Hello X5World,

I've not posted for a VERY long time, been a silent reader for the last few weeks; lovin' the posts, as a lapsed premium member I think I need to pony up :-)

Checked out the E70 a few months ago, very nice but $$$ seems to have escalated - together with gas. A 3 year old, 3.0 X3 is looking interesting.

Scotty the 2000 4.4i X has run well lately; sure theres been maintenance costs, but darn it. It really is the ultimate drivin' SUV even at 7 years of age. My father was recently in CA, visiting me from Europe. We hit a long banked curve and at 70mph, I hit the gas, savouring the corner. While 'other' SUVs would need to slow to take the curve, the X just pulled strongly, leaving the curve at 90+. "geeeee, you just went round that corner" was the response. Gorgeous.

As a long timer '00 4.4 the longevity report from last year'ish is :

02/06 : 70k : left front outboard CV boot failed, covered under warranty
03/06 : 73k : replaced MAF sensor/climate control final stage resistor/heater valve, on warranty
10/06 : 78K : coolant low warning while in remote Sierras, added 500ml water
10/06 : added 600ml then 800ml of 50% coolant, returned home
10/06 : failed upper joint to radiator; $700
11/06 : outer front right CV boot failed, $360
12/06 : 79K : got ticket for no front plate !!!! Geeez, $5 for plastic front mount (free installation from dealer, wow wow, thanks guys)
12/06 : $1000k for copay on $2500 of vandal damage at gym, cancelled gym membership, great Xmas gift :-(.
03/07 : on inspection, added 500ml of 50% coolant.
04/07 : 83K : on inspection, added 400ml of 50% coolant.
05/07 : ok, coolant consumption is going up.......what next?

Still drinking the coolant - but been doing so for the last 30k miles. Dealer is always reporting, 'no fault found'. Always concerning, the 'usual' rate of coolant consumption masked the pending radiator failure which nearly to stranding me+3 at the base of Mt Whitney around 250miles from the nearest dealer - I checked the nav ! Our X's are a bit special and pulling into a small town garage/Autozone in the high Sierra and expecting a repair for an X5; forget about it.

Seems to me that the plastics of the coolant system and rubber of the CV boots is below acceptable quality. The cooling system, bad, bad, complete radiator failure at 78k is weak quality.

Enjoy attached photo; we checked out the "roadway test section", it 'tested' as very smooth, to 125mph :-)

Lovin' X5World as always,

Scotty

Attached Images