X5 ownership a few months in
 

After a few months of X5 ownership (late 2004 3.0d Sport) I thought it about time that I posted an update of my ownership experience thus far. I have been lurking on/off since buying the car but haven't had time to post on issues I've experienced as it would have been a full time job! Here is a summary of the issues I've either had resolved, are still ongoing or have only recently appeared:

Coolant leak - resolved - noticed a coolant leak from around the cap a few days after picking up the car. Cleaned cap and surrounding area, topped up coolant and reported to supplying dealers. They arranged for local dealers to pressure test system which came back ok and confirmed cap must have been loose.

Washer reservoir cap missing - resolved - reported to supplying dealer but replaced myself at a cost of £1.49 as I didn't want the hassle of booking it in.

Weak handbrake action / grinding from rear wheel - resolved - from day 1 handbrake was very weak which I reported to the supplying dealer and was told is normal, heavy car etc. When the weather picked up and I had the window open more often I noticed a grinding noise coming from the rear wheel at low speed, while in car parks etc. Local dealer investigated and advised the rear discs, drums, pads and shoes needed replacement due to excessive corrosion. Not covered under warranty. Supplying dealer said that all AUC inspections were passed so as far as they were concerned it was not their problem. I pointed out that the coolant leak, missing washer cap and my complaint about the weak handbrake did not give me confidence that the AUC inspection was carried out properly. Local dealer backed me up by saying that the level of corrosion present would have taken a long time to happen and should have been apparent at the time I brought the vehicle. After being avoided by the supplying dealer's sales manager for a few days I placed a call to the dealer principle, was somehow mistakenly transferred to the sales manager and it was promptly agreed that they would pay the local dealer to carry out the work. Noise has not repeated since.

Click through steering - resolved - clicking felt through the steering wheel around centre point while driving round town with constant steering input left/right. Steering column bearings replaced by local dealer under warranty.

Missing AUX heating remote - almost resolved - factory AUX heating remote was part of factory spec but not present when I picked up the car. Supplying dealer said they were in the process of getting it from the previous owner and would send it on. Months of chasing and they finally supplied me with a new remote at their own cost (over £300) as the previous owner could not produce the original. Received it in the post last week. Needs to be initialised/paired by local dealer next time the car is booked in.

Play felt through steering - ongoing - occasionally feel a light clunk or slack being taken up in suspension/steering. Felt when accelerating or braking with steering input. Up/down hill seems to encourage this. Most often feel it when negotiating a roundabout, shifting weight of car from one side to the other. Hard to reproduce and is quite subtle so an engineer would have to drive the car every day for a few weeks to pick up on it. Reported this at the same time as the clicking but dealer said they could not reproduce. Would appreciate any pointers on the potential cause and ways I could demonstrate it next time I book the car in at the dealers. Bear in mind I don't currently have a locking nut key so can't take the wheel off to inspect the suspension. This may or may not be related but I think I've started to notice a slight wobble through the steering wheel at 55-65 on certain road surfaces, more apparent when on a wide sweeping bend. It is very slight so I may be imagining it!

Intermittent PDC - ongoing - had one front and one rear sensor replaced by local dealer under warranty a few weeks after getting the car as PDC would intermittently stop working. Has started happening again over the past week so will need to have this looked at again when I book in next.

No locking nut - ongoing - anti-theft locking nut key not present. Local dealer was arranging with supplying dealer to have replacement key supplied. Have not been updated on this so will need to chase it again.

Flickering tailgate interior light - ongoing - the interior lights in the upper tailgate flicker on/off every few minutes if the boot is open for a while. Bit irritating and shouldn't happen. Reported to dealers last time it was in and they said it couldn't be reproduced. Will demonstrate it next time the car is booked in.

Squeak when gearbox changes from 3rd to 4th - new issue - I get a funny squeak when the auto box changes from 3rd to 4th. I've noticed this since the car was in to have the rear brakes and steering column bearings replaced. Doesn't always happen, loudness of the squeak seems to be related to level of acceleration. Can often be reproduced by going in to manual mode and accelerating briskly in 3rd, changing to 4th above 3k rpm. Will tell the dealer about this next time it's booked in.

Self levelling suspension inactive message on dash - new issue - had this message come up on the dash a few weeks ago. It persisted over a couple of restarts but disappeared that evening and hasn't come back. Will tell the dealer next time it's in.

