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.

ChilliWilli, not sure if it was 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 now retired passed down to little brother E36.

C4 thanks for the advice, hopefully mine will take the same path as yours and prove to be as reliable.


FSeth you almost scared me into regret. :) The E36 was my first BMW and definitely a good introduction to the family. I just passed it down two weeks ago with 190k, still to this day a great car!

I am not trying to scare you. You bought a really nice, extremely low mileage car. It is practically new, but I just wanted you to know that with regards to repair costs and long-term ownership, the e53 is in a totally different league than the e36. The warranty thing is completely up to you. It is a gamble that there really isn't a right answer to (before hand anyway). You can always put that $3,500 into the bank and draw from it when needed if you don't want to drop it on a warranty. Things can add up fast. If you go to a dealer, expect the following repair costs; Alternator replacement $1,200+/-, rediator (still same crappy material as the e36) $800+/-, thermostat $500+/-, valve cover gaskets $600+/-, water pump w/valley pan gaskets $1,400+/-, window regulators $370+/-, etc. It all adds up.

Hey your radiator exploded in your E36 as well. :D That was a fun day I don't want to remember.

Yeah I definitely weighed in on all of the aforementioned, I think any M class vehicle is going to come with a hefty repair tag though. I am thankful for the forum as some of those items thanks to the DIY's make it look pretty simple as long as I don't mind getting my hands dirty.

I wanted to ask but figured with a search I could probably find the answer, thank you for saving me time as now I have a hefty list of things to look out for. I suppose CV boots can be added too, it seems every other post on here is about one going out.

If you can do some of the lower and mid-level repairs yourself, the warranty is obviously less valuable. You seem to know most, but common issues are CV boots, thrust rod bushings, window regulators, valve cover gaskets, entire cooling system (as with many BMW's), final stage resistors (as with many BMW's), and oil seperator valves (in colder weather). The V8's seem to have more oil leaks than the 6 cylinders as well. I think I have had the vast majority of seals changed at this point.

Good luck with your decision and new purchase though. It looks great and I am sure it drives even better. :thumbup:

While Fseth is quoting what appears to be dealership rates......at the mileage, I'd skip the extended warranty. With that said, since post warranty, I too have had work done in the tune of 6-7K out of warranty... It's not unusual or to be expected IMO. Having warranty is like insurance. How long and what coverage is it for ?

I'm creeping up 45 days remaining on my extended warranty...
It has paid for itself 2fold in the tune of 6-7K worth of repairs at the very bare minimum, FWIW.

I understand your thought process in terms of getting an extended warranty or not. I bought an 05 4.4 in june of 09 with 40,000 miles on it. I opted not to get an extended warranty because the car came with a 3 month warranty from the dealership I bought it from. While under that warranty it had around $4,000 of repairs done (ac evaporator, cooling system blew up and something else I cant remember). In this year 1/2 I have had a little over $4,000 worth of work done on the X (cv boots, both front window regulators, door handle carriers, all belts and pulleys, power steering hoses/tank, both front air struts, all front end bushings and some other misc repairs.)

If I had gotten a warranty it would have payed off by now. I would recommend that you get a good aftermarket warranty for your X if you plan on keeping it. You're X will not be maintenance free because it has such low milage. It is still a 5 year old car. Plastics wear out and sometimes cars that have very low milage on them have issues from not being driven enough. For example, things like cv boots could wear out regardless of milage. They are rubber and rubber degrades over time.

At the end of the day, my recommendation is to get a good aftermarket warranty if you are planning on keeping this X for a long time. It is worth the piece of mind in my opinion. Things like the cv boots, door handle carriers and window regulators will go out. Those are just known things on our X5's. In terms of bigger ticket items going out on our cars, it seems to be very individual. I have two X5's the older one is an 02 and has 120,000 miles on it. Nothing major has gone out on it. Just the normal maintenance items (cv boots, door carriers, window regulators). The 05 V8 has had several big ticket items on it.

If you do choose to get an aftermarket warranty make sure to look at the fine print. Make sure that items like the pano sunroof, cv boots, door carriers and window regulators are covered. Good luck with your decision. It really comes down to how long you plan on keeping the car in my opinion.

The small maint items are cheap though.
Unless the warranty was covering 5 years at some insane mileage....I'd go for it.

The big ticket items is nowhere near the wear/tear of the mileage of where he's at.

That depends on what your calling small maintenance items. Items such as cv boots, window regs, door handle carriers could be considered small items but if you are not doing them yourself, they add up real quick. Sure, the car will have less wear on it due to the low milage but it is not a new car. Plastics age regardless of milage. Our front air struts don't just fail because of milage. They fail because the rubber air bag begins to dry rot and is no longer a perfect seal.

