Why is so hard to find a 3.0 Sport?

[vineyard1]

I've been looking for a 01-03 3.0 Sport for abt 2 months now with very little luck, are they that rare or what? Looking for Grey, Black or Silver.

I should also mention I'm trying to find a low mileage one, less than 70k ideally...its seems people put a ton of miles on these. I'm new to X5's and I just figured since they produce so many it wouldn't be this difficult to find one. I've been looking at all the usual sites, cars, autotrader, craigs, ebay etc etc.

[N S]

Because "3.0" and "sport" aren't synonomous......

Just kidding. Don't know.

[Thunder22]

The 4.4 V8 was a more popular engine at the time (X5's ain't exactly svelt )
MPG wasn't as important in those years.

The '04 4.4 had better/equal mpg than the 3.0 (more power to move all that weight).

Why are you only looking for the 3.0?

[vineyard1]

Ha... yea I know its just the 6 cyl... I've heard the 4.4's are more expensive to maintain so I thought the 3.0 would do.

I'm coming from an E46 M3 so believe me I don't consider any X5 to be really "Sporty" I just like the fact that the Sport has a similar steering wheel to my M3, dark headliner and better wheels than the normal X5's

[Thunder22]

My '01 and '04 were both "sport" models. It was the only way to get rid of the chrome window trim back then and get the black headliner. But both were 4.4's.

I never had a problem with them, but they were both 3 year leases, I can't speak to long term maintenance at all (only 2nd hand from friends who have them).

[Supernatural]

My 3.0 M5 Sport had over 80K when I bought it. I have nothing but face. Sports are out there and the 3.0 is known to outlast it's V8 counterpart due to simplicity..I love the 4.6 and 4.8 too.I wonder how many manual tranny X5s were built??

[Yii]

My '01 and '04 were both "sport" models. It was the only way to get rid of the chrome window trim back then and get the black headliner. But both were 4.4's.

Is that a 100% way of telling if the vehicle is sport? the shadow trim? i am pretty sure my 3.0 05 isnt a sport but has shadowline trim on it, and has a regular wheel not a sport steering wheel. iv been confused about this for a while.

[motordavid]

vineyard,
You are looking for an 8-9 yr old model, and many did not come in "sport".
There are a few of us here, that have that car, but many of the '01s have
gone on to 2nd/3rd owner and most have more than 70k miles. Many have
become beaters/mod bases for kids, etc., imo

Even mine that "sits" alot, has 76k miles...

Not a used car classified maven, but keep looking in the usual spots, though
I suspect "cream puff" versions like a few of us have are going to be hard
to find. At least for me, I'm hanging onto mine for the foreseeable future,
as it's fun, drives well, long paid for, and hasn't glitched much, yet!
GL, mD

[Brit6]

The 01-03 3.0i Sport is not as common, especially in Canada. I was able to find one with the options i wanted but it toke a while. IMHO the X5 is not worth buying unless it's in the sport trim.

I liked the idea of the I6 instead of the V8 since the maintenance is cheaper and should last longer than the V8s, plus all the inline 6 engines are very smooth.

[bgsquad]

So i'm lucky to have one