4x4 warning light on - new issue - the 4x4 warning light came on a few weeks ago while I was coming back from a weekend camping in New Forest. Persisted despite a couple of restarts while sitting in traffic. Disappeared after I stopped for coffee on the motorway 20 miles later. I had a bike rack fitted carrying two mountain bikes but I don't think that is relevant as I've used the rack several times since and not had the warning light come on.

Blue bars over TV picture with AUX vent/heat active - new issue - Blue bars appear over TV picture if AUX heating or vent are turned on. Not mentioned this to the dealers yet but will have it looked at under warranty when next booked in.

Lurch & Inappropriate downshift - new issue - when the gearbox is in a good mood it's silky smooth but when it's in a bad one it's horrible. Sometimes revs excessively - more so than when in Sport mode. At low speed it will occasionally catapult in to the next gear which is very disconcerting when in slow moving traffic; now leave lots of space in front of me. The worst symptom is when driving down a reasonable incline. The slightest touch of the brakes to stop the car speeding up causes it to aggressively downshift revving the engine up at 4k and rapidly slowing the car. Feels like it shifts down two gears. I'm surprised I haven't had someone rear-end me yet because of this. Have tried the gearbox reset trick and it seems to have an effect but doesn't last long. Haven't mentioned this to the dealers yet as I was having other issues resolved, will be top of the list next time it's booked in.

Excessive smoking under load - new issue - now I expect a little bit of smoke from a diesel but this seems excessive. Can't really be noticed in the day but is very apparent at night with clouds of smoke lit up by headlights of the cars behind. Only happens under load - accelerating heavily, uphill or on the motorway (accelerating on entry ramp or overtaking). It's so heavy sometimes that I can see the cars behind put their wipers on or change lane to get out of it. If there was a police car behind me I'm sure I'd get pulled over and told about it. Fuel consumption seems fine and I can't see any loose hoses under the bonnet. Doesn't really happen pootling around town. On one of my regular routes there is a narrow country lane, uphill with walls lining both sides of the road. With the window open I notice quite a loud sucking / roar so am thinking this could be a cracked inlet manifold, any opinions? I also notice that the turbo whine is very audible most of the time if the window is open. That's not really a problem but my pervious diesel, an 06 VW 1.9TDI owned from new, hardly made any turbo noise at all. Will mention this to dealer next time the car is booked in.


I have a few other minor annoyances:

Loose mudflaps - front mudflaps are a bit loose. There are some white plastic rivets in the back of the mud flaps which clip in to holes on the running board, these don't hold. I can see there has been some black silicon sealant applied to try and hold them on but they have come loose in the hot weather. Did mention this to the dealer last time it was in but they didn't do anything about it. I brought some replacement clips from the parts counter for a few pence and replaced them. they still don't hold, the problem is that the holes in the running boards have become enlarged so the clip won't stay in. This isn't a major issue and I'm not sure it's worth pursuing, depends whether it would be covered under warranty as I guess the running boards would need replacement.

Missing running board rubbers - dam things seem to go missing on the drivers side where I get in/out. Brought 10 of them from the parts desk so always have a few spare ones when I notice one has popped out. Annoying though.

Passenger mirror does not always return to proper position after reverse/dip - not a big deal and doesn't happen often. Not worth asking the dealer to look at it as there's no way I can reproduce it on demand.

Window seals perishing - bit annoying as leaves streaks on the windows. Will mention to dealers next time it's in but I wouldn't expect them to be covered under warranty. Might look for a DIY guide for replacing these.

Hiss from front shock - notice a hiss from front shock when going over speed bumps with the window open (slowly). I think this is normal but I'm not sure. I seem to get a lot of back/forwards wobble when coming to a stop, could it be the shocks need replacing?


Overall I am happy with the car in that it does what I want it to do and is much more useful that the Boxster, even if it isn't as much fun to drive.

I do however think it's a disgrace that a £17k car from a main dealers with a clean history and low mileage should suffer from so many issues in such a short time. Trawling over various BMW forums none of these issues appear to be rare one-offs. If I had brought the car privately then I would have already forked out quite a bit of cash and probably would have changed car for another brand by now. The BMW warranty has so far proved to be worth it's weight in gold and if I keep the car I will definitely be renewing it.

Hope this post isn't taken as one long moan, I like the car; just running over my experience so far and would appreciate any input from members who have suffered from any of symptoms I am at the moment.

wow, did you have a prepurchase inspection done on it before you bought it?

