Newbie- Looking to buy, a few Q's please!
 

Hello all, Ive been educating myself on these forums for a while now, as Im looking into an x5 4.8is, either an 05 or 06. I love the looks of the 4.8 and think that the perforated leather silver/black interiors are awesome looking. since I'm looking to buy fairly soon here are some Q's I'd love to hear opinions.
Looking at a 05-06 4.8 what is there to look out for? Should I be weary of high mileage (50k+, off warranty) cars and reliability issues?
I came across this car
BMW : X5:eBay Motors (item 260413499596 end time May-26-09 09:13:18 PDT)
on ebay, any thoughts? Also, it does not have Nav, something I think Id like, but could do without. Other than the Navigation functions what am I losing by not having the integrated system (other features, trip info, car info etc...)?
Thanks for all of the help!

mine didnt come with nav and i retrofitted because.. well i just wanted nav when looking for 4.8 - and price was too good to turn down just cuz it ddnt have nav.

The X looks great - and good price i think. Do your research - make sure its clean and have a mechanic check it out before you buy. I bought mine with 17k miles and no nav, etc.

I know where you can spend 3k more and get the nav and 46k miles. Only difference is the ineterior is different - its the cream int like mine. So if you're looking for that black and perforated interior then you wouldn't want this one. It's in Queens NY..

Thanks...anyone else?

you can "install" an navigation onto the x? because i have a 2001 3.0 w/o nav. would that be possible to install a nav? if so, how much would it cost? if not, i would have gotten my hopes up. haha

I'd get it. The Alcantara interior is VERY sport compared to leather. I wish that was standard on all M Cars. At least if you cared about seat grippiness, you'd love it. The only bummer about that car is no nav, but for that price, you could retro it. No rear sliding floor either, but hey, most ppl don't like it. I personally like the floor. It does making loading/unloading much easier.

Good luck!

Personally, I would not buy an X5 out of warranty unless it was a killer deal - and for me, that would have to be between $15k - $20k off market value. Additionally, one of the things that made the X5 even more appealing to me was BMWs CPO program; the extended warranty and service is worth it IMO. With that said, BMW claiming a vehicle has been through a XXX point CPO warranty means nothing. I thought that "inspection" would be more thorough than my own, and I can personally state that it is not. Do your own thorough inspection. Now, my BMW dealer has been excellent and had no issue fixing anything I pointed out. Finally, with BMW offering 0.9% on 2005 and 2006 3.0 and 4.4 models I really couldn't justify spending more on a 4.8 or buying private party non-CPO.

My $0.02.

BTW - that Imola Red 4.8L is gorgeous, and personally, I wouldn't let Navigation influence my decision. I have it and rarely use it. With hand held GPS systems and smartphones that can be updated constantly I find them more reliable than the maps on the navigation unit.

I personnally would not purchase a vehicle from e-bay. Sold as is, no inspection uh uh...Since you said you are educating yourself, you should know that it is wise to have a CPO and some warranty. Don't short change yourself.;)

Yeah, thanks. I'm thinking the Nav isn't a big issue- the new portable ones are so much better. This one probably will not be the one I buy, too many miles. However, I really want the Imola red and the Alcantra interior- a tough combo to locate. If anyone comes across any leads, let me know!

Did you try the BMW NA CPO car locator?
It is not always up to date, but worth a look...
I agree with posters above on finding a CPO
car in your model year range. I'd take a Pasadena
on an Ebay car, too.
GL,mD

BMW North America

I bought mine off ebay ;)...well, not really. I found it on ebay and luckily it was local so I checked it out in person, negotiated, then had a PPI done for safe measure. Everything checked out and I did manage to get it 10k under market value. I think it had something to do with the intermediate levers being out of tolerance, but I was never able to discover that issue until after I bought it as it was only a cold startup in the morning problem. There was really no way to test for that unless you had insider knowlegde (dealer).

I would highly recommend you negotiate it off ebay and have a PPI inspection done. I'd would shoot for 25k OTD price on that car.