in Jetski land when a unit dies of
old age. Think about selling doors, wheels, motor parts, etc. I bet I could get $20K! I've noticed that the few used BMW salvage yards have very few parts in stock. Tells me there is a hoard of people waiting like vultures out there for one to come in......... Heck the transmission alone is $4200. I'd sell mine in a part out for $500 and laugh all the way to the bank!

[lo_jack]

Pre '04 3.0is have a problem with the engine wiring harness occasionally. Mine will set off the EML, ABS, DCS, and SES lights all at once. They clear when the car is turned off and restarted, but it can be set off again on the next drive. I asked my friend the ex BMW technician and he said pre '04 has a sketchy wiring harness for the engine that vibrates and does not have good contacts, and was altered in 04 to solve this problem.

I believe you can replace this, or if you are even lazier, disconnect and reconnect a bunch of the engine sensor connections and hope it clears the codes. I have to do this every once in a while in my '01.

It is not really a big deal, unless you freak out when your car goes into EML and decide it needs to go to the dealer. The funny thing is, this is not usually something that throws a code, so they will not be able to track this down with a scan of the ECU. You have to know about this to correct it permanently.

I have done FSR, valve cover gasket, ICV, seperator, high pressure steering hose, water pump, thermostat, and all the fluids (don't forget the transfer case). I did it all myself so it cost me parts, most of which are dealer but some are not. If I were getting an 00-03 X5 right now, I would want records from reputable shops with all of this work on it, or anywhere from 3-6k off the asking price of the car, because it is all going to have to be done from anywhere from 30k (some people report early failure of seperator and water pump, for instance) to 100k (some people are still on their first water pump, if you can believe that).

The CV joints are the only other thing I would worry about.

Personally, with what I know now, and being a few years out, I would skip the 00-03 X5s and go for an 04 or later 3.0 with a manual transmission. That said, I still have this 01 and do not plan on getting rid of it any time soon.

[x5turtle]

I have a 04 3.0i with around 94k miles on it, no repairs or any type of funny stuff. It was rear ended twice but no big deal. I did regularly maintained it by doing engine oil and did transmission oil and filter once because I know nothing is "Lifetime". The car has not visit the dealer after 50K birthday.

only problem is 4x4 inactive/ transmission goes into fail safe mode. Which disappears after you shut off and restart the car.

[thewifesx5]

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. I was able to get complete records from BMW Bellevue from day1. Never missed a service...ever. So we bought the X5, will post pics soon. Also just for peace of mind I sprung for the warrantydirect svc. Good people and lots of good reviews...hope I don't need it!...
now to start obsessing.....think I will start with the tranny fluid lol