Front Caliper
 

Ok, was getting some vibration from the front end... intermittent and would get worse when braking... then go away from a while. Brought in to the service department... figured warper rotor. Well, the brake caliper was freezing up... ok, I can understand that... I've had that happen before on other cars. But at 66K miles, that seems awefully young for a caliper to fail.
Cost to fix... $1400! Because the caliper failed, it need to be replaced as well as the pads and rotor, on both sides. Holy $h!t So much for buying the extended maintenance... they must have looked right past the rotors when it was in for Inspection I recently.

Anyway, told them to put the wheel back on and bring it around front. I wasn't paying $1400 for a caliper and brake job. $75 charge for their time and got the job done at a local import car shop for $850. Saved $500 by not letting the stealer hose me.

Finally, what goes next? The transmission? $4000 or $5000 for this??? Sorry to say but time for this car to get a For Sale sign. It drives great but the difference in performance for the difference in price and maintenance just don't add up. I think BMW has become all hype... it has become just another car company that over charges on their name not in thequality and performance of their cars. I won't buy another BMW again until they come down to reality, distance themselves from the other car makers and put oil dipsticks back in their engines. Only a dip$hit would buy a car without a dipstick.

I don't know if the service dept realizes what they do in the back affects what happens in the front. The car I was going to get for my wife this year... I was thinking a 3 series... sorry.. no BMW for her... I think a nice Toyota. I'm looking to switch to an AUdi to replace the Crap 5.

Anyone interested in a 2003 X5, 67k miles in excellent condition?

How many BMW's have you owned?

I've had my X5 for 4 months (2001 71K). So far I have changed cv boot, battery, brake pads, door actuator and latch, bulbs. Still cannot open the passenger window from the driver switch. The trunk opens by itself. Every morning before I start I wonder whats new to fix. This is my first BMW ever and the last one. Fun to drive and safe, but sooooo unreliable. Its not about the money that I spent on the car but the fear that I won't be able to use it when I really need it. With 2 infants is no fun begging the car to start. I always keep cash in my car for taxi.

You bought a 6/7 year old car with 70K on it, what were you expecting exactly :)

It didn't say 4-Runner on the side. If that was your first BMW and you judge your view by that, it is a poor one IMO. Try getting a new BMW first and see if you have similar issues.

at one point it crossed my mind to buy a new one (or lease) and went to E70 forum. Changed my ming right away. I'm not bashing the company its just that I didn't expect to clean my pockets that often. My whole life I've owned maybe 15-20 cars. New or used. Believe me, I know what reliability means!

Well BMW's, MB's, Audis all are notorious for costing a lot to fix, that is why anyone who has had multiple Bimmers will tell you "have a warranty or sell the ride".

Also, as with most German rides (save V-dub) first year runs are issue bound.

I've had my car for a yr and a half and i haven't had any major issues, accept the battery drain issue, which resulted in replacement of altenator.

"It didnt say 4-Runner on the side"

Is that supposed to mean that if it was a 4runner 6/7 yrs old with 71k he wouldnt get as many issues? If so, I thought we spent more $ on something for quality and reliability.. It's like everyone that tells people not to buy a cheaper part on ebay, buy OEM, even though it's more expensive. Isn't because more expensive=better quality, more reliable.

I think the fact of the matter is that if you buy a USED car, you can expect to have issues. Some ppl buy new, and run their car into the ground, and sell just before everything falls apart. This could be the case with your car youry, and Hal. You buy ANY car used, you may have. Before I had the X5, I had a used 97 Saab 2.0 Turbo (the in between car i call it) ton of problems!!! Fun to drive, but when I got stuck on the way to bring my then 1.5 yr old to doctor's office for emergency - i decided time to sell. Before that, 2000 Pathfinder (purchsed new) no problems!! purchased off lease and got rid of it soon after when i moved from Toronto to NY. But now, have used X5, and so far so good. I think $1400 for my used car after 1.5 yrs isn't bad. But previous owner probably took care of the car very well. Lucky me. (until next time I have to spend a few thousand!!! LOL)

IMO, the extra money you spend is not for reliability...it is for luxury and engineering.

Yah- def have different opinions, lux I understand but reliability should be a given lol

[quote=Hallatauer]Ok, was getting some vibration from the front end... intermittent and would get worse when braking... then go away from a while. Brought in to the service department... figured warper rotor. Well, the brake caliper was freezing up... ok, I can understand that... I've had that happen before on other cars. But at 66K miles, that seems awefully young for a caliper to fail.
Cost to fix... $1400! Because the caliper failed, it need to be replaced as well as the pads and rotor, on both sides. Holy $h!t So much for buying the extended maintenance... they must have looked right past the rotors when it was in for Inspection I recently.

Anyway, told them to put the wheel back on and bring it around front. I wasn't paying $1400 for a caliper and brake job. $75 charge for their time and got the job done at a local import car shop for $850. Saved $500 by not letting the stealer hose me.

Finally, what goes next? The transmission? $4000 or $5000 for this??? Sorry to say but time for this car to get a For Sale sign. It drives great but the difference in performance for the difference in price and maintenance just don't add up. I think BMW has become all hype... it has become just another car company that over charges on their name not in thequality and performance of their cars. I won't buy another BMW again until they come down to reality, distance themselves from the other car makers and put oil dipsticks back in their engines. Only a dip$hit would buy a car without a dipstick.

I don't know if the service dept realizes what they do in the back affects what happens in the front. The car I was going to get for my wife this year... I was thinking a 3 series... sorry.. no BMW for her... I think a nice Toyota. I'm looking to switch to an AUdi to replace the Crap 5.

