x5 for the wife. Bad idea? too late now.

[gasayers]

Morning all,
Just bought our first beamer.
Now very worried.
It’s a fantastic car to drive, couple of pixels out but otherwise perfect condition for age.
2002 3l petrol auto 160000km
Been reading the forums and seems most people consider it something of an achievement to get a weeks driving without doing repairs.
Don’t get me wrong. I expect big service bills and know any problems will be expensive. I just had assumed that it was “IF” something goes wrong not “when and how often”
Now my wife, (not me) has wanted an X5 for years and this one came up at a good price; we’ve both been driving Toyota’s for 15 years and literally done 100000’s of kms with no repairs. I don’t even consider wether my surf will break down at 250000kms.
unfortunatley if my wife breaks down on the motorway it's a bit of a given that she'll freak out.
Point is - Can I expect her to drive this to work reliably (if serviced) every day with our daughter in it.
we drive very sedately and will do the occasional 300k trip to the beach. This is a second vehicle.
Does anyone just drive and enjoy these cars as they get older?
A little assurance at this stage would go a long way.
I also recognise that 90% of people on the net are looking for answers so hopefully there are a huge percentage of people driving these cars trouble free and not posting.
Cheers
Glen

[sunny5280]

Originally Posted by gasayers

Morning all,
Just bought our first beamer.
Now very worried.
It’s a fantastic car to drive, couple of pixels out but otherwise perfect condition for age.
2002 3l petrol auto 260000km
Been reading the forums and seems most people consider it something of an achievement to get a weeks driving without doing repairs.
Don’t get me wrong. I expect big service bills and know any problems will be expensive. I just had assumed that it was “IF” something goes wrong not “when and how often”
Now my wife, (not me) has wanted an X5 for years and this one came up at a good price; we’ve both been driving Toyota’s for 15 years and literally done 100000’s of kms with no repairs. I don’t even consider wether my surf will break down at 250000kms.
unfortunatley if my wife breaks down on the motorway it's a bit of a given that she'll freak out.
Point is - Can I expect her to drive this to work reliably (if serviced) every day with our daughter in it.
we drive very sedately and will do the occasional 300k trip to the beach. This is a second vehicle.
Does anyone just drive and enjoy these cars as they get older?
A little assurance at this stage would go a long way.
I also recognise that 90% of people on the net are looking for answers so hopefully there are a huge percentage of people driving these cars trouble free and not posting.

I have not owned any BMW with that number of kms on it (161K miles) but from my experience BMW's do not have the Toyota level of reliability. They're not bad but they're not Toyota's either.

With that said I have owned a number of older BMW's and have not had many problems with them. Here is a list of issues I've had with my two X5's:

2000 4.4i:

• Transmission valve body replacement
• MAF sensor

2001 4.4i

• Oil Separator Hoses
• CV Joint Boots (had the entire axle assembly replaced as it was slightly more to do the entire axle instead of just the boot)

These are the only major repairs I had to do. The 2000's repairs were after owning the vehicle for a few months. The 2001's were known before I purchased the vehicle (and the dealer adjusted the price accordingly). I have done some maintenance to include bushings on both vehicles, fluid flushes (transmission, brake, coolant, etc).

For the most part they've been troublefree. I've owned the 2001 since February of this year and once I completed the initial work I've just gotten in it and driven it. I have no reason to believe it will leave me stranded any more than any other vehicle I've owned. The 2000 had 80K miles and the 2001 had 108K miles. The 2001 now has 115K, I can't recall how many the 2000 had when I traded it in.

[bigwave2255]

i think that when you come to a forum such as this you will find people looking for solutions to problems.

however you also have to realise there are thousands of owners who are happily driving around who have never heard of this site

i personally use this site as a source of info, but dont put to much importance on the horror stories, because as a percentage of all x5,s on the road i believe the dodgy ones are in the minority.

my advice could be to drive it frequently fix any faults as soon as they appear and enrol, in a roadside assistance plan.

and most of all just enjoy the drive

[meltdown325]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Reading this forum will make you paranoid about your X5.

I've owned several older 100k+ mileage BMW's, and while they did have their quirks, they all ran hard and took lots of daily driving abuse.

There are always a few weak spots with BMW's (power windows, some of the electronics, cooling system), but the vehicles and drivetrain overall are always solid. My X5 has been no different.

I also got my X5 because of its superior crash safety. I knew that I was giving up a little in reliability to gain that increase in driving safety. I don't worry when the wife and baby go out in the X5.

we drive very sedately

In my experience, BMW's tend to respond better to more spirited driving. BMWs that are "babied" seem to have more issues than ones that are daily driver workhorses. I'd suggest taking advantage and have fun driving the X5.