I have to agree with you JBF, though my road hasn't been near as bumpy as yours mine has been bumpy enough to promote buyer's remorse and I only just turned 56K miles. I love the look and drivability of it but the amount of breakdowns on these cars that are labeled "common", "usual" or "frequent" in this forum is rediculous. I would be downright emarrassed about this vehicle if I were a BMW exec. It kind of makes me wonder about the customer service policies of the company or if there are any. For example, some of the "reoccuring" items that break like window actuators . . . shouldn't those be reengineered to be more dependable and be recalled so that when they break the reengineered ones could be installed at no charge? I'm not saying that everybody with currently working actuators should bring in their vehicles to get them all replaced but I am saying that proven defective parts should be replaced as a gesture of goodwill from the company to the customer instead of making more money from us paying to repair their poorly engineered parts. I have always worked for companies that were big on customer service to the point where it cost the company money directly to promote that culture and those companies profit margins weren't as high as BMW's. Those companies continue to flourish today staking their reputations on standing behind their product. I see nothing at BMW that shows me any kind of company culture that comes anywhere close to this. Is this why I see the word "stealership" so many times?

I have 4 other vehicles in my family fleet that are/have been way more dependable than my X5 and one of them is my repo truck which has over 180K miles and gets abused on a daily basis. My Lexus is extremely solid mechanically (with 140K+ miles) and matches the driveability of the X5. My son's Scion is bulletproof with almost 40K miles on it and it gets driven by a teenager who doesn't even know how to change the oil (knows nothing about vehicle maintenance or how to drive the vehicle in a way that promotes dependability). And my X5 is driven 3-4 times a week by me and is always driven with the utmost care to prevent any maintenance issues, and ALWAYS has a maintenance issue. Right now my ac is not working, pixels on dash are disappearing, one key fob does not work (popped it open, has correct voltage, tried reprogamming it, still nothing), have already replaced one cv boot up front, waiting for the other one to crack (should be any day now since these things are "labeled" to go out at around 60K), one power window not working, have a distinct whistling sound from under the hood, engine has a skip/miss at idle and I want to replace the tranny oil but am told that it is lifetime fluid (who has ever heard of lifetime fluid, is this a magical fluid, no transmission fluid will last forever in any car/truck).

Any negative comments are not directed toward any BMW owners, forum participants or employees of BMW, only towards the leadership visions of BMW. The ultimate exception to the customer service comments made above are the people who are employees of BMW that take their spare time to assist X5 owners on this forum with their technical advice and help. You people are customer service Gods/Goddesses in my opinion and are the sole reason that I still own this vehicle. If the rest of BMW adopted your customer service traits, I would have 3 of them sitting in my driveway. You people have saved me hundreds if not thousands of dollars with your generosity and I thank you! Additionally, I have a great opinion of the forum and all of the participants as you all have assisted me greatly as well.

I will miss all you good people as I am going to get rid of my X5 as soon as I fix the half dozen issues I currently have. Unfortunately, I will not be able to purchase another BMW ever based on my experience with this X5. I will find it morally challenging to sell it as I'm sure I will be asked reliability/dependability related questions and I don't know how I would respond to those.

Thank you all again!

Still trying to get half of my issues fixed. I think like you I'll be selling once they are resolved and will NEVER buy a BMW again. I had an E46 coupe some years ago and that was nothing but trouble, I should have learned from it then. Since that I've had a VW and a Porsche, both of which were rock solid and I couldn't fault at all in terms of build quality and reliability.

Wow.....fvck selling it, take it to a priest and have the demons haunting it removed.

Man stories like this make me nervous.. I have had several 3 series that have been rock solid.

Hi Jbf,
Really sorry for your bad luck.
I have had my X5 Diesel and apart from the normal common small faults(tailgate rattle)
a worn front wheel bearing,a window regulator.its been a happy relationship.
The other Bmw I had was a M3-E30 Sport Evo from 1989 to 2005 ,and nothing at all to complain there.So I guess I been lucky.
Your smoke issue is rather odd,since your car has DPF and it shouldnt be smoking at all,inless its regenerating all the time you push it hard.Could be a software problem as well as a Bad DPF.

Not sure that mine does have DPF, how would I tell? Build date is 06/2004 I think.

Thought I should update some of these ongoing issues as the car has been in at the dealers twice since this thread started, first for 10 days, then for another 16 days. It's now penciled in for 1 week from the 14th Dec:

Play felt through steering - kind of resolved - Dealers say they have inspected suspension and could find no damage/wear. Through trying to work out when I was feeling it and what I was feeling I have put it down to a slight tracking / balance problem. After having the tracking looked at and wheels re-balanced the car pulls to the left less and feels more stable.

