Is there a car less reliable then the X5?

[ART-qitec]

I'm shocked over the horrible reliability of this car. I know BMW's are known for their poor reliability but this is ridiculous. Never have we owned a car so unreliable and horribly put together (and we've own a couple BMW's). I don't mind paying for repairs and/or performing the work myself, but when a new issue comes up a day after fixing an existing issue, it really starts wearing me (and my wallet) down.

I bought this car back in July and have had the car towed three times and have spent $1500 in parts and countless hours of my time fixing these issues. Below are the issues with the car in order. Mind you this within less then a year of ownership.

Driver's side door LED burnt out
2 month old Battery died (confirmed with BMWNA that battery was replaced at time of purchase)
Voltage Regulator died
Coolant expansion tank cracked
Throttle body spring broken
Throttle body Harness fried
Accelerator pedal stuck to the floor
Radiator cracked
Rear air springs blew out
AC stopped blowing cold air

[blue dragon]

And you still haven't done the coolant valley pipe which is notorious on the 4.8

[ART-qitec]

Originally Posted by blue dragon

And you still haven't done the coolant valley pipe which is notorious on the 4.8

Yeah I know....Not sure if I want to bother with it though. Lady is forcing me to trade it in for another car when this winter's over because she's tired of picking me up on the side of the road/the dealer. It's so bad that she's been calling me the "street walker"

[JCL]

Looks like some of your issues were related, and perhaps the first repair only addressed the symptom, not the problem. Battery and voltage regulator were likely linked, same with the three throttle issues. Radiator and expansion tank may have been linked as well.

Reliability can be fairly assessed on a new car with respect to design and manufacturing issues. Lack of reliability on six year old used car has more to do with previous maintenance practices than the vehicle design and manufacturing, IMO.

I don't think BMWs are known for poor reliability. But then I've had five BMWs and have never been stranded once. They are known for not responding well to neglect.

[BGM]

What's the background on it--how many miles were on it when you bought it and where did you buy it from?

[ard]

Dude... Im having trouble feeling for you given your weekend cars....

[blue dragon]

Originally Posted by ard

Dude... Im having trouble feeling for you given your weekend cars....

His supercars would be more reliable

[Suge206]

Why aren't you driving a new lease if you can afford those weekend cars?

[ART-qitec]

Originally Posted by BGM

What's the background on it--how many miles were on it when you bought it and where did you buy it from?

The car has had one previous owner. It currently has 68,000 miles, 10,000 of which are mine. The car was in good shape and I got a PPI on it and everything was in the green.

Originally Posted by ard

Dude... Im having trouble feeling for you given your weekend cars....

Well our property tax on all four cars every year is pretty painful...so hopefully you feel for me in that area.

Originally Posted by blue dragon

His supercars would be more reliable

That's kind of true. I've been to the dealer to get parts, diagnostics, etc for the X5 more then all three of our other cars combined.

Originally Posted by Suge206

Why aren't you driving a new lease if you can afford those weekend cars?

I can't lease cars because I get them modified as you can see from the picture below (wheels painted, body trim painted/modified). Dealers in my area won't take back the car unless it looks exactly how it does on the website.

[TriX5]

My 09 35d was meticulously maintained according to the dealer....yet, lately it has been a bit of a parade of problems....

The DEF injection valve failed again after 12 months. Then it was time to swap the rear air springs. There was a problem with the inner tail light on the right not making good contact. Latest was the signal from the throttle position sensor and now the windscreen washer tank is leaking. I have to take the wheel arch off and look what the problem is.

I am getting a bit worried. But then again my 03 e53 did the same at 8ok miles. It threw every known problem at me including the transmission, but it has been relatively trouble free last 25k and now sailing past 120k.

So crossing my fingers it will come back to normal....