Sell my X5 or drive it into the ground?
 

2005 X5 3.0i sport 120K miles

I normally don't keep my cars for too long but something about my X5, I am not getting tired of it and want to keep it forever. FYI, I bought it new and it drove beautifully for about 7 years. Maintenance's done regularly and it's kept in the garage so still looks glossy. But in the last 3 years or so, mechanical problems started to appear.

- Had to get hoses, fittings, pcv replaced after serious oil leak during arctic winter

- Another minor oil leak, gasket replaced

- Coolant sensor and thermostat replaced

- Rear door carrier replaced

- Wear and tear items like CV boots, window regulator, wheel camber, etc... all corrected

What other costly problems may be knocking at my door soon? What to do prevent costly repairs? Many people have been telling me it's time to sell it while it still have some trade in value. Because of it, I'm kind of afraid to take it for a long trip.

What to do? Chicago winter scares me and this car isn't quite built to battle it IMHO.

The engine will outlast the vehicle IMO (straight 6 BMW dead reliable) if its maintained. I plan on driving mine to the ground.

Agree with Rb. Gonna drive it till the wheels fall off.

I think since it is a paid for car you should get a spare car. Maybe a used Honda or something. And then go to work on doing all of the preventive care on the X as needed. You know its history and can replace some things before they bite you. It sounds like you have done many of the big things already.

My MT is getting driven into the ground.

Do you DIY or pay someone to do it for you?

It is kind of hit and miss at your mileage if the fuel pump or alternator will go out.

2005 4.4 sports at 110K miles and have had the car for 8 years. Updated wheels (style 87), the head unit (dynavin N6) and the wipers (E70 wipers). Feels like I have a new car. I do all the work myself and will drive it to the ground.

babyduke,
None of us knows your situ, so whether or not it is a good econ move, jump ball...

New cars are like dope, but if a couple thou a year on your current car, (or less), doesn't seem less costly than a new car I must be old and stupid. :)

If our '01 X was my only car, I suspect I would think about it carefully. But, it's one of 3, so I also plan on keeping it for another few years, short of some catastrophic cost popping up.

Nothing lasts forever, and I like some new cars out there in Jonesing Land, but for me and our situ, the current stable is fine.

Your car, you know it, and only you can know your econ/budget situ, but if you like the car, why not?
GL, mD

Chicago has an excellent transportation network, from Uber rides, to Divvy bikes to the CTA, PACE and Metra.

I limit my driving of the X when temp is below zero and only drives the X if the trip is greater than 30 minutes. I mainly drive my FORD Ranger pickup during the winter.

For long trips I rent a car and if the car break along the way I just call the rental company and tell them where there car is and could they get me a replacement car.

Since 2004 the x5 3.0 never left me stranded,
Although it is not the best truck to go through a thick pile of snow
or slipper icy roads ! (It is Heavy and fat a$$).

Repairs, factory recommended maintenance and preventive maintenances can be overwhelming for some owners ( case to case basis - financial aspect)

With the 3.0 you are many percentile better off than those of us with the 4.4. I wish now I had looked harder. As to use in winter, I put Hakapalittas on wife's car-just 255-80-17. It will go anywhere we point it, winter of 13-14 was the worst around for decades and it was super car. Only thing I wish is I could get a reliable car starter installed. My big fight now are oil leaks, but we don't allow the age to slow us down driving it on some desolate winter highways.

I have an 01' with most OEM options. I have been updating it and adding features (nav, V8 only comfort seats, etc) to make it A) more modern and B) add more OEM-esq features. I am still working on adding more OEM offerings, i.e.: heated rear seats and so forth. My sister just bought a CPO E70 X5 about two weeks ago. I have been driving it a LOT since she bought it. Though it is a perfectly nice car and I do like it, I would never get rid of my E53 for it!!! The E70 has some additional features, not available on the E53 and such but feels somehow 'numb' to me. My E53 has so much personality and the E70 just feels 'blah' and cookie cutter to me. I don't hate it, I like it but I LOVE the E53!!!

There's my two cents when it comes to the E53 and the thought of replacing one.

babyduke
You are in the same situation as the previous owner of my X5. He put money in it for years, until he had enough. So as with any car when the miles and years go on, you either have to be able to make your own repairs or have the money to pay someone. So if you like the car, keep it. And if you want to sell, call me.

I have no intention of ever selling mine. I think I paid a fair price for a vehicle that I really wanted, will always enjoy owning and enjoy driving very much. In all reality, how far will the money you sell it for go towards a new vehicle? If you don't have the money to keep it up, but love your X, look at it as a project, let it set in the garage and work to keep it in tip-top shape as funds allow, and buy another daily. On the other hand, I believe in having vehicles paid in full, with the exception of business vehicles that make you money. So, ultimately, the decision is yours, according to your individual situation...

