I must be insane!!!!
 

So I pulled the trigger on ANOTHER X5. The new to us X5 is a 2002 4.6iS. The car has never been driven in the winter.
All of the service records since new are included with the car as well. Always serviced by a BMW dealership. The X is very clean for a 2002.
Anyway, I must be a glutton for punishment! LOL

So, my BMW X5 brethren, do I need to check in to the looney bin or what?:wow:

I hope you either won the lotto or do all of your own work on your X's ;)

Love the wheels...:thumbup:

The aphorism, falsely [I think?] attributed to Einstein, describes insanity as repeating the same things and expecting a different result. Depending on your previous history, and how similar your new one [congrats!] is to your old, you may be insane, really smart, or just optimistic. Take your choice! :)

Agreed. If you don't expect the 4.6iS to be maintenance free, you're not insane. A masochist maybe, but that's a whole different conversation. :D

So nice! grats.

Chain guides firdt

Congrats! His and Hers?

Nice purchase...maybe a little on the insane side! lol...

Mileage?

74,000

good luck with your 4.6is, the engine is the whole problem with them,MAKE SURE YOU HAVE GOOD MACHANICS WORK ON HER,great x5 great low end .You should to use Castrol oil.clean the throttle body . 93 octane fuel.
Good luck You should be fine....................................

Welcome to the new family addition!

I like that.
;)

by the way A TRUE ALPINA ENGINE.............................

What is the lifespan like of the 4.6? I have seen a few for sale up here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) with well over 200 km...however, I have read about many catastrophic failures elsewhere and on here, even with well maintained 4.6s...Are the 4.8/4.6s that prone to engine issues after 100 km/miles?

False! Alpina didn't touch the engine of the 4.6iS.
BMW used Alpina engine for R&D of the 4.6iS engine.

Mostly Timing Chain Guide Tensioner and the Guides themselves.

Great engine
 

V8 Lifespan and big bang failures:
Most owners are happy and will receive great service from their vehicles with NORMAL proventive care from their $70K investment. As with all HiPo vehicles, the care and feeding needs to be from someone who understands BMWs, has the understanding that just an oil change ever 10,000 miles is NOT keeping up with the SAV, and will be proactive rather than wait for a "no start" situation. In otherwords an enthusiast!

This forum is PACKED with information and "How To" articles, insight and advice from 10 years of experinces. Most common issues have already been identified and addressed by someone who has racked up more mileage than normal.

The list

Oil Leaks - Gee gaskets go bad with hot cold cycles.
Winters are hard on vehicles- been that way since the horse froze
Tires- Heavy weights + spirted driving + agressive alignment specs = short life span....so?:dunno:
Brakes - see above.
Timing Chain Guides (4.6) - Plastic parts break at 10 years/ 80K+
Newer models from the same manufacturer have "updates" that solve former model issues. Gee, really?
Third owners usually are more interested in purchasing additional style choices (Sound, wheels, lights, etc) than completing up all the delayed maintenance items first. Gee, really? You mean cheap purchases on 10 year old HiPo vehicles mean they need repairs and part replacements to get them up to a good base line? Go in cheap, bring shovel.:stickpoke

Bottom Line:
My X5 4.8is is one of the BEST cars I have owned. Fun to drive, love the sound, puts a smile on my face ever time I shove it to the floor. Bring on the twisties! Drives well in snow, comfortable on the highway, and cleans up well after 10 years that people think it is a new one.

Now will I need to continue to replace what leaks, breaks, and throws up? Yep, welcome to HiPo car ownership. In the "old days" valve jobs and rings replacement was "normal wear" at 50,000. Tires if lucky, lasted 10,000 miles. Tune ups were done every 6 months or 7,000 miles. Plugs lasted one year, or one trip into city traffic due to low speed carbon fouling. Now we call the scrap yard for 90% of these cars at that point.

If you want cars with NO repairs, limited maintenance expense, and low owner involvement, than I would recommend another choice out there of the more than 500/600 models produced each year. Now they will not provide a lot of driving experience other than getting you from A to B, but for most of the driving population that is a good thing. Why do you think they build so many boring cars that look like a canned ham on wheels?

HiPo vehicles are like racing horses, expensive to own, feed, and care for. Buy a plow horse to pull a wagon. It only makes financial sense. They are NOT for EVERYONE.

Now back to work and off my soap box (for your twenty somethings that means I will stop typing now).

