Looking at a couple of X5s

[Daytomann]

But only looking to buy just one

My wife and I are looking for a 3rd car. We just traded in my wifes complete POS Jeep Commander on a ROUSH 427R Mustang (only thing that would carry the negative equity on the POS Commander...but hey, I'm not argueing) and I have a paid for 94 Bronco. The Bronco was my "Toy" but I sold my F-150 about 6 months ago, shortly before our first child was born, so it has moved up to my daily driver.

Well, needless to say, The Stang is NOT a baby hauler. I thought I'd drive the Bronco for a year or so untill we could swing getting into another new truck.

I definately dont miss the truck payments, but from driving to mother in laws' for daycare and then to work and back every day, I'm putting way too many miles on my Bronco.

So we need a good, inexpensive 3rd vehicle.

I'm looking for something nice...hence the X5, and not a Chevy, Dodge, Honda, run of the mill, blah blah etc.

Since I'll be toting around my young daughter, I love the safety of the X5s and I love the all wheel drive capability.

I'm also looking for daily reliability....which means I might have to go to something blah blah depending on what your comments are.
I will be towing a 4,000lb boat/trailer combo on occasion.

Heres what I've found. I realy am thinking of getting one of the two, but I'd like your opinions.

2002 X5 4.6is with 120K miles. In great shape, serviced religously at the LOCAL BMW dealership. Price is $15,900
(its a pretty good average as far as the miles per year..but stil, 120K miles?)

2003 X5 3.0i with 88K miles..Also in great shape, not locally owned..so I have no idea about the history..Price is 13,900.

So what do you think?
Are the prices right?
Will the cars hold up with the "advanced" milage?(I'll be driving about 50 miles a day at least when I do drive it..it will share time with the other 2 cars.)
Will maintenance kick my butt?

I guess I'm just wondering if you think either would make a good daily driver and 3rd car and pros/cons on each.
I'm new to BMW, so anything you can tell me would be great.


Thank you all!!

Larry

[retcav1sg]

Maintenance will kick your butt! Wonderful vehicles, if you have a maintenance budget. Spend a few hours on the forum, when you're finished...spend a few more hours. If you have the money to get it fixed the X5 is wonderful.

My opinion
Good luck
Mike

[Daytomann]

Originally Posted by retcav1sg

Maintenance will kick your butt! Wonderful vehicles, if you have a maintenance budget. Spend a few hours on the forum, when you're finished...spend a few more hours. If you have the money to get it fixed the X5 is wonderful.

My opinion
Good luck
Mike

Thanks Mike!....I was affraid of that. I was hoping that was a bit of an unwarranted fear on my part.

Both of the X5s I am looking at are great looking, great driving vehicles... but I dont want to be saddled with a high maint budget.

Its looking like I might go with the good old tried and true, reliable Ford Expedition....all my Fords have always been great even with high miles, it doesnt usually cost a fortune to fix them if needed.

I'd love to hear a few more opinions. Honest ones, like above.

[X5Dawg]

Unfortunately, although this is an amazing vehicle to drive, it is not kind to you in regards to maintenance. A few years ago I spent around $12K in repairs including a new transmission ($4200 rebulid), new cats ($2200 - no aftermarket option for a 3.0), multiple suspension components and then routine stuff (water pump, t-stat, etc.). Of course my X is paid for, so that is how I justified paying for all of this.

Just curious, what were the issues you had with the Commander??

[4.8bro]

Originally Posted by X5Dawg

Unfortunately, although this is an amazing vehicle to drive, it is not kind to you in regards to maintenance. A few years ago I spent around $12K in repairs including a new transmission ($4200 rebulid), new cats ($2200 - no aftermarket option for a 3.0), multiple suspension components and then routine stuff (water pump, t-stat, etc.). Of course my X is paid for, so that is how I justified paying for all of this.

Just curious, what were the issues you had with the Commander??

Wow, that is a beautiful 3.0! Never seen the white/black combo. These cars will keep going forever (if they are not rusted out) as long as you maintain them. The strange thing is that they still drive almost like new with high mileage on them. But they are maintenance whores to be sure. I can't tell you how many suspension components I went through on my 01 3.0. Every 40K or so it seemed to need control arms and other stuff. One alternative is to find a really good independent shop that will maintain your X5. I have one here in Boston. They do great work and they don't charge dealer prices. Never owned a ford truck but i imagine it would be much less costly to maintain. The trade off is it won't be nearly as fun to drive.

[Daytomann]

Originally Posted by X5Dawg

Unfortunately, although this is an amazing vehicle to drive, it is not kind to you in regards to maintenance. A few years ago I spent around $12K in repairs including a new transmission ($4200 rebulid), new cats ($2200 - no aftermarket option for a 3.0), multiple suspension components and then routine stuff (water pump, t-stat, etc.). Of course my X is paid for, so that is how I justified paying for all of this.

Just curious, what were the issues you had with the Commander??

Its an ironic story actually. We had an 06 Commander Limited. For the most part it was an extremely capable yet pretty luxurious truck. It had all the bells and whistles with awesome power and capability.

WE had our choice narrowed down to a Land Rover LR3 and the Commander. The Commander was about $7 Gs less than the LR3. It was a better bang for the buck and had that monster HEMI. But we really liked the LR3...heres the ironic part...we ultimately chose the Commander because we were concerned about the RELIABILITY issues with the Land Rover LOL!!!!

I dont know if it was because we got the first model year of a completely new model or if this this was just built on a Friday....it had a laundry list of stuff that went wrong with it.