Intermittent PDC - ongoing - Last two visits the dealers have said they can't reproduce the problem and that there are no errors being logged. Although intermittent it fails daily so they can't have tested it very thoroughly despite having had the car for 26 days over the last two visits :yikes: When it fails I have listened to the sensors and all are clicking so that combined with the lack of errors logged (which is a fault in itself) would suggest to me that the control module is on the blink. The service manager said it's hard to diagnose intermittent issues, there are no errors logged etc so I need to work out exactly when it's happening and so on. I pointed out that it shouldn't be my problem and they have had 26 days in the last two visits in which to attempt to reproduce. Since I got the car back I have kept a compact camera in the car and taken video several times when it has failed. Will show this to the dealership as proof that it's happening and had it back to them to troubleshoot.

No locking nut - finally replaced

Flickering tailgate interior light - ongoing - At first they said they couldn't reproduce the problem as detailed above. Second to last visit they said it was tracked down to a loose connection and rectified. That didn't actually fix it so on the last visit they said that they replaced both bulbs (free of charge although they made a point of telling me they weren't covered under warranty but it was written off as a gesture). I did point out that it was rather optimistic of them to think the issue was being caused by faulty bulbs but the service manager insisted the problem had been resolved. Needless to say the issue is still present so not coming off the list.

Squeak when gearbox changes from 3rd to 4th - ongoing - on each visit the dealers have claimed that they can't reproduce this. I can reproduce without fail, have offered to demonstrate it but have not been taken up on that offer yet. Will be taking a tech on an extended test drive next time I drop it off to ensure that they do not continue to ignore this one.

Self levelling suspension inactive message on dash & 4x4 warning light on - resolved - apparently put down to low battery. Dealers said they charged it up for me.

Blue bars over TV picture with AUX vent/heat active - ongoing - An issue apparently never seen by BMW, they have spend a lot of time troubleshooting this with HQ who have now apparently sourced a similar spec car to troubleshoot with at the far end! I did point out that compared to the other issues like PDC, smoke and the squeaky gearbox this is extremely low priority but apparently BMW HQ are putting them under pressure to get it resolved.

Lurch & Inappropriate downshift - ongoing - Dealers insist that this is normal behaviour. None of the loan cars I've had from them as courtesy cars have done this.

Excessive smoking under load - ongoing - So, second to last visit they replaced the Turbo. After that the smoking was still just as bad as before. Following replacement of the turbo I had the error message 'Check Engine Oil Level' on two separate occasions whilst on the motorway. Pulled over and checked the oil level which was fine. On the last visit they changed the oil separator. Smoking is still present and I now seem to be getting lower indicated MPG from the OBC (5-6MPG less on average).

Passenger Mirror Parking Dip - ongoing - So despite the dealers 'apparently' replacing the passenger side mirror to address this issue, the mirror still fails to return from the dipped position sometimes after parking, quite occasional so difficult to demonstrate but happens a few times per week. Now over the past two weeks it's deteriorated substantially so that the mirror struggles to dip at all. I put her in reverse and the mirror either dips a few degrees and stops or dips further - then hunting up and down before stopping about halfway. Very strange that this is happening to a brand new mirror. If they have changed the mirror (and not just charged the warranty company for one) then it has to be a control issue and that could tie in with the intermittent PDC and weird flickering tailgate light.


Had a flat battery the other night, this is the 4th time I've had to call out BMW assist for the same thing. Was sitting in the car for 10 mins with just the radio on while I was waiting for my takeaway order (no lights or aircon etc). Grabbed my food, got in the car again and it wouldn't start. I'd had a 2 hour drive the night before and hadn't used the car since that so it shouldn't have been flat. Recovery guy said it definitely needs a new battery and it's probably the FSR that's knackered the current one. Hoping the dealers will replace it under warranty considering the car was supplied as approved used and has suffered from this since day one.

My alarm kept going off last night for no reason. I suspect due to battery voltage dropping with the cold weather. Went out and checked the voltage with the OBC earlier and it reads 11.7v but I don't know if that's good/bad?

Just get under the car,and hopefully you will be able to see the DPF.
Check here RealOEM.com Diagram Selection

I had a look but it doesn't seem to be standard fit for any car right up to 09/2006 build. The standard CAT/Exhaust section suggests using DPF instead of a replacement CAT (probably at additional cost) - looks to me like it's just a retrofit/upgrade?