About to buy X5
 

I have owned several BMW's and yesterday looked at a 2004 3.0 diesel E53. Have committed to buying it as soon as our house sale goes through (15th June). My current daily driver is a '97 E39 touring with 293,000 kms. The E53 is a 2004 with 159,000 kms. Apparently the swirl flaps have already been addressed, so I am hoping for several years of trouble free motoring.

Anything else in the way of preventative maintenance I should be aware of?

Front outer cv boots are probably farked.

Don't bank on it. Not sour, however these are beautiful and enjoyable vehicles to drive when they work but they are more of an investment than a trouble free experience.

As ants said the boots are probably gone so you will need to replace both front half-shafts and CV boots. If you're mechanically minded you can get just the CV joints from ECS tuning for around USD$160 however you will need to go on realoem.com to find the part number and search by part number.

Also expect to be up for new cooling system parts.

If you're not mechanically minded you can normally find the parts cheaper online and just get your local indy to do the work - realoem.com is your friend.

If you want years of trouble free motoring buy a new or certified pre-owned car with a warranty.

I am no newby with regards to BMW's and their problems. I do all my own mechanical work and have done quite a bit to my current E39. Just this last fortnight, both rear window regulators decided to die, so I am waiting on bits to fix those (for the second time on the drivers side rear) Also I have to replace a couple of power steering hoses before I sell it. The E39 only left me stranded once when the fuel pump just died a few kms from work. I got a workmate to tow me back to work and I started early a couple of days later and replaced it.

I have diagnostic software and an ETK, I am just asking if there are items which should be replaced which are renowned for breaking down after "x" amount of years/miles/kms. The last thing I want is to be stranded somewhere because I could have performed a routine replacement. (That's what I mean by trouble free motoring - confidence in getting from point A to point B.)

Are there any diesel specific problems besides the swirl flaps?

Most posters on this forum is from the good old US of A and in this country most E53 were gasoline powered SAV, not diesel powered SAV.

Tom - I bought an 04 with 160,000kms on it back in 2011 (granted it was a 4.4 V8) but here is a list of major mechanical things I have replaced on it (not including spark plugs, filters etc)

160,000km+
Oil pressure sender (sensor)
Front CV Joints and boots
Water pump (water pump shat itself)
Radiator hoses and thermostat
Park brake shoes and discs and rear discs

180,000km+
Front suspension - (Tie rods, front and rear control arms, sway links) - (slightly wobbly under braking and the whole front end needed redo-ing)
Left and right cam cover gaskets and PCV valves
Front discs and rotors

200,000km+
Radiator replaced (leak)
Valley pan and coolant transfer pipe
Expansion tank replaced (leak)
Alternator replaced (dead)

Hope that helps, can't give you any tips on diesel sorry

Hey mate,

Depending on the specific engine in your vehicle, it may or may not have swirl flaps.

Example - I have the 150kw/480nm engine specification and have been able to find no evidence in technical literature that swirl flaps are installed on this engine. Granted, I haven't had the intake system physically apart to check...

Aussie spec engines of that era are a conundrum due to our "unique" pollution regulations of the time. Example being, catalysts on the 3 litre diesel - common in other markets but not fitted to Aus spec.

Anyway, if you are able to point me to info on the presence of swirl flaps on the Aus spec engines I would appreciate it greatly. Like you, I believe in preventative maintenance so would like to nip the issue in the bud (in the admittedly unlikely event of a problem occurring).

Anthony,

I'll let you know when I pick it up. While I was going for a test drive, the current owner was talking to my son-in-law and he said the current owner mentioned something about the swirl flaps just being done. I will clarify when I go to pick it up (sometime after 15th June). I live near Adelaide and the X5 is in Mount Gambier (400+kms away). It's almost ironic as we bought my wife's E87 (120i) from Mt Gambier 18 months ago.

You get some good cars away from the mainstream population centres I reckon