It comes down to peace of mind. If you feel confident in the condition of your X and are willing to pay for possible fixes then go with out a warranty. If you want to be on the safe side and are planning on keeping the X for a long time and use it as a daily driver I recommend getting a warranty. It seems like evidence will support that our X's with the V8 tend to require a little more maintenance and if it has the air struts those will most likely go out some time in the cars life. Keep in mind that this car was not driven very often and now it is going to be driven with frequency. Sometimes older cars with low miles start to have things that need replacing when they start being driven with frequency. Congratulation with your purchase! You found a beautiful X. I hope this information helps in your decision process.

I would go one step further than AZX54.4. It isn't just that very low mileage vehicles can start to have issues after being parked, it is that being parked in many cases is harder on a vehicle than being used regularly. Things like seat scuffs, brake pads, scratches, etc, will likely be in great shape at that low mileage, but anything that depends on having a seal not leaking or hardened up is a candidate for an early failure. Cars like to be exercised, and a monthly start up in the driveway doesn't qualify.

To the OP, do you have full maintenance records? Do you know if the brake fluid was flushed every 24 months?

Bearing it's a '05, is the warranty a bumper to bumper or just major mechanical....
Just curious bearing it's age, is the aftermarket offering a bumper to bumper or strictly major mechanical ...

ya - but that is a $20 part and an hour or two of labor if you know what you are doing. Not the end of the world. Guessing a 5 year old car with 9K miles is going to be OK for awhile in that dept. First one went out at 70K miles and the second one at 100K on mine.

My X5 should be happy this year - it is getting a steady diet of daily driving during the week by my wife for carpool duty with our kids. Sat around a lot more last year but still managed to rack up over 10K miles. This year will be 15K+ for sure once ski season ramps up.

Exactly, and not only engine seals, but how do you know if the A/C was operated when the previous owner was excerising the vehicle? I have always heard is good to operate the A/C to keep the seals and gaskets lubricated. Not sure if that is true, but when buying a four year old used car with 10,000 miles, I would be skepticle of all the issues that will arise early that will not be taken care of in the original 4 year 50,000 mile warranty. In other words, I would feel much better buying a 2009 model with 10,000 miles than a four year old car out of warranty with 10,000 miles. That is just me though.

Chef it is bumper to bumper but not as encompassing as the certified preowned b2b. Reading the fine print it seems pretty good, may just decide to go with another company. Dealership there deals with Compass but it doesn't look like shock absorbers are covered, wonder if they consider the air suspension a part of that. Also doesn't look like "interior items such as buttons, door and window handles" are covered.

JCL thanks for the guidance. I've requested the detailed service records but to answer your question, yes the CarFax showed Brake service and fluid flush in 2007. I've made an appointment with my local dealer for them to run through anything that may need to be done now. The flush being one of them since it doesn't look llike it was done in 2009.

So it went anywhere between 10 and 20 months over the recommended 24 month change interval. There is so much focus on oil change intervals on this board, and whether the manufacturer's recommendations are sufficient, but many owners neglect things like the brake flush where the consequences are seized calipers, and so on. Watch out for the brakes functioning normally, not pulling, ABS functioning properly, and they may be fine. However, this is the type of PM item that causes failures when missed and cars are parked, because the brake fluid doesn't move, the water that naturally collects in the brake fluid all goes to the lowest point, and that corrodes the calipers.

Don't just rely on Carfax, ask your dealer to scan your key and they should be able to show you all the work that was done by any dealer.

Well good news, just got off of the phone with the dealer and the brake fluid flush was performed Sept. of 09 as well. Dealership says all service records point to a pretty solid vehicle with all of the regularly recommended service fulfilled. I've made an appointment with them for Saturday to look the vehicle over, I should do the oil service and filter changes myself but will take it to them first time around in order to start the maintenance book. Will also get a print out of prior service even though he's already given me the mm/dd/yy breakdown of what's been done.

Good to hear. :thumbup:

Great work!! Sounds like your moving in the right direction!

Remember, most extended warranties, CPO included, require things to fail before replacing. So in order to get belts replaced, they have to break. Suspension bushing usually aren't covered (check).

That being said, my trans was replaced at around 50k-ish miles under CPO and two CV boots were replaced under CPO, so I'm not totally against warranties...

I tend to replace things before they break, based on the information from the group on when they tend to break.

BTW: excellent color choice!

Is the dealership selling the warranty, and ASSUMING they cover any repair without getting a issue of where 3rd party will cover X hours, but dealership is covering book time...and all you are paying is either nothing or small deductible, I would def . consider it...

If you are paying $$$ for a inspection, like a PPI, I'd probably trust a great INDY for a thorough in/out inspection over a dealership. YMMV though....

BTW, I've had GR8 Success with Warranty Direct....

My complete front end bushings, tie rods, control arms, engine & tranny mounts, water pump, alternator, ABS module, valve cover gaskets, vanos, and the list goes on......