Glad you got that off your chest, Stephen. ;). Feel better now? :)

LOL...However, even with someone like many of us who understand the need for PM, there are still failures...just one of those things I guess. Hit and miss with the 4.6/4.8

Yea that was a lot for the morning. :rofl:

Sorry to rant. I get real tired reading the "I just purchased a XXX and stuff happened. I did not do a PPI. What's that? I just added $10K in audio but the now the damn thing leaks oil!!! What the Fox Trot???? Etc etc"
Turning wrenches and detailing cars to perfection my stress reducer.

Actually this line had me laughing when I wrote it: "Winters are hard on vehicles- been that way since the horse froze."

Absolutely agree with you...It is interesting to me how many people invest in car audio and neglect engine internals aside from regular oil changes...It's funny that many people think that a "well maintained" vehicle means that one changes oil during normal intervals...

Awesome , I must be just as insane .. what people don't get is BMW in general are addicting. The X5 is unique and becomes a obsession cleaning, maintaining , modding, and or course driving lol

Mybest dealer story is the guy who brought in a 1 year old vehicle with 38,000 miles on the original oil and filter. After it tossed a few internal parts due to the lack of oil, he dropped it off by a roll back tow and demanded that this was normal usage and should be covered under warranty. After all, 5 people in his office had skipped a few oil changes and nothing happened. It is only bad build quality from the manufacturer that caused it.

The factory rep came by, laughed at the oil pan contents, and then yellow high lighted the owners manual for the owner. It was not pretty.

The oil was 80% grit and the filter had stopped working and had gone to "bypass mode" somewhere along the way. The interior looked like a homeless person was living in it. It was left on the lower lot until it was sold off as a junker one year later.

Oh, did I mention that the last time it was washed was by the new car prep dept?

I like this one even better....

"Intro thread I just bought my new E53 / X5 / 4.6iS / 4.8iS isn't my car so awesome and bad ass I love this thing etc etc here is my mod list"

Then 3 months later...

"Well my indy inspected it when before I bought it and he said it looked awesome I don't know how I just spent 3k on repairs between the cooling system maintenace I had to fix the air suspension and replace a bunch of leaking gaskets, I don't have the money for these kind of repairs I'll be buying premier membership and it will be for sale in the classifieds soon"

Rolling audio. You think they would understand the word "Rolling" means it has to be "running" first.

Kind of like daily drivers. The number one most important thing it should do is start every morning, and drive to point B. EVERYTHING else is optional. I think I can live without the under car and wheel well lights till then.

I believe I was reading on here that someone just purchased a 4.8 without completing a PPI and has run into some major maintenance associated with purchased mileage...I don't remember the title of the post...

Wait...That one is up on the forum at least twice this month and it is only the 9th!

StephenVA, I assume that you work for a BMW dealership? You must have seen some funny things...I can just imagine...

I forgot the add
Suspension: Gee, heavy HiPo cars chew up the parts that keep them "light on their feet" Really? Who Knew?

I was reading on the Ferrari owner site (yes, I am looking for at a 360) and on that model the motor mount are a 20k normal miles replacement item. Along with the belts, plugs, and $5K worth of parts to get to them. And we bitch about Pano Roofs!

In a previous life, I worked in the Automotive world for 20 years.
Diagnostic equipment, Champion Spark Plugs, the last years with a $14 billion automotive parts manufacturer. We built OE and aftermarket parts, including engine management, clutches, Fuel system, emissions. I worked at a dealer for 3 year before all that. Now I just go and visit friends who own shops and enjoy the stuff that limps in with the expectations of a “cheap fix” for the total lack of up keep. The average car comes in for one thing at a repair shop, after an inspection, 5- 10 items need to be addressed under safety and maintenance. Maintenance Deferred is the normal American practice.
I was totally shocked when I first got into the automotive business after college, as I grew up in a large family who did everything on cars. No trash left behind, washed when dirty, detailed monthly, and that was with 7 kids! The car was an investment and part of the family.

In the repair world you hear every day "It's only a car".

I HATE THAT PHRASE! However I corrected it for you to reflect the actual American meaning of the phrase when they say "its just a car".

In my household and how I was raised your vehicles were things you OWNED, were your second biggest investment after your house, and was the single biggest reason you get from point A to point B safely, and not only that, the way your car is seen is an expression of yourself!

I used to yell at my girlfriend at the time (now wife) that she needed to take better care of her car, regular cleanings, stop leaving trash in it, not eat in it (its not a friggin drive through) and although it took a few months, when she saw how well I cared for my vehicles she "got it", so to speak. Now she enjoys having her car clean and takes pride in it, since it is something she pays for monthly (2011 Rav4 she financed it for 60 months).

Now my mother in law on the other hand? Buys a brand new 2013 Toyota and runs it through the auto car wash once every 6 months, dog hair, blankets, garbage, snow brushes, etc, all in the car, its a friggin pig sty.

