New guy

[Rickster]

Just bought a 2004 X5 3.0 for the wife. It has around 73000 miles on it and will be delivered in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to learning from all the knowledgeable folks out there. I've owned a 528 and a 325 before and had really good luck with their reliability. Hope the X5 is the same. It came from Illinois so after reading some stories about the oil seperator, I'm a bit uneasy. Should I wait or be proactive and go after some X5 problem areas before they bite me?

[Naz24]

WELCOME!

I mean its never a problem being proactive... it all depends on what kind of $ you are willing to dish out.

The 3.0i engine is a tank, and there really are not as many problems with that engine compared to the V8s. I think you will be happy with the reliability you get from it. Theres a guy on this forum (wallyx5) who has over 300,000 miles on his 2001 3.0i. Thats proof right there

[bgsquad]

The usual wear and tear items... all kind of rubber and plastic stuff... (CV Boots, Cooling Hoses, PS Hoses, Window regulators, etc...)
With the 3.0 you should be rather fine...

Have a nice safe motoring!

[TwinTurboGTR]

I concur with Naz24 and congrats. Proactive is great but how through do you want to be? If you just want some peace of mind, then when you take delivery, give it a once through. Open the hood, check for oil and coolant.Change the oil when you get, even though they said the oil was changed. This way you start out fresh and know for sure the oil is good. Roll her up on ramps, check the CV boots, trans pan, brakes, oil pan, etc. Going as far as tearing the engine down to get to the CCV and OSV is a little over kill, but again, your car, and up to you. Have fun.

[mrbmwx5]

Welcome to the forum....I had enter 200k miles club with my 2001 X5 3.0I.

[X5rolls]

Congratulations on the purchase. You might want to try to get your hands on any maintenance records available as a baseline. Might be hard to get and might might not be complete.

One idea is to take the VIN and ask BMW North America to tell you who the selling dealer is and if they have any other dealers listed for maintenance/support. I know they have the info on the selling dealer.

Once you have the name of the selling dealer you can call the service manager there and see if they can pull up a list of repairs/maintenance.

Same if there are other dealers involved in repairs/maintenance.

Good data to have even if not complete.

Then take that info, look at the recommended maintenance and see what has been/not been done. Add suggestions you can pick up here by searching and from folks who will give you recommendations.

Good luck and enjoy your new X5!

[J.Belknap]

Welcome to the forum.

When you take delivery, check for leaks (if any), code history (if any), and go from there. Couldn't hurt to check the condition of the oil separator and associated lines.

[sunny5280]

Originally Posted by Naz24

The 3.0i engine is a tank, and there really are not as many problems with that engine compared to the V8s.

Specifically what problems are you referring to wrt to the V8s?

[Rickster]

I'll try to get the maintenance history from BMW. I expect BMW did the servicing for at least the first 50K miles. Thanks for the input!!!