I don't DIY but have a reliable mechanic who's taken care of me well for years. But he's not a bimmer specialist and often takes trial and error to figure some things out. Plus if he ever retires which won't be long, I'm screwed. :dunno:

IMO, If you lost trust in the car you should move on.

170k+ on my 04, 3.0 and with proactive maintenance and about $7 thousand since warrantee ran out (doing all work myself), my car has never left me stranded and i still have trust.

what do you think you could get for it in a sale? these are a DIME A DOZEN vehicle so you will get nothing useful. at best you can afford an OLDER used (obviously) honda accord/toyota camry. If you're looking at buying new, then you're back to having a monthly car payment/loan payment.
Choose wisely.

You have done most of the big stuff. If you want you can replace the alternator and voltage regulator now and get that over with. Do your battery if it is 5 years or older.

Same with the fuel filter and fuel pump. Again, at your mileage those things are hit and miss.

If you had a Honda or something as a daily you could do all of this stuff very slowly. Between detailed forums posts and you tube I think anyone can learn to DIY if you have the time. Harbor Freight gets you good tools cheap.

As the original owner I would feel best about doing those things to the car since I know all of its history. Most of us, even with service records, are left in the dark to a degree.

Beating a dead horse
 

I think we all have beaten this topic to death already.

There are lots of choices with vehicle purchases- New Vs Used? Warranty VS None? Own vs Lease? DIY vs $$$ and on and on. Everyonegets to make choices. Most on this forum tend to make SMART choices by DIY to reduce cost of ownership and to improve reliability on 10+ year old performance SAV.
If you plan it right most of these vehicles will go way passed 150,000/15 years and still look good and get remarks that start with "Is that New?"
DIY, learn from the forum = happy owners
Give your repair shop of choice $$$ (Dealer add 40%)when something happens will usually make you great friend of the shop owners, but not much else.

DIY and drive until there is nothing left. That will be ROI.

I got lost on the comments about the inability to get through winter???? I can only assume that those that live around the Great Lakes area and can't get through a winter...are running all season tires instead of dedicated snow/ice tires.

Based on my winter driving experience with my 06 X5 and the Michelin X-Ice xi2 winter tires that get mounted in the winter...I just can't comprehend an X5 having the difficulty that was suggested in some of the earlier threads.

When my snow blower broke its belt this past winter after only cleaning off about 5 feet in front of the garage...the X5 backed out of the garage into the snow filled driveway and onto & down the street with about 20" of unplowed snow without a hiccup. Then when the ice storms or freezing rain comes and puts a nice glaze on the road or on top of the piled up snow...again, if driving properly for the conditions...there still wasn't slipping and sliding...in fact, you could feel the thousands of sipes in the tires grabbing when accelerating and while stopping and turning.

Those that do have snow tires and still have issues...then perhaps you have the wrong type of snow tires for your winter conditions (performance snows instead of snow/ice tires)...or it's time to replace them because the threads have gotten too low.

I don't understand those guys either. I bought mine specifically for winter. Now that it is getting nicer, I only really drive the X5 when taking the dog somewhere or I need the space (which is almost never).

As far as buying another used car for more "reliability", the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. Chances are that used car is going to need its own version of everything you already did to your current car. Not to mention the bore factor of a Honda/Toyota. I'd rather buy a nice bycicle.

I love my X5 and also have alternative transportation even for the snow if I need it. BUT.. this is a vehicle that I won't own outside of a comprehensive warranty. I purchased one before it hit the 50k mileage mark, ending factory warranty. Got a very good (and expensive one) that covers nearly everything, bumper to bumper and has a $0 deductible. Everytime something goes wrong that I can't quickly and cheaply fix, I take it to my dealer, they toss me the keys to a brand new BMW and call me when it is ready. There have been a few items here and there that have not been covered but the warranty has paid for itself 5-6 times over. I'm running out of that one in 8k miles or in Sept - whichever is first - I've investigated another warranty, from the dealer and while not cheap, provides me with another 3 years and 36k miles - $0 deductible and the tossing of new keys anytime I take it there.

I never want to get rid of my X5, I love it so much.

Please consider going that route - some dealers may even offer financing of the warranty. You can also negotiate the price - I got a very good discount by being patient, doing my homework, reading ALL the fine print and being ready and willing to walk if I didn't get the price range I wanted. Do it in person when you get to the end - FI people can deal. Good luck.

got a pic of the E70 wipers? wanna see how they look on the E53.

