Quick Preventative Maintenance Question
 

Over the weekend I purchased my dream 4.8is, I have the option to pick up an third party warranty from the dealership but have to decide by today. My question is... Around what mileage have most of the owners out there started to see problems? The forum points out regular woes like the boots, certain hoses, etc. but are these items going before 50k under normal driving conditions?

The X only has 9k miles on it and I'm assuming nothing should be breaking before 50k that would justify a $3500 dollar warranty. :dunno:
Please help guide me in the right direction. Thanks!

my cv boot went out a 36k and both front air struts went at 34k..... Other than that, the X5 has been rock solid (knock on wood)

Thanks Lemans, how much would you say those repairs run?

Here is my .05 worth. I would pass for now. If you have a lot of problems between now and 45K miles (or 48 months) you will probably get rid of her anyway. If not you can have any warranty work done before it goes out of warranty and then buy an extended warranty at that time. Squirrel away a couple hundred bucks a month now then it won't be such a tough decision down the road. Good luck.

I like your thinking taosx5, and I was thinking the same. The dealership said that mileage wise it would obviously qualify for the certified preowned BUT due to it's age it wasn't possible. It seems pretty solid and $3500 right now and the possibility of not even using the warranty doesn't seem all too logical. Guess I just needed someone other than my wifes input.

Definitely still interested in problems I may face within the next 40k though.

I believe your 4.8iS was one of a number of X5's purchased and well maintained by an enthusiast in California. A member here (BigGar) used to maintain and post about them.

With such low miles...and if it is one of the vehicles maintained by BigGar, if it were my purchase, i'd pass on the extended warranty and continue the anal-maintenance. I'd be observant, compile a list of common/big ticket issues and address accordingly.

Congrats and happy motoring :driver:

I'd skip it. In 113K miles mine hasn't gone through much more that $3500 in repairs, even at a dealer. And the vast majority of those were beyond 70K. although time will play a factor more than miles for some items, so you may see things fail earlier than on vehicles that were driven more regularly. But still.

I had about $8,000 - $10,000 worth of warranty repair work done between 55,000 and 100,000 miles on my 02 4.4. It is garaged daily and I don't beat on it either. Just my experience, but X5's are not very reliable. Most independent resources will agree with my opinion regarding reliability. $3,500 can get recouped very, very quickly with repair costs for an X5. Keep in mind that nothing is guaranteed just because you have really low mileage. For example, numerous BMW owners have experienced auto trans failures before 50,000 miles. If you don't get a warranty, start a repair fund and keep adding to it. You will need it, it is just a matter of when.

ChilliWilli, not sure if it were BigGar's or not, second time I've heard his name though. He sounds like a true enthusiast. Either way I'll definitely be more on the anal side. It's my first V8 and I'm hoping with a lot of preventative it will be as bulletproof as my handed down E36.
C4 thanks for the advice, hopefully mine will take the same path as yours and prove to be as reliable.

No chance. I have an e36 with 320,000 miles that I have owned since 2001. I purchased it with about 100,000 miles on the clock. So far our X5 is catching up very quickly with repair costs in about 60,000 miles of ownership to what my e36 has cost for 200,000 miles of ownership. It hasn't cost quite as much yet, but it is getting close. Cost per mile, the X5 is WAY higher so far.