With that low of mileage, I'd pocket what you'd be paying for it and ear mark it for better future use...mods :) Really, I highly doubt anything is going to go wrong soon with only 9k.

PS - very sexy S1RR...I'm jealous.

As always thanks for the help guys, Chef I decided against the warranty the dealership in WI was offering and will be talking to my dealer here in KY. If purchased I'd rather have one that I know they'll honor or already have a relationship with the company. Thanks for the heads up as I really haven't seen much praise on the forum in regards to third party warranties, I'll definitely check out Warranty Direct though.
Would prefer to take it to an INDY but we've just moved to KY and haven't had the chance to venture out to find a reputable guy around here. If we were back in VA the call would have already been made. .

m5James the urge is there and I still have a strong desire to just save the money like suggested. We'll see if the dealer says anything. Really though if I don't spend it on the warranty I may end up with an exhaust for the bike. Mmmm decisions decisions. :)

Ohh yeah where in Alexandria did you live, my wife and I just moved from Fredericksburg but worked up there off of Eisenhower. (Love the avatar as well)

How funny - my 4.6is lived in KY before I got it. I drove it all the way to CA. Well - sort of, a buddy from Denver drove it halfway, and I drove it home from CO. 4K miles road trip. The PO is a BMW nut and long time E36 M3 owner. He may have some recommendations for a good indy. I know for the 4.6is he had all service done at Sam Swope BMW in Louisville.
They also did a full PPI for me prior to my purchase. Seem to be a rather competent dealer.

No way, it is indeed a small world, funny too because I thought my 8 hour drive home was bad. I was b1%chin to my wife about it now having almost a thousand more miles already, I couldn't imagine a 4k mile road trip. But really if anything you definitely know your vehicle by the time you're home.

Interesting you mention Sam Swope because that's where I'm heading Saturday morning. I've heard very good things about them not only from the few locals I've spoken with but also from a coworker who moved here recently like myself. His 540's radiator exploded ("Suprise") and he had it towed there. His first visit ever and they discounted his service by like 20% or so.

They'll definitely have to do for now until I can poke around the city or hear of a good indy for stuff I can't or don't feel confident doing. They're in a sense going to "PPI" it for me along with the oil service so we'll see how it goes. From there on out I'll take care or the oil and regular maint. items.

It was a great 2 day trip for me, about 2K miles. Went across hwy 50 through Utah and Nevada and was hauling the mail 90+ for a lot of it. nothing out there - no cars, no civilization at all. Some excellent scenery.
I really enjoyed the trip. Plus I got to hang out with my buddy in Vail for a few days before heading out.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/...263_z.jpg?zz=1

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3460/...cc2_z.jpg?zz=1

I just broke 90K and have not spent more than just maintenance on it other than items I wanted to change. I am unusual tough (like some here) in that I love to tinker with stuff and change stuff for the pleasure!


Enjoy the dream car, it is just that!!! :thumbup:

Great pics! I can't wait to take a road trip and get some pictures of the X in nature or the city. Defintiely sounds like you had an enjoyable trip home.

Glad to hear this news. Kinda puts a glimmer of hope as long as everything is well cared for. Thanks ekimv

I was in The Reserve at Eisenhower, the 5000 block of Eisenhower Ave. Convenient location since the the storage units were next door and then just down the street was a BMW parts supplier ;) I like the east coast - the roads (at least in DC) we're so immaculate, the area had a generally nice feel...but that humidity and the police enforcement was a killer! I remember riding till 4-5 in the morning after meeting people at parks in DC and going on long rides around the Beltway, Baltimore, etc. I lived in Va Beach before that, so you thought I would have learned my lesson with that humidity.

Thanks, I can't remember where I found it, but it made me laugh out loud, so I figured someone else may get pleasure from it as well :)

I'm a road trip whore, but I've never taken a significant other with me. It's usually always been friends who were scared to fly for trips from Seattle to Vegas (about 10+ times) or a trip to NYC after September 11th. I've driven across the country 3 times before as well...moving from Va Beach back to Seattle after I got out of the military (had a friend fly down and drive back with me, took two weeks), Seattle to Alexandria/DC and back for a job (both times by myself). Save the flaming from those who read this, but I've always had some sort of multimedia system in the car, so watching movies on long trips like this really kills the time. I make regular trips to Seattle or Reno, starting in Boise where I live now, and watching about 3-4 movies in those 6-8hr trips makes it much more bearable.

Yep taking the significant other definitely adds to the stops made along the way. I'm a fan of the guys road trips. Atlanta, Miami and an occasional Atlantic City drive. I can definitely agree on the video though sometimes it's just what you need in regards to that little extra to keep ya going. Majority of the time I've seen the flick so many times I don't need to look at the ipod, moreso the sound.

Glad I'm not the only one with a complaint in regards to the roads. We were spoiled in VA, the roads here in KY aren't even really comparable.