My water cooled OE went bad in year 4 1/2 as well as in year 6.
It's been 6-7 years since then with a Bosch ~OEM~ and so far, no issues yet on on non OE alternator

I don't have the car with me right now but I've seen pics with a DIY for the wipers in a UK bimmer forum. Let me do a quick search.

Here's a thread of DIY with pics of front and rear wiper arms conversion.

E70 FRONT and rear wiper arms and blades fitted to my E53
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ed-my-e53.html

:iagree: I never take my X on long trips. I also go the rental route. I don't have to worry about hail storms, parking where I worry or outside, cement trucks, gravel trucks, trucks sucking sand off the shoulder, eating in the X, blowing a tire that nobody stocks, if something breaks leaving it somewhere or sitting 5 days waiting for parts so that it can be fixed, having to pay dealer repair rates- gives me shivers just thinking about a long trip in my X.

I've been wanting to do this mod since that thread was posted up. Just don't have the skills to modify the passenger side arm myself.

How did you do yours?

There are plenty of Indy BMW mechanics in Chicago and the suburbs, perhaps you should look at them instead of you non BMW mechanic. They may not be as Cheap as your indy, but they do know their way around BMWs and are normally less then the dealers.

Yes,if you feel it is time to part ways,just get rid of the car and get another.Nothing last forever.everything changes.

Yes,if you feel it is time to part ways,just get rid of the car and get another.Nothing lasts forever.Everything changes.

Key words--I want to keep it forever.

If it's your only vehicle and you rely on it daily, then I believe you may be justified in trading it for something a bit newer and possibly more reliable. If however, you have another vehicle at your disposal and as you say, you 'want to keep it forever' then I suppose anticipating some repairs at the car's current age and mileage, should be expected and you'll just have to prepare as best you can.
I have a 47 year old car in my stable, and if I were to do a longish trip, then I would have no hesitation as I know it's been maintained reasonably well. That said, I would definitely take some parts and basic tools along for the ride too...

When I bought my X5, it had 65000 miles on it and I took it to my indy straight away to get it checked out and on a maintenance schedule. I spent around $1000 correcting a gasket leak and replacement of power steering hoses and some other minor trim stuff. The indy said all of that could wait but I like to stay ahead of things. The indy said to kinda plan for around $2500 worth of maintenance when the X5 hits around the 120k mark, but that the 3.0 engine will last forever. Both of the owners of my indy shop drive older X5's and love them.

Is your Indy this guy?

Reggie's Motorworks - Reggie's Motorworks is a full-service automotive shop in Noblesville, Indiana. We specialize in the repair of BMW, Audi, Volkswagen and MINI in the Indianapolis area.

No Sir, my guy is Ress Motor Works @ 724 N Capitol Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46204 (317) 635-3201. I can't say enough nice things about these guys. I have used their shop for over 12 years, they always do great work. They only work on BMW and Mini, which is one reason I keep buying BMW, just so I can keep coming back to mechanics I trust! lol

Funny, I live in Noblesville and never noticed the indy you listed, even though I drive by it every day! They don't have any signage out front indicating they do anything with BMW's. They must be stealth! :) I'll definitely have to check them out though since they are in my back yard.

For the OP: My only concern with having a higher mileage vehicle in your case is your geographic location and the resulting salt exposure in the winter. The chassis photos of northern vehicles I've seen posted often show some significant corrosion on fasteners, fittings, and pipes. I'd be sure to perform frequent underside wash downs to minimize the effects from the salt. Other than that, with proper maintenance, "the ground" is a long way off for these engines.

2002 X5 3.0 278,000 miles
2004 325i 120,000 miles

Your list of problems aren't really anything extreme IMO. I replaced my first set of CV boots @ 75k miles and I live in Southern California. Most of my rear suspension arms were replaced just after 100k. Door handle ate it @ 104k. Expansion tank/Cooling Hoses/Water Pump done at 68k when the expansion tank cracked on me. I have about 182k now and its still moving along.

I'm not sure how great the trade in value would be on an e53. At this point, you could probably fetch 7k at most simply because its outdated in terms of technology and not the best on fuel. Nothing is made to last forever, so if you decide to keep your e53, repairs that aren't so typical should be expected. The suspension will probably need a complete makeover soon if it already hasn't been done. Transmission should have been serviced by now. Oil pan gasket will more than likely need replacement and its not exactly cheap regardless where you choose to have the work done.

It comes down to how much you like your car. If you're really worried about reliability, trade it in and get something newer. The only reasons I still own my e53 is because I do the work on it myself and I still enjoy the car. If I didn't service the car myself, I would've let it go a couple years ago.