Heres a few things off the top of my head..
Passenger side mirror was constantly loose....never fixed.
Window water leak..fixed
Window whistle noise...fixed
Auto highbeams stopped working after 3 months...never fixed
Vehicle would stall while going down the road..fixed after a few times
Various dash lights would go out...never fixed completely
Body moulding was seperating from and/or falling off vehicle...partially fixed
Severe rattling in the rear area...never fixed
Foam falling into heat/cool fan..fixed
Transfer case switch went out..fixed
Transfer case motor went out...fixed
Head unit malfunctioned..fixed
The last straw was went it sprung a gasoline leak in the engine compartment..this happened while my wife was pregnant, luckily I was driving and was able to recognize it quickly.
I shudder to think what migh have happened if I wasnt there..

The lemon laws in my state are not very consumer friendly, plus I was not willing to have Chrysler buy it back only to replace it with another Chrysler product. I feel sorry for whoever buys that POS in the used market.

[Daytomann]

Originally Posted by 4.8bro

Wow, that is a beautiful 3.0! Never seen the white/black combo. These cars will keep going forever (if they are not rusted out) as long as you maintain them. The strange thing is that they still drive almost like new with high mileage on them. But they are maintenance whores to be sure. I can't tell you how many suspension components I went through on my 01 3.0. Every 40K or so it seemed to need control arms and other stuff. One alternative is to find a really good independent shop that will maintain your X5. I have one here in Boston. They do great work and they don't charge dealer prices. Never owned a ford truck but i imagine it would be much less costly to maintain. The trade off is it won't be nearly as fun to drive.

I've had lots of Ford products, mostly trucks, and just have not had many problems and the probs I've had have been at a minor cost and I know them well enough to do alot of stuff myself. Do the regular maintenance and they just go and go. I've put well over 100K on a couple of my past F-150s.

This is all kind of breaking my heart, I drive by BOTH X5s every damn day!! They are both sexy honeys for sure.

If I cant shake this X5 fever, I may take some advice and take them by a good indy shop to have them checked out and try to find some history from the SN. I'm damn near ready to pll the trigger. I think I'm going out this weekend and see if there are any decently priced, good condition Expeditions out there that will make the X5 fever go away.

[Hit Redline]

Like the others have said, the maintenance is a killer. I have an 02 4.6 that I acquired with 68,000 miles and have put about 10,000 over the course of about a year. I love how my X drives and its dual personality. Sporty and Versatile. I paid 20k and have sunk a lot of dough it to it, some was optional like Dinan upgrades.

Here are a few things I have had to have done.

Tranny rebuild $3200

Valve cover replacement around $600

Radiator, water pump, hoses, thermostat around $1,800

New battery $150

Rear Tires $280 (Need new ones again after 10,000)

Couple of bad coils $120

Thats what I can remember off the top of my head. Buying used I expected some repairs, but the tranny is the one that had me steaming. I bought what I thought was a low mileage X.

Anyway, if you go with the 4.6 you will love driving it, just be prepared for some repairs.

GL

[c4racer]

As others have said - an X5 is not an inexpesive vehicle. The cost of purchase is fairly low on a higher mileage example, but the reason for that is the high maint costs. Which is true of most all BMW's and really German sport / lux cars in general and is not limited by any means to the X5. It can be an excellent purchase at 20-50% of MSRP depending on age / mileage and they are fundamentally sound vehicles. But if you do not have the capability and time to perform the maint and some repairs, this may not be the best choice for you. The ML Benzes have an even worse track record.

If you are looking for AWD purely for snow driving, not off-roading, and you do not need to tow, I would suggest looking for an AWD wagon instead. I think the best one out there is the W210 E320 4MATIC, which has much more cargo space vs. the X5 and similar passenger space. These are very reliable vehicles and relatively simple to maintain, yet provide excellent luxury and build quality that you would expect in a premium german car that ran $50K+ new. They are priced quite attractively right now.

If you really need an SUV for towing or off-road capability (although seems you have the Bronco avail for that) - then you might be better off looking at a 4Runner. I have a buddy with a late 90's era example that has well over 200K miles and it has been very reliable. Hard to go wrong there in terms of cost of ownership since you are looking for something cheap.

[vegasX5]

The first 3-4 years I owned my X5, I hardly did anything other than routine maintenance. Then around 70k it's been constantly and I mean constantly needing things replaced. It started with the cooling system (over $1k), then the MAF and cam sensors and other emissions stuff ($1k), then window regulators and sticking door locks ($$), then CV boots/axles, then control arms and sway bar links, then the pixel issue with the radio and info display, and then and then and then... Can you tell it gets REALLY old to have to drop thousands of dollars into a vehicle just to keep it running right and safely? I'm all about dropping coin on a vehicle to make it perform better, but just trying to keep up with the next thing that goes wrong just to keep it at status quo is frustrating. I'm single and have no kids, but if I had a wife and/or children, I would honestly get something newer (maybe just a newer X5) or more reliable because I wouldn't want to be worrying all the time.

Not to be dissuade you, but please do not just get so enamored with the vehicle that you make a decision you regret later. I have a "travel fund" that I was using to save for some trips to Australia and Thailand - it's not fun to use that money to keep my aging X5 on the road to get me to and from work. Every wonder why you can buy a Rolls Royce from the 1980's for +/- $15k when that's a fraction of what they cost new? Because you'll spend that money +/- $15k every year you own it if you want to drive it