Test drove an X5 today...
 

Just got done test driving an X5 today, and had a couple questions. First its a 2004 4.4 with mid 50's in mileage. When the car is on it there is a high pitch sound coming from the engine area and sounds like mice are running the car (haha) and when you open the hood its even louder. CARFAQ is clean and is in very good condition, is that any easy fix or a bigger problem. Also it has a sun roof and when you shut the doors (not any harder then normal) the sunroof shakes and makes a noise... If I put my hand on the sun roof and shut the door it did not make the sound. I made sure the sunroof was closed all the way also... known problem? thanks for the help.;)

the water pump,drive belts,pully are maybe on its way heading south.

A simple leak in one of the air hoses can cause such a sound. If that's what it is, that's a simple fix. Mine is a 2002 4.4i with almost 160,000km and I have never had a problem with the pulley or water pump. I highly doubt that's the problem. 50K is not much for mileage at all. A loose belt could also cause a high pitched sound.

I assume it's not for sale by a BMW dealer?? It's always worth it to take it to a dealer and have a full inspection done on it before buying. It's a couple hundred bucks, even if only for peace of mind!

The 04's are great. You'll like it...

Hmmm sounds like trouble to me... There are a couple more I'm looking at, this is just one of the options. I might let this one pass me buy though.

Sounds like belts and/or waterpump. A pretty standard-affair issue with these vehicles.

It sounded like a belt because the pitch was constant however it changed tones constantly... I'm no car expert tho.

Well if the waterpump hasn't failed yet, it will too. We went through two when we had ours. That was over a span of 80,000 miles. Once at 35k, next at 75k.

Keeplooking you will find one soon