If you're really worried, just get a cheap roadside assistance/towing policy for emergencies.

[c4racer]

Any BMW is more likely to leave you stranded than a Toyota. That said, I have never been stranded in one and I've owned 7 of them so far and currently 2 - X5 and E38 7 series. The X5 I bought from the 3rd owner at 94K miles and promptly drove it 4K miles to get it across the country. Great trip - no issues. We have logged another 20K trouble free miles. My wife currently uses ours for daily car-pool pick-ups at 2 schools with 4 teenagers on each one. There is enough room for 3 in the back seat and bags in the back. Plus she stocks a lunch snack store on a weekly basis at one of the schools. She has another car to drive in the evenings and weekends so she is only logging about 1K miles per month on it currently. I also use it on the weekends to haul musical equipment and for ski trips during the winter.

Only thing that has gone wrong since we have owned it is a cracked CV boot and one dead xenon headlight bulb.

But there were a few things that the PO had happen while the car was under CPO that could leave you stranded:
1. alternator failed
2. upper radiator hose and expansion tank leaking
3. intake gasket failure - although this presents itself as a slow internal water leak more often than not

Cooling system is one of the major weak areas in many BMW's including the E53. Keep an eye out for any signs of a water leak on a weekly basis, and consider replacing the hoses, radiator, water pump etc. at 100K miles or so. I am going on 115K on mine and I recently purchased everything to perform this so-called preventative maint. My wife was already stranded once a year ago when her Mazda blew a radiator, and that did some engine damage. I don't want that happening to her again, and certainly don't want to risk the 4.6is motor either.

[imola38]

I agree with the rest. I've owned 4 BMW's since 2000 and have yet to be stranded. My 4.6is currently has 101k miles and the PO had already replaced intake gaskets, valve cover gaskets etc. The vehicle has 89k on when I got it. I've simply changed all the drive line fluids since and taken the X on multiple highway (300+) mile trips.

As stated earlier, these are definitely not a Toyota. I own a 96 Lexus LS400 as well and I have to say that at 100k miles and 14 years that car has the original hoses, belts, plugs, wires etc. You can't even tell it's running at idle and I'd strike out to Cali in a heartbeat. But...it doesn't even come close to the Bimmer in looks, handling, sounds, cache', speed etc.

Absolutely treat this car like you would an aircraft, rather than a refrigerator. Perform weekly checks of the cooling system, fluid levels etc. I'm a technician so I tend to be anal about this stuff anyway. I think a preventative cooling system replacement wouldn't be such a bad idea since you just purchased. Also, I see you have a6 cyl which will prove a bit more simplistic in repairs and a bit more reliable. (no valley pan, easier wp replacement etc).

Congrats on the truck and don't worry. Take care of her and I bet she'll do the same!

-Ben

[gasayers]

Thanks for the replies.
I'm quite happy to do regular checks as long as I know what to look for.
had the car tested for compression, cooling pressure tested etc and the garage said the car looked very good and could see nothing that raised any alarms. No errors recorded on the computer.
I replaced the battery but that was perhaps a little unnecessary.
No leaks etc. regularly serviced.
Guess I’ll just have to wait and see.
Regarding cv joints, radiator hoses etc I kind of classify those along with minor oil leaks, tyres and exhaust pipes. Every car has these issues and they’re just a running cost.
Led displays, transmissions, window winders, now they shouldn’t be an issue.
The transmission oil has also supposedly been replaced as a matter of course in the last 12 months.

So any other suggestions about what to look for would be appreciated. Then I can make a sort of check list.

Here’s my check list for the surf.
1 where are the keys??

[sprocket1200]

2 bmw's, over 100,000kms, never been close to stranded.

when i rent cars and get a toyota (or ford , gm, etc) my checklist includes 'where is the engine?????!!!!'
is that a sewing machine under the hood?

[markreg]

I must admit that when I first bought my X5 last year, that it gave me major problems right away.
- Transmission replacement
- Cooling System (Radiator, hoses, etc... all were replaced)
Luckily, I bought a 3rd party extended warranty and it safeguarded me from any financial hit.

It was a nightmare at the time, but NOW as my wife and I are expecting our first child. I definitely feel safer knowing that my wife with our child is driving the "X".

[mrbmwx5]

I have own 14 bmw's in mylife including the e53.., The x5 I have now
Is 10 years old with 200k miles on it. And haven't have any major problem.... Beside those wear and tear stuffs .