Of course, people's jaws don't drop when a Toyota drives by :)

The other side of the story: I actually own a 4.6 that I bought new. I drive VERY hard. I have 114,000 miles with Dinan upgrades. Two years ago I added meth injection and 150 shot of nitrous. No problems with the engine. I have replaced the valve cover gaskets once. I have the original radiator, never had a window regulator go bad. Have changed the coolant tank once. No valve seal leaks. IMO there is no reason to be afraid of 13 year old vehicle if it has been maintained properly.

I wouldn't mind at all paying a premium for a 4.6. The performance and handling is well worth it. The price? It will always be based on supply and demand. Best way is to look nationally though prices always vary somewhat from region to region.

Don't you wonder why folks that think X5s have so many problems still own them?

Valve stems seals is usually the 4.8.

The only thing we can be sure of is our personal experience. If we use the forum to draw conclusions we are using a small sample of the world of E53s, the majority here because of issues. There have been times when I considered not coming to the forum because I found myself worrying about taking my X5 out of the garage from reading all the negative posts.

I am not saluting the BMW flag, certainly not making excuses. I relate my experience so both sides of the coin are represented and in this case because I have a 4.6. I also think it is easy to read about problems and come to believe all are chronic, happen to all years and all engines. I respect your opinion I just don't share it. Certainly OP should gather info if not already aware of both the pluses and minuses. I just happen to be on the plus side where few weigh in.

I'm glad a bought a 6 cyl! The V8s sure do get a bad rap.

I got the I6 due to the fact I was familiar with the M54, knew how to work on them as a brother of mine used to have a 530i. As a lot of people have told me before as long as you keep the cooling system on check and do regular oil changes the M54 is pretty much bullet proof. I didn't get the V8 X5 for a number of reasons but the main one is I don't have experience with those engines and didn't feel I could tackle all of those issues that come with owning one.


I can recall a few people saying oh wow you have a used BMW, anybody can buy one of those, they are pretty cheap. That might be true but you either have to know how to fix them yourself or have enough money to pay for repairs because we all know they are not cheap to maintain. I've been able to do all of the work on my X and don't regret getting the I6. If you have the knowledge to fix or money to get it fixed, I say go for the V8. To me the I6 is fun to drive and I can imagine the V8 must be way better. I've driven a 540i which has the same engine as the 4.4l X5 and those things fly . . . .

Almost 200k on my M62 4.4 and no major issues.

VCGs and radiator last year. Still on OE timing chain guides and airbags.

1 window regulator (no "crash", window was fine), 1 driver door handle carrier, FSR, coolant tank, 2 water pumps, 1 ignition coil, Powerflex bushing upgrade.

How much you should be paying depends on condition and maintenance records.

I would not buy one over 100k without it having timing chain guide service, or a reduction in price to cover the cost of that service.

there also seems to be a price difference between an 02 and 03.

there's a blue one on ebay right now.