Soon to be owner in Dubai - deposit down!
 

Yo! So... yesterday, I put down a deposit on my first BMW; my first German car in fact. I'm a big fan of cars and have had quite a few in my eight years of driving - 18 to be exact, including mostly Nissans but also a couple of french cars along the way. All those cars were while living in the UK, but I've just moved out to Dubai and thanks to a new job I've taken a major step up in the world of cars!

The car i've bought is a 2006, one lady owner, 4.8is with only 71K kms (about 45K miles), full history and it's in IMMACULATE condition - there isn't a mark on it anywhere!

I'm told that it's full options, but from what I can tell all 4.8is models are full options - is that right?

I haven't got any photos yet, but as soon as i pick up the car (tomorrow or Monday) I'll be sure to post some up.

Soon to be a part of the BMW world, and I can't wait! ;)

Welcome! Will add to the large amounts of awesome and amazing cars in Dubai. I'll be headed through there in a few weeks again, love Dubai. Congrats.

Congrats, I hope it has a warranty, you're gonna need it!

That doesn't sound very positive! Why do you say that?

It has got a one year/30,000km warranty. Should I try to get this extended?

i would definitely get an extended warranty, unless you can fix it yourself.....most people cannot. it will be worth the extra money

this just means that often times the X5 can require extensive maintenance. i would search this site for common problems with the 4.8is and educate yourself on what you could potentially be faced with. good luck and welcome.

Congratulations on the new X5. I love the look of the 4.8is. Thought about buying one a few months ago but couldn't justify spending money on it given I'm happy with my 2001 4.4i. All 4.8is models are fully equipped with the majority of options available at the time.

As for the reliability (and hence the warranty question) mine has 120K miles on it. I bought it 15 months ago with 108K miles and, aside from doing the work recommended by the PPI, it has been fairly trouble free. If I didn't have a good indy mechanic I'd probably consider a warranty as repair work can be costly if done at the dealer.

Welcome. My advice, get some dark tints for that hot sun...

got some pictures ready? Congratulations! I found the maintenance is part of the excitement of owning an X!!! Love mine.

Greetings to Dubai,

for reliability - I have a 3.0d 2002 120.000 km since about one year and it is absolutely reliable. Never a problem - beneath the ones I created by myself with modding it. A lot of fun, a lot of guys beeing jealous, a lot of really hard rides :-) Enjoy a great vehicle.

Good luck,

Helmuth

Hello everyone. Thanks for the welcomes and advice for my new X. I'm absolutely loving it - the luxury, the noise and the pace. It ticks all the boxes for me, that's for sure.

Sorry for the lack of photos, i hope to have some up tomorrow. I've just had it tinted everywhere by 3M... the sides and back 30% (max legal for Dubai), sunroof 80% and the front transparant. Although the front is transparent, it still blocks out 40% heat i'm told... which is essential when temperatures hit over 50C in the summer. Temp is around 40C here now and without the tints it's been bloody uncomfortable.

The car is a mess at the moment, needs a proper clean and the windows are covered in smears from the solution they use when they tinted it. Once clean and sparkling I'll get some photos up.

I'm taking the car back the dealer tomorrow to have a couple of issues looked at - the power folding mirrors fold, but don't stay folded... they just pop back out each time. There is also a fault with the tire pressure sensor which i've asked them to look at.

Oh, and i've looked into the extended warranty - they want another 5000 dhs (about $1400) for two years instead of one. I'm going to risk it. I'll be following all the regular maintenance schedule requirements, and some. Here, and to comply with the warranty requirements i have to service is every 5000km - yes, really!

Cheers,
Andy

Congratulations! Excited to see some pics of it all finished. Oh, and just out of curiosity.... What language is spoken in Dubai?

The UAE nationals speak arabic as their mother tongue, but i'd say 99% speak english as their second language. So... as i speak English, and English only... there is thankfully no language barrier.

I'm going to get it valeted tomorrow, once the tints have cured - i was told not to open the windows for 24 hours, or clean them. It's currently smeared all over... and covered in dust from the sand!

Here she is, valeted about an hour ago and already coated in a fine layer of dust!

Clicky for larger photos ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...h_DSCF0031.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...h_DSCF0032.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...h_DSCF0033.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...h_DSCF0034.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...h_DSCF0035.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...h_DSCF0036.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...h_DSCF0037.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...h_DSCF0038.jpg

:D

Looks good! Love the interior too.

how much the 3M tint cost?

Hey Andy, congrats on new X, i also picked mine 3 days ago.

Dont forget to join BMW UAE club BMW Club UAE Forums - Powered by vBulletin

I paid a total of 1400dhs, which seemed a pretty good deal. I called around lots of places to get an understanding of costs, then went for a the cheapest 3M dealer that could do what I wanted.

The tints are fantastic... the car cools down so much quicker, and heats up much slower.

[ ] Slide out trunk floor
[ ] Heated steering wheel
[ ] Sport seats -no cost- (comfort are standard)
[ ] Navigation
[ ] Rear side air bags
[ ] Running boards

Nice color combo.

And everything else is standard. :) hope you like it!

Thanks for that little list. Of those I don't think I've got the heated steering wheel, I've got comfort seats (not sport), I've got Nav... not sure about rear airbags and I've got running boards.

I'm loving the colour combo... although it gets so damn dusty here and it's so obvious on the metallic blue. I've just set up a regular car wash twice a week - they turn up between 12am and 6am and clean the car, while I'm sleeping! Only in Dubai... :D

Windscreen
 

"....sunroof 80% and the front transparant. Although the front is transparent, it still blocks out 40% heat i'm told."


Andy, BE WARNED !!!
In the UAE it is illegal to put anything on the windscreen irrespective of whether or not it is transparent.
This may sound ridiculous given the number of cars that you see driving around with mirrored screens, totally blacked out windscreens etc but a friend of mine recently bought a new 4.8 and had it tinted BY THE DEALER (Abu Dhabi Motors). He had the transparrent windscreen tint as recommended by the dealer (or the tinter they used).
One week after taking posesssion of his new toy he was pulled over by the police and told it was illegal.
To cut a long story short, despite many arguments, the court fined him AED 10,000 and confiscated his car for 1 MONTH.

This happened in Al Ain but I think the law is UAE wide.
I suggest you check with the Dubai police - and I would be interested in the response.

Cheers

Hi Desertdog,

I would think this is also illegal all over Europe.

Good luck

Helmuth

And North America for that matter

Nice LeMans Blue! It's one of my favorite X5 colors. :thumbup: Then again you're in the UAE so shouldn't you be getting it chromed? ;)

I would suggest you have your battery tested or find out if it is new. The type of heat you experience shortens the life of car batteries dramatically. I also live in a very hot desert environment and I expect only 3 years for a car.

You find maintenance exciting? The dealerships must love you.:D

oh no, I do almost all of it myself. I could never afford to have the stealers do this amount of work :D. Thanks to this site and a couple online retailers, I'm able to keep up with the problems as they arise before they become huge issues.