So long, farewell

[cravin]

I've had a good run but the car has now broken me. I drove the fam down to DC to go to the museums during the break. Check engine comes on in Maryland and since there is a good dealership in fair fax that gives loaners, I dropped it off. SA called me and said that both cat converters are clogging and throwing up the CEL. Nothing that will prevent me from getting back to NY. She tells me that the cats will be a $3k job and that oil is leaking from the oil pan and valve cover. That's another $2k. She advised me to get out of the car and that's exactly what I'm doing. I even stopped by a local gmc dealer here in VA and may just trade the X5 in and drive a new car home.

Thanks for the help over the years folks. I just no longer have confidence of any sort around the liability of the brand

[youry]

So, sorry to hear that. How many miles on the truck?
I never intend to keep mine after the cpo expires. If you eventually end up leasing a GM car, why not lease a stripped down X5? Less packages (I see yours had every possible package), lower monthly lease payment. My BMW dealer has tons of 2015 X5's and X3's for $4-7k off the list price. I'm sure many dealers carry the same deals for unsold 2015 BMW's

Edit: before I purchased my X5, three months ago, I considered a GMC Acadia (among many others). Boy, what a piece of garbage. At $47k the finish inside was worse than a $15k VW Golf. The drive was so-so, no way I would be happy driving a car like that.
One car that I liked, but was too small inside for four people, was the Infinity QX70. It really drives and feels like a BMW but way too small inside not to mention the trunk which was non-existent.

[ard]

Get a second opinion. Cats RARELY go bad in pairs.

I saw many, many S62s with cat efficiency codes with cats being replaced in pairs...rarely was it a cat..

But this doesnt matter to you if you arent a mechanic and are 'trapped' into a BMW ownership experience that includes crappy and abusive dealer service organizations.

[bjerols]

ahh the joys of used car ownership! good luck getting it sorted out


btw fwiw my cousin in northern NJ just fell in love with our X5 and is going to be looking for one with a 3rd row. If you are going to sell it when you get back up north let me know how many miles, what colors, etc as well as a price and I'll speak with them about it

[cravin]

Car had 115k on it. Trust me that your cousin wanted no part of this car. Lots of costly repairs would have been in the near future. Oil leaking out of every orifice, tranny is leaking fluid, the CEL pointing to Cats (which I agree with Ard on that chances are slim), belts starting to tear, the water pump would be coming up soon with the air suspension not far behind, etc

[smassey321]

Going to Fairfax BMW is similar to going to a dealership in New York City. A dollar to them is different than the rest of the country because of the amount of wealth in that county. They are just really expensive parts changers. I lived in Fairfax for 18 years .

[blizzard]

I'm sure you can repair that car for a lot less cash than what those stealership people told you. I would personally tow it back home with the help of a friend or find a good deal platform to transport it to a good bmw shop.

[cravin]

You all are missing my point. I lost all trust in the car. When the rear differential shredded, that was the beginning of the end for me. Figure the $5k I spent on that two months ago, then I had to tow my car a couple of weeks ago because all coolant leaked out again to the tune of another $600, and then getting quoted another $5k+ of repairs! and then knowing that there were pending failures that always happen at certain mileage (water pump, rear air bags, etc) the thing just became a money pit that I wanted no part of. I just dumped $200k cash into my new house. I also started with a new job where I'm busy building out my team, it was killing me to have to think every time I turned the car on "am I going to make it to this interview?"

I am a simple guy. It was nice having the X5 when it was reliable, but I don't care about the status symbol or any of that crap. I just want to be comfortable during my drive and feel confident that I will get there. Some will say "well then just lease". I personally enjoy owning something and not worrying about the recurring cost so that I can put it towards something else. The X5 was no longer a pleasure to own.

Btw, to smassy, when I was picking up the X5 from Fairfax, I noticed two X5s hoisted with both engines and trans dropped out of them. A) couldn't have been cheap and b) sort of weird for two at the same time side by side.