The X5 is becoming a money pit.
 

The X5 is getting expensive. I put ~$800 into it in December for upper and lower control arms and bushings and a ride level gauge. Then ~$500 last week for front brake rotors and pads. Now it's in for an alignment and the stealer is telling me it needs new tie rods at $798. Add in the alignment cost and my new tires and it's near $3000 just to get the front end right. :confused: :(

Gotta love Indies. My usual Indy says he can do it for ~$450. Much better.

yeah i'd stay away from the dealer for one thing. i usually trust them with electronic stuff but basic mechanical work i'll usual a local guy who i know is good with cars.

i wouldn't have bought my X if i planned on bringing it to the dealer for service. I've done all repairs myself, except AC Recharge. Find a good indy shop and make friends with them for stuff like control arms and whatnot. As far as repairs yourself, you may find that you need a couple of odd tools, sizes and flatness. i may do ball joints by bringing the arms in to a local shop and have a worker take two mins to press em out and in. prob do the bushings at that point too.

Those prices are very high, but maybe not for a dealer. I think that since they got you in the past, they will continue to tell you what needs done. FCP Groton has both tie rods on ebay for $72 shipped! Ive used them in the past and have been very happy. Labor shouldn't be much if you don't want to do it yourself. You will need an alignment after replacement. Link: eBay Motors: BMW X5 X-5 E53 3.0 4.4 00 01 02 03 04 Tie Rod Rods (item 220332475467 end time Mar-19-09 12:00:35 PDT)

I heard about "pay to play" but that's too much bro, 3k just for front end work. look for a good mechanic, I have 1 and it's makes all the difference, about how you feel when u need work and about u ride.

good luck man.

Judging by your sig, you shouldn't be surprised. After owning a few myself, I've learned to fix a lot of stuff which I recommend to anyone who plans to keep their BMWs for a while. Most of the same things go wrong across models (cooling system, window regulators made by K-Mart, control arms, vanos controller, etc. etc. etc.)

Any BMW takes total owner commitment. This is the difference between owning and leasing (renting) which IMO isn't the same thing since you never really own it, you just give it back and let someone else deal with it. I've often been tempted to take the easy way out and lease a new one every few years but there is a certain satisfaction in owning my cars and keeping them maintained. With that said, I still b*tch and cuss when things break and swear I'll never own another Break-My-Wallet again.

The last few years I've really noticed that cars have just become nothing but fashion. Most people don't really care about them, it's just an appliance that people can show off until the next new shiny model comes out. Like a refrigerator. Most of my friends overseas (Europe) still have pride in ownership of their not-so-new cars whether they be BMWs or any other car. Maybe it's just a US thing because cars are so cheap here...

I have a pretty good Indy. He's going to replace them for ~$450. Much better price. He did the control arms and bushings, too. Then it'll still need to go back for an alignment.

I know full well that BMWs are expensive. It just seems that sh1t happens all at once, though. The X5 has been very kind to me for 60k miles, and just when I fork out some savings to buy my Z4, the X5 starts to get expensive. I swear the cars know when you're going to sell them and when you've been "fooling around" on them and they look for revenge. :confused:

Still, the X5 has been far cheaper to own than the E38 I had. I loved that car, but it was averaging $1000/mo in repair costs.:wow:

See .. THAT was the money pit! ;) By comparison the X is okay. :D

Agree, find a good independant shop
 

Quit going to the overpriced stealer. A good independant mechanic can do everything the dealer can do, and much cheaper. The guy I use has all the latest BMW dealer software on a laptop and goes to specialty BMW clinics once or twice a year to learn the latest stuff. I trust him more than I trust the dealer.