Things to Watch for if Your X is Around 50K
 

I have a 2002 X5 4.4L with little only 50k miles, my battery went dead 2 days ago, no warning, just wouldn't start in the evening. The car started just fine in the morning and afternoon. So if your X is around 50K use a volt meter and check the battery often. Anything lower than 12 volt with engine off, you should keep an eye on things. Anyway, I was in the parking lot and looking for a jumb, one thing led to another, the expansion tank pipe broke. Yes the little one on top of the expansion tank, that suppose to be made out of metal but BMW decided to save a buck and made it out of plastic instead. Well guys if your X is around 50k you may want to check it also. It get harden with heat and age, all it took was a little push and it broke in half, and when I picked it up to check it, it broke into 1/3. Nice huh? It is a regular stock item for my dealer, and he stocks a few of them too, that should tell you something about those pipe. Back to the battery, I got a replacement from Sams Club today, it is the Type 94 with 850 amp. It is $65, lowest I could find anyway. Here is the kicker, the Sams' battery book didn't list a battery replacement for the X, but it fit my X just fine. Don't forget there is a vent hose that comes with the battery, you will need it. The first battery I picked up didn't have one, the second one did. Also, my car die at idle and low engine speed during test drive. I thought something else was borken. Well after the test drive I stablized the idle speed with my foot and let it idle for about 15 minutes the problem went away. So if it happerns to you after you replace the battery, try idling it for 15 minutes. I guess the computer have to reset the value of the senors or something.
For the longest time I thought German auto engineering is the best in the world, i didn't realize how wrong i was until I do my own repair on them. I guess engineering greatest vs. bottom line, bottom line always win.

The list for 50K is VERY long. Do a search and you'll find a lot of other things you may want to change proactively before catastrophic failure.

hi zulu, what's the key word i should use to do a search for that long list you're talking about?

thanks in advance...im creeping up to that 50k myself

"common failures" "water pump failure" "CV Joint boots" should get you started.
We had a thread running a couple of months ago that listed just about everything that people have replaced on or before 50K. Frightening list if you are swinging by your own tail.

75k up from new

New Battery, brake rotors, oil cooler and replacment for MkIII sat nav
Cosmetically inner door handle trims and that's my lot

Guess I'd better be ready....

German made - I stand to be corrected but aren't US X5's made in the US??

Cj,
Get to your waterpump soon. They fail from 30k on and at least one person here cracked a head when it went.
I had WP, t'stat/t'stat housing and belts replaced at 38k when I first noticed slight water dripping from the "tell-tale" on the pump. I'm getting to 50k and starting to think about a new race ready pump that is much better made than OEM.

Yes, but they are German trained South Carolinian's. ;)

This reminds me to ask the dealer to look at my water pump again to see if it has been replaced. I tried asking him before, but guess he forgot. Ughh..

Regular manitainance goes a long way...as you tried your hardest to find a cheap battery at sams club witch will last probably less then a third the life of an optima red top at $120 I am guessing preventitive maintianance like coolant flushes and things were passed on as well...pay for it now or pay for it later kids.

another fun one is the window regulator problem; quite costly too.

Window reg, front CV already replaced at 40k. I didn't say German made, just German engineering. Never had a car that have that many parts break at that early in life. I think this is going to be my last BMW for a long time. Spent more time working on this car than when I had my Fiat.

You know, when I look back on my other cars, I've had the same problems. Admittably, maybe SOME cheaper repairs, but I like the car telling me what's wrong, instead of getting a ticket for a light that's out or driving until something bad really breaks. Battery is just plain old prevent maintence. NONE of them last longer than 5 years of use, no matter WHAT car you put them in. I've replaced the water pump on all but one of my cars. Batteries, more than once on most. The cost of electric window repairs on American cars ain't cheap either. Of course, we would rather do without having to repair or replace something, but in the imortal words of a former VP, "Why does it only break when we use it?" Park it in the garage and NOT use it, should eliminate most, if not all your repairs.

I don't recall ever seeing metal hoses or tubes attached to a coolant reservoir in any car. Metal would get plated with corrosion from heated coolant.

