Advice Sought on new E70

[Scott in Cincy]

Ok gang, been a looonnng time since I've been here, but it appears all is still well

My wife is on her 3rd X5 ('01 4.4i, '05 4.8is, '08 4.8), and has really liked them. Our most recent one has been very good, with few issues, and little besides maintenance needed. We're approaching 50k miles, so I'm trying to decide between the following:

1) Buy the BMW Warranty and keep it for a while ($4750 from BMW these days??? wtf). Problem here is that the car isn't paid for yet (5 year loan), so I'd like to not be paying for a car and it have no warranty. Of course nearly $5k for a warranty is a nice downpayment too.

2) Don't bother with any warranty and just keep it (gotta think you can buy a lot of wrenchin' for $4750). Still like the one we have, needs new tires though, which for 20's is nightmarish.

3) Get a 2011 with an M Sport Package. The problem here is that they're not that different than the 2008's for what my wife uses it for. It's still a kid hauler, grocery getter for her, so the "enhancements" are nominal. I like the facelift, the new 4.4T, and the new i-drive. Wish you could get Oyster in Nappa Leather though.

I've already ruled out getting a non X5... drove the ML, the Range Rover Sport / SC, Q7, Cayenne, etc and none feel as good as the X5 to drive.

Anybody got any salient thoughts?

Thanks,

[blondboinsd]

Originally Posted by AlexK

I'd say keep it and buy the warranty.

[Kloogy]

Originally Posted by AlexK

I'd say keep it and buy the warranty.

[Richard in NC]

The '11 M Sport is quite nice.
There may be aftermarket warranties that are less expensive. I've not researched what they cover versus BMW.

[Paydirtdog]

Almost $5K for a warranty seems like a lot. What does that cover? Everything or only major components like engine, transmission, etc? Engine and transmission should go 200K easily. I know some E53's are having transmission problems at 120K miles or so, but there are a lot that are going 250K miles or more. E70's have different transmission but you'd hope they'd go at least 200K with no problems. $5k on the chance that something may go wrong....not worth it.

[Ag4.8]

I'd keep it. No warranty. $5k is a lot of repairs. Tires of course aren't covered and are a routine expense (like gas). Depends on your $ situation, but if you are still paying for the '08, buying a new one won't save you money. Yes the maintenance is free, but the higher cost (payment) of new one will probably be more. ANother option is to drive it another yr, see how reliable it is and then trade up if it turns out to be trouble prone. Good Luck whatever you decide.

[BMWenvy]

I would go with option #2 on your list.

[BGM]

I would go with option #2 but it depends how much longer you plan on keeping it---3 more years, 6 more years ?

[ukwildcat]

Just my 0.02..

The extended warranty only covers major components.

Yes, a new one is (painfully) expensive but they are offering 0.9% financing..

Even though this is my first one, I opted for new over used because the '11 model offered many, many significant advantages over previous year models. Cosmetically it's little changed from '10 but of course you get the new mill, transmission and some other possible options that may or may not appeal to you.

But the new engine and transmission alone were worth it to me.

[ring007]

keep what you have without warranty or buy a new one. My wife really likes the 3.5d (we just ordered another one).