Newbie from down under

[Boofla]

Hi all,

Been lurking around for a while now.
I'm hopefully very soon going to be the owner of a X5.
It will be my wife's daily and for when ever I can get my hands on it!
So far looking at 03 models maybe 04 but that is starting to reach my budget limit.
Looking a for a black 4.4 as well.

I'm located in Sydney. If anyone has any recommendations for a good BMW mech on the south side of Sydney (the shire) let me know.

The only mod in thinking of at the moment is the exhaust.
I don't want it sounding like a race car, just a bit more noise to give it a nice purrrr! Was thinking about the rear muffler delete but worried about droning in the cabin...

Cheers
Brent

[Ogopogo]

You might want to consider looking at 3.0L, or Diesel models instead. I'm a fairly recent owner of a 4.4, and while the power is nice, they seem to be plagued with a lot more issues, and appear to be harder to work on. I know if I could rewind the clock, I would probably pick differently.

Cheers Mate.

[bigwave2255]

hi and welcome, im in Brisbane/Gold Coast and have a 3.0d 2005 sport

and if your looking at 4.4,s and only want to do a few km per year its probably ok but as stated if you think you will be doing 20 / 30,000 km per year get a diesel, i average a little over 30 mpg or around 8 to 9 litres per hundred, and thats probably better than many 4 cylinder cars, plus the redgo is cheaper

[Boofla]

Hi guys,
Should of clarified, my wife would only be driving it 2-3 times a week to work (10mins each way) and drop kids at school (5 mins).
I have a work car which gets driven ptetty much everywhere as free fuel.
I'd drive it to rugby, shops maybe etc...

[bigwave2255]

gotcha

still do plenty of research as theres plenty of opinions on the v8,s

i wanted one (V8) badly when i went shopping and it was the dealer that talked me out of it, however there was no way i was having a stinky diesel, thats of course till i drove on, with nearly 500nm of torque they tend to get up and go very nicely, and the fuel economy is a bonus

[rb0135]

Welcome.

I am in the "shire" as well.

First of all DONT go to BAVARIAN in Taren Point. After being a good customer of theirs for years, they turned around, charged me $1K to look at a problem, then told me it was the turbo (it wasn't), then said maybe it is the Alternator (it wasn't) then they took off the harmonic balancer for no reason other than the thought it was cracked. It wasn't, it was dirt, and they did this without asking. Then ruined my transfer case by putting the wrong oil into it (I have a post-facelift 3.0d 2005 model) and changed other components that were from wreckers not new as requested. The worse thing is that they pretended the items were new and wanted to charge me new prices. They say they will ring you, they never do. The car has been ruined (has never driven or sounded the same) for over a year now because of them and no, I'm not exaggerating either.

There was another "specialist" in Parraweena Road, they put a $2800 scratch on the car whilst in their possession, then said it was there before I dropped it off.. Little did they know I take photos of the car when it is dropped off and picked up.. Suffice to say, they ending up paying after it went to the authorative body.

Anyway, I have settled on Bob Mol Motors in Taren Point. They have been in business for 45+ years, and are very knowledgeable about the "modern day" cars. Their rates are extremely reasonable and will accept me bringing my own parts (I get my OEM parts from Germany through an agent. The price ends up a third of the price that BMW Australia charge).

That's my experiences in finding a "specialist".

With regards to the engine type, I couldn't offer any advice, but search and read. There is a lot of info about. I went for the Diesel purely for fuel economy in that weight of car, as I get about 800-1000km from the tank (about $110 average to fill) and as bigwave said, anywhere between 8-10L/100 depending on how much motorway driving I have done on the tank (mine is my daily driver for Business). For short trips in the 4.4, I think you will find the L/100 figure rather high.

Also, there is an Australian forum under Xoutpost too. You might get more Aussies reply from that one.

Rob

[Boofla]

Most of the diesels in my budget are pushing 200k clicks on them....
If I can stay on the good side of 150k I'd be happy.

[bigwave2255]

200,000 should not be an issue BUT you would need a perfect service history, either way with an 8 to 10 year old car as complex as the BM you are going to have to expect some problems to arise, thankfully there is plenty of help on site such as this.

mine has 170,000 and has been absolutely trouble free, power train, however i have had some of the other niggling problems

[Boofla]

Hi Rob,

Already heard about Bavarian....nothing good....

Have my heart set on a 8... Might have to take a diesel for a spin... But all comes down to $$$

[thehinch]

Hey Boofla I went Diesel Sport as well and its been a great purchase. For less than $30K you get a lot of car for your money. I got mine late last year with less then 100,000Km on it but I had been looking for a few months. If I can give you any tip and that is after you've seen a few when one comes up that is in good condition don't hesitate and buy it and don't hesitate to fly to QLD or VIC to get one as it might be cheaper than Sydney.