They had them in earlier cars and they worked just fine. The coolant reservoir in my 1966 "E Type" Jag lasted until 1985!

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D060; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

That was back in the 60's when everything was made of metal. Bumpers, dashboards, radiator shrouds, trim pieces, etc. were made of metals. Nowadays, its not unusual to find hoods, doors skins, and fenders made of some type of plastic composite. The same holds true with minor components in the engine compartment.. Those good old days unfortunately are long gone, but fortunately the plastics have improved greatly over the past 2-3 decades.

Battery I can understand, but CV boot at 40k, window reg at 40k, a little hose that should have been metal but PVC instead. I will accept the fact that I have a bad X, if I am the only one that had all the problems, but look around other X owners too and some even with lower miles than mine. Come on this is a BMW we are talking about not a SUV from GM or Kia.
Not if you follow the maintenance schedule and change the coolant. The X radiator core is Aluminum alloy and the inside diameter is smaller than the hose in question, is your radiator corrorded?

Battery, CV boot, evaporator, steablizer links, engine belt, A/C belt, A/C final stage controller, rotors, lower control arm, bushings of pull rods. Now, the dealer tell me that the cylinder head gaskets need to be changed since they see slight leaking, also the gasket of oil pan needs to be changed due to slight leaking. Now my X is about 80,000 KMs.

We must admit that X5 is far less reliable when compared to the Japanese SUV. I have had my Toyota 4Runner 2003 which now has the same miles that it is on the X5 which is 78K. With the 4Runner all I ever replaced beside regular oil change is the brake pads. Everything has been origninal from the day I drove it off the dealer. In contrast, the X5 has been giving tons of little things bills. Nothing big, but still a lot more than I am prepared for. How the heck did the windows regulators on both doors fail? How the heck did both CV boots break? And the door actuator just died on me all of the sudden. A list of a lot of little things. But i hate it. I love my X, but I dont love the repair bills.

rogerkiu, didn't know driving in Hong Kong can be that tough on the X. All those low speed city driving really take a toll on the suspensions huh? Seriously, do you drive your X to Mainland?
NovaX5, I work on my own cars, so its not the repair bills that bother me. It is the inconvenience and the thought that if other car companies can make parts that last a lot longer and charge cheaper, why can BMW designs and engineers a car with parts that will last just as long. I love the way BMW drives but.....

abarth, the dealer told me that driving 10000 kms in Hong Kong equals driving 30000 kms in USA or Europe. Always driving at low speed and always stop and go really hurt the engine. Regarding the suspension, I guess it is caused by my off-road driving. If I have done less off-road driving, my suspension would have lasted longer. I do drive my X to China mainland, but not frequently, about 2 time a year. Each time I drive my X to China mainland, I do some off-road driving for excitement and pleasure. I guess off-road driving makes my X' suspension failure faster than other X.

My repairs
 

Hello Everyone, I'm a new owner of a pre-owned 2002 X5 4.4. I really think this site is wonderfully organized and super informative. For example, just today I was reading through the posts below and noticed just how accurate the "watch list" was for 50K miles. It's amazing, just about all of the things listed in this forum is why my X5 is in the repair shop right now. Thank god I had a certified pre-owned X5 because my out of pocket costs for the things not covered so far are over $1600. I'm kind of in a daze right now so I thought I'd write so I could could feel better. I'll post another message tomorrow and let you know exactly what was fixed and how much each item cost.

The same thing happened to me a few days ago. I was going to the shops when the engine wouldnt start. The startermotor went but no fire. So the battery guy came and installed a new one, so after he finished i tried starting and it did the same thing, so i just let the car take over and it started itself it is one smart car. After it got going i let it idle for around 15 mins and then it was running fine (even the lights where brighter lol). The car starts so well not even on cold mornings.

My expansion tank pipe split also so i went to work and made a perfect one out of stainless steel :) . But now my expansion tank is split and i have coolant leaking all over my motor :(

Where abouts can i get some more door handle trims because mine are peeling off because of my wifes RINGS!!! GRR