X5 Inspection
 

Hello to everyone. I have been following this site for several weeks now during my search for an X5 of my own. You folks seem to do a great job of helping one another.

I have finally tracked one down locally that seems to fit the bill for me. I am taking it to be inspected by an independent BMW mechanic today and was wondering if you all could give any pointers on what specifically to look for. It is a 2001 3.0i with 20" 87s.

At least one of the front outter CV boots has been replaced, and I understand that window regulators tend to go as well. I will of course have the tranny looked over too. Anything else? I hope the report comes back clean so that I can feel like a true member. I look forward to performing a few mods and attempting as much maintenance as possible on my own.

:xoutpost:

Post some pics of your X5!!!

Oops, I realize I was unclear. I actually haven't bought the car yet, just want to really badly as long as everything checks out mechanically. But I will certainly post pics as soon as I have it.

call BMW-NA
find out if there are any open recalls (you nedd the last 7 digits from VIN number)
ask them the dealer's phone number that sold the car
call the dealer and find out if the car was serviced for any major problems (works if the car had just one owner that didn't move to much across US)?
that's what I did when I bought mine
Good Luck

How many miles? Get the cooling system checked, water pump, hoses, etc... This is one of the weaknesses of the X5s of the first 3 years.

It has ~75k miles.

As they all said above, I would hunt down the car's history.
Easiest way, if the seller will give up a key, is to have that
key "run" at any BMW stlr. Full history, via any BMW dlr, will
pop up.

Without knowing "what's been done" to it, we are only guessing
as to the potential probs. to be alert for.

Cooling system and all its components, as Alpac suggested, is
an Achilles heel. Window regs are penny ante. Having a trans
"looked at" is a very difficult diagnosis to do with any real
discernible info, imo.

Run that key and/or get the history by any method, before
you fall in love with it, let alone buy the beast.
GL,mD

Got it...
 

So about two weeks ago I finally bought the thing and am now the proud owner of a very handsome 2001 silver X5.

I spent several weeks prior to the purchase and nearly every day since learning from this forum. This site is a very good tool and I wanted to thank all the people who contribute. I have already used a few writeups and suggestions to learn about or fix a few miscellaneous issues.

That being said, what is the best way to post pictures so I can show it off? Do I have to load them to a website first to be hyperlinked?

use photobucket and paste the link provided when posting your pics.

Here it is then...
 

So I got her with the OEM 20" wheels, and really like how the previous owner had all of the lower trim painted to match. She also has the black leather interior with the light colored wood trim, cold weather and sport packages, and flip down dvd player in the back. My only plans for the moment include some audio upgrades, but I have a feeling the mod bug is easy to catch here.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...c/IM000304.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...c/IM000300.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...c/IM000301.jpg