X5 E53 4.8is Reliability

[Mr.Wrong]

Hi fellas,
Have been browsing this forum for a while and now just signed up since I'm stuck with a decision and need your input on this one.
I've been huge fan of E53 generation for quite sometime, especially after the facelift and the 4.8is addition.
Now I've wanted to purchase 2006 4.8is for a while, but when faced with purchasing a new to me vehicle in 2009, I went with 2005 S4 instead of 2006 4.8is, purely because it was out of my pricerange at that point. Now I can finally afford my dream SUV 2006 4.8is! However, I'm stressed whether it's going to be worth selling Audi for X5. My main concern is reliability! It's kind of dealbreaker.
-So how realiable is the 2006 4.8is?
-What should I watch out for? I know one of the common things is Air Suspension, which I believe could easily be fixed with a set of CoilOvers, unless I'm wrong?
-How long should I expect it to serve me before it becomes unbareable money pit(100k, 150k on the clock) I need the car for about next 5-6 years without giving me a lot of trouble besides regular maintenance. What's your estimated annual upkeep dollar figure on the car(excluding mods)?

The reason why I'm thinking of selling S4 is mainly 2:
1. Should've gotten it in manual
2. Need a larger size car, S8 is out of my pricerange at this point so X5 is first in line.
Other than that Audi have treated me extremely well, and wouldn't even think about selling it if it were at least 6-mt... So keep S4 or switch over to the darkside

Thanks

[c4racer]

Well - do you need a SUV or a car? Seems to me if you have a S4 sedan you may be better off with a 550i if you want to move into a BMW product. That can be had with a manual trans too, tho harder to find.

I had a 2005 S4 Avant with the manual trans. I was trying hard to decide which one should go - the S4 or the X5 and I ended up selling the S4, because as a utility vehicle (which I do need), the X5 was the clear winner.

But it's not a car, and even the hot-dog "is" model doesn't handle nearly as good as a 550i sport. So that would get my vote on the upgrade.

As far as reliability - both my S4 and my X5 were very reliable under my keep. I'd say the key to both is preventative maint. There are a few more things that tend to break on the X5's, so I would rate the S4 as better in that dept but not by any huge margin. These are not Honda's afterall.

[Mr.Wrong]

Originally Posted by c4racer

Well - do you need a SUV or a car? Seems to me if you have a S4 sedan you may be better off with a 550i if you want to move into a BMW product. That can be had with a manual trans too, tho harder to find.

I had a 2005 S4 Avant with the manual trans. I was trying hard to decide which one should go - the S4 or the X5 and I ended up selling the S4, because as a utility vehicle (which I do need), the X5 was the clear winner.

But it's not a car, and even the hot-dog "is" model doesn't handle nearly as good as a 550i sport. So that would get my vote on the upgrade.

As far as reliability - both my S4 and my X5 were very reliable under my keep. I'd say the key to both is preventative maint. There are a few more things that tend to break on the X5's, so I would rate the S4 as better in that dept but not by any huge margin. These are not Honda's afterall.

Thanks for your input!
Well sizewise it's not that big of an issue, but still something on my mind. However if I were to go in a larger sedan direction I'd be only looking into the S8 and no other. Unfortunatelly, it's out of my pricerange at this point. Therefore, it's really between either going with X5 or keeping S4.
Also, I'll be only looking to get 2006 4.8is with lowest amount of miles possible.
What are those few more things that break?

[LeMansX5]

I have had 4.8is for 6 years....has been behaving good so far. Have tried to switch few times just because I wanted something different but did not like anything else. But I have other newer BMWs so this is one of the fun cars.

[c4racer]

Originally Posted by EuroWerks

Thanks for your input!
Well sizewise it's not that big of an issue, but still something on my mind. However if I were to go in a larger sedan direction I'd be only looking into the S8 and no other. Unfortunatelly, it's out of my pricerange at this point. Therefore, it's really between either going with X5 or keeping S4.
Also, I'll be only looking to get 2006 4.8is with lowest amount of miles possible.
What are those few more things that break?

air suspension, alternator, cooling system, intake valley pan are the typical failure items some time before 100K generally

And the valve covers can leak but that is same with the S4 and it's way harder to change them on the S4, ask me how I know since I replaced mine twice since first time ended up with one that didn't seal...

X5 is way easier to work on. Stuffing a quattro drivetrain and V8 into a compact car presents a lot of packaging challenges.

It's funny, I am considering going back the other direction again now
But I would only get a manual S4.

We may need a 6 seater for a couple years starting this fall and it seems a bit too much to have 2 SUV's in the household. Although I may still go that route just because I love my 4.6is so much!!

[03BamaX5]

And don't forget the typical plague of random bugs that you have to spend tons of $$ on to resolve in between.

I'm just waiting on the transmission to go out on mine. Seriously, I love BMW and as much as I hate my x5 -- when it runs I love it but I will never, ever buy a BMW again.

They are just too problematic once they get any miles on them. Yes, I know some people will flame away with "hhrrrmph I have over 1.7 trillion miles on mine and it's never even broke a window regulator" (I'm on #8, yes EIGHT of the stupid things on mine) ... More power to them.

The truth is you just don't know what these things are going to do next. It's like playing Russian Roulette every time you turn the key. They are a electrical time bomb with a the most jacked up engineering ever.

