Pre X drive vs X drive E53...cant decide

[Zildjian106]

I have my sights set on a non x drive 01 3.0 that has prem, sport, xenon, not sure if it has Cold weather but it does have heated seats. Anyways it has ZSP which is what I want.

On the other hand there are 2 06's which would be x drive but they are prem, cold weather, parking distance, rear climate and no xenon no sports...I could give a hoot about the rear climate and its a bummer it does not have the sports package. However its a 6 speed which is nice. Im really on the fence about which one to get, and I was just made aware that the early x5's were not x drive. The non X drive pre facelift e53 is still a nice 4wd system no? No serious hiccups or anything? If its even lower maintenance that might be a good thing. Or should I just suck up not having the sports package and get the X drive car? Xenons and the Sports package on the earlier car have me still leaning to that one. Its also got 20K less miles despite being an 01. I am just hoping the non x drive driving experience is similar. Anyone who has driven both pre x drive and x drive cars please chime in.

[TwinTurboGTR]

The E53's in the '00-03 years with the mechanical transfer case has a fixed ~40/60 spilt, front to back. It is a mechanical movement and does a good job as an AWD system. I have a '01 4.4 and I have never had a problem with it.

The X-Drive system uses a series of clutches in the transfer case. The system can dedicate 100% of the power to any wheel if the computer senses any slippage. Does it do a better job? Maybe. Is it the end all be all? I have seen an X-drive get stuck in some nasty snow and a non n-drive get out just fine and I have seen vise-versa. Others will have compelling arguments saying that one is better than the other.

IMHO, it comes to style. If you like the ZSP. Then get one with ZSP. If you like the face lifted ones, then get a face lifted one. Wait for what you want. Like myself, a lot of people here know I am looking to get another e53. I want either a 4.6is or 4.8. What comes to me is color. I want Black Sapphire metallic paint. Do I care if it is face lifted? Not really. Do I care if it is X-drive, nope.

So it comes down to preference.

[SlickGT1]

+1 ^

[Zildjian106]

Well the only thing is the 01 has a 5 speed stick and the 06 has a 6 speed stick. Id be happy with both...but Ill decide tonight.

[motordavid]

Z, you have my 5 bucks worth of thoughts/comments & opins...
GL, mD

[diyanich]

Some are mentioning gear boxes and I should say,I prefer 5 speed boxes.
I drove 2001 3.0i 5 speed,I owe 2000 4.4i 5 speed and they feel nicer to me than facelifted 3.0i and 4.4i with 6 speed boxes.Later ones were sort of sluggish even in manual mode..just my 2¢

[TwinTurboGTR]

Yeah I concur, I really think they added the extra gear (Which is just a glorified O/D) to make it seem like they made a VAST improvement. When really it was just to squeeze another 2 MPG on the motors.

To me the 5 speed feel more crisp and brisk than the 6 spd.

On a side note, any tranny would be better than that new Ford Taurus??? My friend just bought one. He loves it. I don't see the love. I drove it for a bit? Man that thing cannot decide on a damn gear. It is just one big slush box. Going uphill doing 40 and it kicks down to 2nd??? then slams into3rd and forth in a one hitter quitter type fashion when you hit the apex? It was junk. But I didn't tell him that! lol

[TerminatorX5]

I own both, '02 4.6 and 06 4.8... the 4.6 shifts crisper, does not hesitate... but man, oh man, it is thirsty... the 4.8 is a bit sluggish, as they said, but if you floor it harder, man it moves!!!! and on the highways, that extra gear really squezzed that couple miles out of the gallon...

I drove 4.6 on sandy beaches, on gravel roads, on things that you can't really call a road in Costa Rica, drove it in deep snow (with 18" snow tires) in Moscow - performs well on loose surfaces, just have to make sure that the DSC is turned off, so the computer does not interfere with driving (not as much of intereference)

I have 4.8 for a bout a month, and even though i put about 3K miles on it, all of them are summer highway miles on I-95, so I can't really say anything about it...

My cousin had a '02 3.0, he got it in PA, lives in Brooklyn... I drove it, it felt more agile, crisper but when you pass on the highway, it felt as if was about to break a sweat... never had that feeling in 4.6 or 4.8 - I rather would have to restrain the beast, as I would quickly run out of open road in front of me...

I personally prefer 8-cyl models, and amond them, the 4.6is is an obvious choice, and now i am falling in love with the 4.8...

all it is just a matter of preference... and if you don't see the set of options that you like, just wait... i waited for 4.6 about a 1.5 years, and 4.8 just came along with the options and color that i wanted at the time when i wanted it...

[diyanich]

I drove 2001 3.0i Florida car brought to Canada right after a 2006 3.0i canadian one.
2006 seamed to be a piece of junk.
I brought 2001 for a spin on a twisty rural road,got it to 85MP/H in manual mode,that one was pulling like a beast,it had 20" staggered e70 set of wheels.Never mind that we were 3 inside,a couple of friends of mine were shopping for a car,not a BMW at that moment.
I had a grin on my face and e53 crowd got increased by two more members.
Although they bought an another one,2005 4.4i which was better equipped and of better exterior/interior condition.
Now,I am sure that 4.8i is gonna pull better on the highway.
But I am thinking that my own V8 will be the last V engine I owe.I didn't like a valley pan gasket and cooling system overhaul,just too much for a busy person like myself.

[tmv]

^ Same materials for the cooling system components for both I6 and V8.