I told my mother in law that as the Vice President of an insurance brokerage you'd think she'd have a little more pride in the presentation of her vehicle, she told me "I don't have time for it Jay its just a car".

Some people you just can't change. However, in MY household, my wife was heavily pushed in my direction but I'm happy to say she did it almost on her own, just took a little bit of eye opening but she no longer uses that phrase, thank God.

I've been there brother! I gave my wife my 2001 e46 330ci Sport (I think its what you guys have as the ZHP in the States but without the ZHP gear box) in 2007 when I bought an M3. She loved it for a while but when the novelty wore off, she stopped looking after it. After a few years (the value of them had dropped considerably by this point), it was in a bad way and needed alot of work. I had given her countless lectures on looking after it but they fell on deaf ears. I had done some of he maintenance work needed at first but I realised that she was not learning the valuable lesson like this. I backed off...

Eventually she had to sell it for alot less than it could have been worth if looked after and ended up in a 1999 Lexus IS200. Having to drive the Lexus everyday made her realise what a fool she was in neglecting what was once a great car. I told her I'm not giving her another car but if she saves, I will match her savings to get her a better car. Eventually she saved enough that with my contribution she could get an e60 5 series.

She now looks after it extremely well, cleaning it inside and out almost more often than I do mine. If I tell her it needs this that or the other in terms of maintenance she will stump up the cash for it. Because of this I will usually just pay for it myself most of the time. I just want to make sure she is willing!

That guy should have had his driver's license taken away for life, and had his cojones cut off and left on a fire ant hill to suffer... Who in their right mind neglects a car, let alone a BMW, like that??? :dunno:

Happens every day. Visit any dealer and walk through the shop bays and you will be amazed at what is hanging up in the air. Examples of "Parking by Sound" (you know crunch.. "oh, I can pull forward now"), "oops, never learned to parallel park youknow", "So that was that noise!", or my favorite, "My last car did not do that", or "What's that for?"

The poor indys see the same stuff but only in later years. It is nothing to see M3, 5 series and 6 series cars with all four wheel looking like hitting the curb provided extra points. Cars at 80 - 100K with only oil changes having been done and now all that deferred maintenance comes due. Simple stuff, like cabin filters with enough dirt in there to grow plants in the cavity. Cars that become the Home Depot hauler, loose bulk mulch, 6X6 treated lumber, drywall, paint, Christmas trees in the back seat, etc. The original universal vehicle. What? I just washed it last Fall!!!!

"Honey, time for the new car as the repair shop called and it's going to be $2,500 for the oil change". Wife response: "That is crazy! Trade it. Time for a new car."

The three year (36 month) lease cars are also fun. "What??? Why do any of those repairs when I am just going to trade in XXX months?" This is the main reason cars hit the auction blocks with just a wash and a vacume done to them. The next owner gets the deferred maintenance bill, or the third, etc.

Best cars to buy are ones owned by people who have the resources to own more than one car, maintain all of them, repairing everything as necessary, and drive them as intended.

I am sure we all have seen more than enough on the forums and parking lots to keep this conversation going forever on the topic of "What car damaging thing did you see today on your commute/drive?"

I will go first:
Woman shaving her legs in traffic with shaving cream and a razor, observed last year while driving to a meeting in Wash DC. (eye damaging)
Older Honda with a microwave on the dash cooking something for the 5 people on the way to the jobsite.
The older Chevy with...count them three space saver spare tires mounted on it, driving down the interstate. (note: Temporary use only).
Or ...The IDIOT at Home Depot with the volvo convertible, who was stacking 10 sheets of drywall, two 5 gal buckets of drywall mud, and 12 2X4's on the roof (top UP) on his new car- temp tags and all. No, I did not wait around to see what happed at the first bump out of the parking lot.

One more... The older three series at Bimmerfest east with the roof cut off (winshield too) at the door arm rest level. Lowered to the point of total impact to asphalt. I am sure some father was spitting out "Honey, your date is here", just before dialing up the local mob enforcer to solve that future in-law possibility.

Wow I missed that gem. Pic?

Camera broke on click.....

Primered beast chopped up not a well done mod project.

Are you insane, not yes but HELL YES...LOL!! But hey you already own one (is it a 6cyl or 8cyl?) so you know what to expect, I think you'll be fine. By the way there's one other member who has/had his and her E53s, but the repairs were killing his wallet so he finally let one go, and I believe he was thinking about letting them both go, do a search and you can his find thread. Looks good!

The "Old" one is a 4.4.:bustingup