Anyone interested in a 2003 X5, 67k miles in excellent condition?[/quote

BMW = Big Money Wasted or Break My Wallet. anyways BMW is a great cars.this E53 x5 including the E70 is my 12th BMW.(the best one was E36 99 M3)

And you probably paid about 30-40% of what the original owner paid? There is a reason for this - it is a 7 year old BMW.
Sorry to hear about your problems and it does suck to be nervous about whether or not the car starts - but you should not be overly surprised.

Wagners posts hit the nail on the head.

I agree with both sides of this debate. Buying a bimmer used or new, it should be reliable at the very least. But also, you are spending top dollar for the name brand,luxury, and the engineering. Just like Wags said. That's what you're spending $ on. Reliability is something that should accompany it, but unfortunately sometimes it doesn't work out that way...

:iagree: :iagree:

Well you are paying for the brand, that is for sure... but those roundels are damned expensive. Luxury?? Not any better than a Lexus. Engineering? BMW's don't stand out any more. When my $45k Z4 gets classed with $20k Honda 2000's and $25k Nissan 350z's... where's the engineering?

I think 50k mile warranty talks for itself. The company has no faith in what they build. Lifetime fluids mean drive it until it fails then get a big repair bill.

The truest statement is.. sell it once it falls out of warranty but I can't afford a new car every three to four years.

Then you probably shouldn't be playing with BMW's. You do not want one out of warranty.


PS: My 2004 350Z was a "better" performance car for me then my 911 or my E46 M3. The emblems have nothing to do with it :)

Sure your Z4 falls into the same "class" as the S2000. But when you're driving around you don't say wow look at that nice S2000...No, thats because its just a Honda...Nothing outstanding and not a "real" head turner to those who know vehicles..Or most people in general..And if you think a Honda can match the engineering of a BMW, I have yet to see it, and I've owned 2 honda's and 1 acura before... That's what I mean when I say you pay for the brand...My X5 falls into the same class as my Infiniti Qx4 but its not as impressive as the X..in all phases, looks, performance, etc...Reliability wise they are about the same...I bought the X because of the brand and yes, the luxury..Sure Lexus's are luxurious..no one's denying that, but they struggle in exterior styling and I'd take the performance test BMW vs Lexus anyday....To each his own...:thumbup:

In all fairness, that Honda screams all the way up to 9000RPM. And I do mean screams. I would say that does count for something with folks 'who know vehicles.' Unless you don't care about things like going fast.

I understand this lo jack. But engineering wise? Would you say that Honda and BMW is on the same level?

And as long as you don't want any torque :rofl:

162 tq @ 6,800 rpms....useless.

No, they are after two different things.

The short version to me is BMW over engineers in order to deliver performance that (historically, anyway) differeniates their brand. But insodoing, they use a massive amount of consumable parts with comparitively short lives, often creating one or more consumable parts where others, like Honda, would use one non-wear part. That is the tradeoff.

When one buys a BMW, this should be explained to you. That is why things fail at 70k when a Ford/Chev/Mopar equivalent could go 120, 180, 250k.

Granted I have owned this X5 for a bit over a year, but I also still own every other car I have ever owned since I started driving, and they all still run with a minimum amount of repair and replacement. Minus my X5, my fleet average is 174k miles. They are not performance oriented vehicles, or if they were forced into that role, they have been pushed beyond their designs.

I do not think others engineer this way because they do not have to. What performance other manufactueres do achieve is often a sliver of what is possible given the compromise of reliability, low cost of maintainance and so on. It is not a point of contention, well it shouldn't be. It is a different philosphy of running a car company, and it requires those who buy the product to agree, or have a warranty. :rofl:

Ok, no torque. Well, it doesn't take a lot with a light vehicle, and also this is mostly moot if you have a manual gear box, much like an RX8.

sell it. if you are hot happy with a car of any brand just sell it. bmw is just another brand. if i can't afford fixing it, i will sell mine too. vehicle for wife should be more reliable than the x. bmw doesnt guarantee you that everything works right after $50k. its your choice to either keep it or sell it. here is the tip, 1 brand new 4-runner, 1 brand new x in the house if you live in snow area or 1 brand new camry, 1 new 5 series.

What is surprising to me is that this entire thread started with a seized brake caliper, and moved on to a discussion of BMW reliability.

Brake calipers don't just seize. They seize because there is moisture in the brake fluid. That usually happens because the brake fluid isn't changed according to the manufacturer's schedule, which is every 24 months, from the build date (not the in-service date). Would be interesting to know when the brake fluid was last changed for the OP, and if the cap was left off the brake fluid reservoir at any point, admitting moisture.

I am with lo-jack. What you pay for with a BMW is the driving experience. Engineering, yes, but IMO it is experience mostly. If that experience doesn't mean anything to you, you shouldn't waste your money on a BMW. Those who do value that experience are willing to pay for it, just look at the sales statistics. There is absolutely nothing in the brand promise that implies reliability; purchasers who equate the higher price with reliability deserve what they get for not researching.

I don't think it is as simple as saying the parts are less reliable, it is just that complexity is engineered in for the sake of the driving experience. Look at a BMW suspension with multi-links. It is designed to handle better. It has a lot more links to wear out. A McPherson strut would be cheaper, more durable, and would provide 90% of the handling. BMW just makes a design choice to go after that last 10%.

I make sure I sell my BMWs when the warranty runs out. I had two friends who asked to buy my last two cars, knowing how I had maintained them. I declined to sell them the vehicles, as they weren't going to anyone I knew and wanted to stay friends with. If you can't afford a new car every 3-4 years, then fine, I empathize, but it seems to me that buying a used BMW is a poor second choice. That is not so true of the E46, but it is very true of the current line-up.