As the above statement would apply to me and probably a few others, not many, on this forum, I would have to say that although this is the first BMW vehicle I ever owned I've been lucky so far not to have any issues as of yet at only 3800 miles. Nonetheless, I understand where you're coming from, as I owned 3 different year Dodge Grand Caravans and had nothing but problems, bad dealer service, and continuos visits to the service department for one thing or another. I then decided to go for an Infinity QX56, first model year 2004, needless to say, that didn't go very well; I was away in Iraq during that year and my wife was bombarded with the amount of troubles this particular vehicle had, the 2 worst being not being able to put the vehicle into park, therefore not able to remove key, and the second being that when she removed the key on a separate ocassion the vehicle remained running!!!!
That's probably one of the biggest reasons why I then decided to go for a BMW, besides the "marque" as you mention. I only hope that I don't go through the same ordeal you have gone through, and I wish you the best with whatever vehicle(s) you decide to go with!!!!
P.S.- My wife loves the QX56 nonetheless and regardless of the problems she change it for a 2006 model year and it has been fine so far, so maybe it is just as other members pointed out, first model year is the worst!!!!

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I'm truly sorry that you have had such a negative experience with your X5. Certainly the early X5's had some reliability issues, and it's very unfortunate that your '01 suffered from such a high number of problems.

But consider this - most Bimmer owners are intelligent and very astute car buyers. Like many others, I spent a great amount of time (nearly a year) researching my SUV purchase before I bought a CPO X5. I knew going into this transaction that certain failures are inevitable. I fully expect to have future problems or failures with the water pump, radiator, tranny, window regulators, etc. I already have an action plan in place on how to handle these failures in regards to where to obtain the parts and who will make the repairs. I have an unparalled support group though a great relationship with my dealership, an excellent independent BMW mechanic, and finally, the members of X5World.

But it all comes down to getting behind the wheel, firing up the engine, and driving off with the feeling that you are driving the car that is right for you. To me, I can live with my X5's maladies. To me, no other vehicle in its class provides the same combination of performance, handling, convenience, comfort, and durability (yes, durability).

But then again, this is my own opinion. Out of the 30 plus cars that I've owned throughout my lifetime, my last 8 cars have been BMW's. I've lived with a very tempermental E36 M3 and a just plain raunchy Dinan E39 540i, two of the best cars I've ever owned. Chances are likely my next car (a 2 seater) is going to be a BMW.

I'm sorry, you've had such a bad experience. But if you're going to a BMW board expecting to hear from BMW apologists, it ain't gonna happen. If you want utter reliability, go buy an Accord or a Camry and be prepared for complete boredom.

Rudy,

I completely undertand what you are saying! I had a round with the dealer last week.Going for a Range Rover next!

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YankeeBimmer=Brute Yankee Power

LOL.. oh boy.. that's gonna be a good one!

While I agree with you that BMW do suffer from their rattles here and there, I have never had a BMW that had anything mechanically wrong that would impair its driving function. Sure we've had our fair share of electrical problems over the years, but as I have discovered if you buy a BMW its 3rd year in your pretty much guaranteed a trouble free ride - aside from the occasional lemon.

I do find it tragic that you choose to leave the brand now, as Panke has declared BMW's new priority to be quality. BMW has also substantially improved this year over last year in the J.D. initial quality rankings - which shows that Panke's word stands for something. That and BMW rates much higher then its competing german marques.

New age BMW's (iDrive/Bangle whatever you want to call them) share their electronics, simplifying the build complexity and meaning that bugs that are discovered can be applied to the whole system. Also the way that new age BMW's have completely upgradeable software, means that many of the issues found in 1st year models (say 1st year 5 series for example) with a complete software upgrade are now pretty much trouble free.

The Japanese are starting to have growing pains too. Honda had a huge blunder with their new Oddysey minivan.

Wrong time to leave BMW my friend...

You do know that the Range Rover is X5 based. All the electrical components are shared. From 06 onwards though they no longer have the BMW engine, so I have no idea how reliable those Ford one's are... but best of luck to you (You'll need it, considering Rover's quality of past).

Well said. I have an 04 with 19K. Only problem I've had is with the steering wheel cover peeling, and for some reason, navigation lady won't obey her command to speak softer. This has been an almost flawless machine, and I'm picky.

I had a nightmare with the first year Touareg. Went to arbitration and won. Friend of mine, who is beyond the SOL for LL and had problem after problem with his Touareg, went to the zone manager and he cancelled his lease and took the vehicle back. Having had a few Volvos, we were going to get the Volvo SUV. Oh, so boring and I had been poorly treated by the Volvo dealer. Drove the Lexus 470. Boring, and the rear hatch swings out sideways. Armada? No thanks, and their rotors warp. Passed on the Range Rover Sport because it was a first year launch. Denali? Well, a friend of mine has had problem after problem after problem with his. Cadillac--they retain no value.`The list goes on--Honda Passport? I'm not dead yet.

Not a week goes by when I don't feel great about being behind the wheel of my BMW--maybe try a Benz, but we had two first year ML vehicles in the family and they had their share of problems too. Good luck. Try to speak to a zone manager--they have a much broader perspective and they are paid by the company not the dealer. Good luck, and if all else fails, hurricane season is fast approaching--oops, I left my car under a tree-darn!

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Accella, you are WAAAY too funny!! I just had to highlight that last part! .
It's tempting to single out one manufacturer that we've had a lot of experience with.... only to find the same results with others. "The grass is greener" rarely rings true, IMO.

Wow. I thought I hit the wrong favorite, and went to the CTS-V board. At least the rear differentials in the X5 don't grenade under stock conditions.