Brandon

Originally Posted by c4racer

air suspension, alternator, cooling system, intake valley pan are the typical failure items some time before 100K generally

And the valve covers can leak but that is same with the S4 and it's way harder to change them on the S4, ask me how I know since I replaced mine twice since first time ended up with one that didn't seal...

X5 is way easier to work on. Stuffing a quattro drivetrain and V8 into a compact car presents a lot of packaging challenges.

It's funny, I am considering going back the other direction again now
But I would only get a manual S4.

We may need a 6 seater for a couple years starting this fall and it seems a bit too much to have 2 SUV's in the household. Although I may still go that route just because I love my 4.6is so much!!

[Mr.Wrong]

Originally Posted by 03BamaX5

And don't forget the typical plague of random bugs that you have to spend tons of $$ on to resolve in between.

I'm just waiting on the transmission to go out on mine. Seriously, I love BMW and as much as I hate my x5 -- when it runs I love it but I will never, ever buy a BMW again.

They are just too problematic once they get any miles on them. Yes, I know some people will flame away with "hhrrrmph I have over 1.7 trillion miles on mine and it's never even broke a window regulator" (I'm on #8, yes EIGHT of the stupid things on mine) ... More power to them.

The truth is you just don't know what these things are going to do next. It's like playing Russian Roulette every time you turn the key. They are a electrical time bomb with a the most jacked up engineering ever.

Brandon

What year and mileage is your 4.8is? You might've gotten a bad apple...
That's how sometimes I feel when I start my S4 - something is going go off in a bad direction lol but then again we s4 owners are a paranoid bunch

[Mr.Wrong]

Originally Posted by c4racer

air suspension, alternator, cooling system, intake valley pan are the typical failure items some time before 100K generally

And the valve covers can leak but that is same with the S4 and it's way harder to change them on the S4, ask me how I know since I replaced mine twice since first time ended up with one that didn't seal...

X5 is way easier to work on. Stuffing a quattro drivetrain and V8 into a compact car presents a lot of packaging challenges.

It's funny, I am considering going back the other direction again now
But I would only get a manual S4.

We may need a 6 seater for a couple years starting this fall and it seems a bit too much to have 2 SUV's in the household. Although I may still go that route just because I love my 4.6is so much!!

Thanks for the great info again!
Yeah tell me about it, S4 is a tough cookie to work with, but damn it I love that car - B6 is just timeless!

Since S4 is auto I'm thinking I'd rather be driving 4.8is, which only comes in auto + I get to keep 4WD with lots of power and on top of that more space. Trading my auto for manual doesn't really make much sense since I'll loose on that trade, so might as well upgrade.

[jbny]

I purchased a new to me x5 4.8is allmost 18 months back and so far i have had the following issues.

1. Dead Radio - Did some stupid startup routine and it came back, still works after 6 months donno if something is waiting to die.
2. Dead Battery/Electrical drain issue - Had to take it to the Stealer and after some $$ and a couple of new batteries it's good so far (allmost 3 months)

I had taken the X thru PPI (pre-purchase inspection by BMW) and a lot of stuff came up at that time including hoses, bushing and control arm which was replaced by the previous owner (3k expense- all wear and tear items)

Other than that it's been two oil changes so far and yea someone stole my wheels so it was a blessing in disguise since i needed to get new tires anyway plus the front wheel had some curb rash so i got that replaced.
So overall i'd say it's been reliable so far, but i do realise that I bought a $70K car for less than half the price but it's still a 70K car when it comes to the parts so i do have some $$ on the side in case needed...my plan is...if it goes beyond 10-12K in breakdowns (not regular maintainence) i'll offload it.

[Chris_731]

I've had my '04 4.8is (55k miles on the clock now) for a little over 2 years now and while I love the car it's had it's fair share of fixes. Fortunately I have the full extended warranty for another year so it has been fairly inexpensive for me...

Both front u-joint boots tore - DIY
Both front air shocks replaced (I don't think converting to coil springs is a feasible option)
Had the 'suspension failure' (or whatever it says) message on the OBD, dealer replaced just about every part of the air suspension control system trying to track it down. Finally figured it out and it's been fine ever since.
Coolant tank exploded on the hwy, had to call BMW assist.
P/S leaks, new hoses
new control arm bushings
Out of the blue one day the thing just shut down, some electrical glitch. Had to disconnect the battery on the side of the road a couple of times to get it started and it hasn't happened since. Dealer thought it might be the alternator.
Occasional transmission jerk, sometimes very subtle and sometimes like I hit the brakes (scares the crap out of everyone in the car). still not sure what that's about.
There is an occasional clicking noise from the speaker in the door, usually starts when someone slams the hatch (grrrr) and then stops a few days later. still not fixed.
Has an issue where it doesn't fire up like it should sometimes. Takes a second to start and sounds kind of pitiful. But when it does fire up properly, it still brings a smile to my face.... sounds like a beast. (mid pipe replaced with x-pipe).

There's been a few other small things that I can't think of right now, but those are the biggest issues I've had so far.
My neighbor had a '06 4.8is for a while, and finally traded it in after multiple trips to the dealer for various issues. I'll keep mine till the warranty runs out, and then I'll probably get another one... maybe an Xdrive50i.