What Do you think of buying it?

[Pentium]

Hello!!

Do you think buying a used BMW X5 E53 is a good idea? I'm thinking to buy a used SUV and I'm still in love with E53 design, I never owned an X BMW myself before so what do you think?

and if okay? what to search for? and which engine?

Thanks!

[SlickGT1]

How can I put this.

If you are lucky, and get a really nicely maintained one, you will be ok.

This forum is the shit for helping people out in fixing the X, and you will need it. Not a question of maybe, or if, and when. Shit fails on these cars, and if you don't have a trusted mechanic, you are going to cry at the bills.

If you can't wrench yourself at least for some easy maintenance, you are also going to cry.

I have a 2006 4.8is, and I love it. At least till it pisses me off with some random failure. After I fix it, I love it again.

That being said, if you want a less maintenance, more reliable X, go for the 3.0, without air suspension, and maybe a manual gear box. That would be the most reliable.

If you want all the bells and whistles, go for the 4.8is. It is a really fast machine, and super fun.

If you want the balls, but with a bit less issues, go for the 4.6is. It only has rear air susp.

Other than that, if you find one that has had great maintenance, you should be ok.

[tmv]

Both the I6 and V8 has its strong and weak points. There are some 3.0s on here that have over 200K mi and Wally's has over 300K mi on his. You want to find one that has good service history, be able to wrench yourself or a good independent mechanic who is familiar with BMW. Keep up with the old-school maintenance schedule and you should be fine. Everything has a service-life and most of the time, will cost more to replace just because it was made for a bimmer. I have no regret owning both E53 X5 3.0 and E39 525i. They are great cars and require good maintenance.

[sshu]

I would be very cautious in buying an X5. Ours has been great until it hit the 6 year mark and after that it has been a money pit. I do have a great mechanic at a very reasonable price which it makes it almost bearable. The X5 has a lot of common issues which you can find out on this board. Research this forum and see if you still want to buy one. In the past 8 months I've had issues almost every month. If the car has complete records, a lot of preventative maintenance done, you have a trusted mechanic done and set aside a budget of 2k/year of repairs then I would consider it. Even if you have complete records and a PPI, an issue like the tranny or valve seal issue can come up and hit you like a ton of bricks.

[sockethead]

Actually, every BMW is like this. My GF and I have owned 5 BMWs in the last 5 years. We still have 3 of them... the X5 being the latest edition. If we weren't seasoned BMW owners, we would of been crying about this X5 after replacing all of the air bags. It helps that we are both former mechanics, We can do 99% of our own work and the forums help tremendously.

If you have extra money to set aside for repairs and are up for the challenge of used BMW ownership, go for it. We love the hell out of our X5

[wheelio]

I have a 2002 X5 3.0i base, while it doesn't have all of the cool gizmos featured on the uprange models, I think its simplicity has paid dividends for me. I've owned it since new and have had ZERO problems. Real world, my X performs far better than I had ever imagined - she has been through mud, snow, sand and any road that has stood between me and a tasty piece of single track MTB trail. She has hauled bikes, kayaks, SUPs, surfboards, more than a few trophy deer and towed ATVs and a sailboat. She has NEVER let me down, albeit I have followed the maintenance BY THE BOOK and I have an awesome indie mechanic who really looks out for me. With 127,000 miles on the clock, I haven't had any of the drama (transmission, etc.) I've seen others lament.

I would search for an X that has been owned by an enthusiast and has been well maintained. There are plenty of people who buy the X, take advantage of the free maintenance and then do the bare minimum to keep the car running, then they rush to sell it when they have an item go that could have been avoided with a good maintenance regimen. Now their issue is passed on to the next owner who complains that the X is a heap...

Just my .02, happy searching!

[easonliu]

if you like it,please go to buy.

[Pentium]

Thank you all

I think every BMW can be like this, I began searching and already tested a couple of vehicles...

all the cars I've tested are 3.0, some of them non-LCI models.

I tested an 2003 non LCI 3.0, registered on 2005 first time, it has all the features and gizmos that model offered with 90.000 KM on the clock with a good service history...

Silver Exterior / Gray Enterior - Nav - CD Changer - Phone Kit - Xenon Lights (no Angel Eyes) - PDC - Heated Seats - Electric Seats with Memory....

I know that i-Drive was not available that time and sure the 4x4 wheel drive was different (BMW updated it to xDrive later...)


What do u think of the non-LCI model in general?