E70 Owners/Lessees Time in Shop
 

Just wanted to get a feel for how many E70 Owners are having problems - both minor and/or major - that required them to bring their X5 to the shop to fix.

PLEASE ONLY LIST ITEMS THAT NEEDED THE SHOP TO FIX.
PLEASE LIST ITEMS THAT WERE JUST LEARNING ON YOUR PART AS NO PROBLEMS.

Only problem I had was the Backup camera was not working and they had to replace it.

does the new one work at night?

works the same as the old one at night.

I know there must be more than 21 E70 owners on this forum!!

Please vote and/or give us your $.02 on this.

I am taking my E70 back to the dealer tomorrow for the backup camera issue. I kept getting the rear view camera malfunction message on the screen all most every day. Sometimes the camera works and sometimes it just a dark screen when put in reverse. Very enjoying...

my backup cam displays colors inproperly, so I turned it off. Also, the plastic cover on the rear windshield wiper screw has fallen off.
I haven't been back to the dealer since delivery (2-19-07) except to pick up my other car, which died.

My 4.8 X5 is 2 months old and it's been in the shop for 2 weeks now and counting. I took it in because the instrument cluster warning lights would suddenly go out, then after awhile, they would light up like a christmas tree, then go out again.

At first they said it was some sort of battery that had gone bad causing the instrument cluster to reboot. Then they ended up replacing the entire instrument cluster. Then they couldn't program the new instrument cluster into the computer. Then they replaced the computer hoping that it would allow the instrument cluster to program. No go. Now they're replacing the computer again, claimimg that the 1st replacement computer was bad.

I think they have no clue what the problem is and they're just replacing things hoping that something would work. I bet that when I get the car back, it would have more problems than when I originally brought it in.

If you want to know problem rates, you need a much more structured approach than this.

I collect this very data at truedelta.com, but haven't started yet with the E70 because too few owners have signed up to participate. Once I have enough owners, results should follow in 4-6 months.

I have been seeing low repair rates for the E90 3-Series, which suggests that BMW is getting its act together, but the new X5 could still be problematic.

Looking to make my choice of new vehicle soon, so I can't wait for your data.

Just from the result of this non-scicentifc poll, I'm not getting a '07 E70. 68% of the 25 voters on this poll have problems already. It appears the 2nd generation X5 was not ready for production yet.

I'm sorry to all of you having problems. I sure hope BMW gets their act together soon.

It might not be totally together yet, but in all fairness it seems like BMW is making an effort...

The only major recurring problem seems to be that of a faulty backup cam...

Nothing like the 02' 7 Series fiasco or the 04' 5 series fiasco...

The E90, E92 & E70 launches seem to have gone well...

What about the many post of transmission and electrical/computer problems with the E70?

While this forum along with bimmerfest have many post about E70s being in the shop (some for weeks) for a multitude problems, I haven't seen one with an overnight stay for a backup camara!

Many have complained about the b/u cam, but this is bad design, not something broken. What concerns me are things that break which require trips to shop, tow to shop, and time in shop.

I totally agree with you. However, when I bought my E70, I knew right from the start that it won't be as reliable compared to Japanese cars. What persuaded me to jump to the first year production E70 is the BMW performance and handling, so you may say that I bit the bullet. Glad to say that I am happy with it and so far have not encounter a problem (with almost 4000 miles) that will force me to take the car to the shop.

We all have our hopes. :thumbup: Mine is that, since it has been in the shop for approximately 40% of the time I've owned it, that the last time was the only time it will go in for unscheduled maintenance for a very long time.

Yeah...we all have our hopes. I was cognizant that there would be some nits with a redesign, but I certainly hadn't anticipated this.

Joel

Just be aware that forums will make problems seem much more common than they actually are. People with problems are much more likely to visit and speak up.

mtang,

sounds like you have a short circuit in the main wiring loom. This component is fed through the bulkhead during manufacturing. During this process the wiring loom is inserted into a protective sheath to prevent any chafing or cuts on the wiring harness when fed through the "razor edged" apperture of the bulkhead. I worked at Land Rover in the UK and witnessed a similar problem on a massive scale during 1st phase production on Range Rover (L322) a defect that was identified to the main wiring harness which supplies power to all the main vehicle functions and which unfortunately resulted in the cars affected (1,000's) being completely stripped out (Cockpit, seats, consoles, headlining, carpets, etc, etc) to replace the main wiring loom.

Sorry to give you the bad news:(

B4M

If you put this poll up on every site site your going to see the same skewed results...First, for every 1 member of this forum there are hundreds of E70 owners who arent aware this site exists, then you have the problem where the majority of those who respond are those with issues...so it looks like the model has major problems, when the truth is this is just not the case. Every manufacture has some vehicles with issues, and those owners with problems are going to be the most vocal. They are going to respond to a post like this. Those w/o issues usually dont respond to these posts.

Polls like this provide no real value, they only create histeria...then to make matters worse, you you have posts from people who dont even own the vehicle stating they heard of problems which only confounds the confusion.

Do you really believe 68% of the X5's produced have issues? If this was the case, 60 Minutes has a great story here.

Well, got my car back after almost 3 weeks. Turns out they replaced my instrument cluster, then replaced another computer module twice and finally got the software to program. Now I have version 25.1.1 in my car, which works better on the Nav. Allows me to search by name now. But the steering wheel position is now messed up. Instead of moving up when ignition is turned off, it moves down. You can't set the memory setting on it anymore, if you press the seat memory, the steering always comes back down to one set position. I have to move the steering everytime I get in the car now. There was another thread on this forum where others had seen the same problem with the latest software. So I'll wait a few weeks for them to fix the software before I complain to them again. I'm afraid they'll keep it for another 3 weeks.

In 2002 & 2003, MB E-Series had 70%+ problems in 1st 90 days of ownership. Plus E-Series had highest rate of lemon law buy backs in MB history.

The posts on the MB forums looked just like these back then, but this info never made the main stream media - including 60 Minutes.

Why are you against open critque of BMW quality problems?

Trust me, im not...I own one. If I had issues, I would be posting openly about them.
Its just frustrating, when a lot of the people on this board talking about how many problems the E70 has dont even own an E70...kinda odd dont ya think?

The percentage is probably nowhere near 68, for the reasons you say.

To avoid this sort of bias, my research at TrueDelta collects data going forward. So when people sign up they don't know what they'll be reporting. Currently the least reliable models I'm tracking average a repair trip a year.

I'd like to track the X5, but still not enough owners signed up.

You own ONLY ONE, not 100% of the E70s. You are one of the lucky 33% with no problems. Be thankful, not frustrated.

Yes, this poll is a small sample set in a non-scientific survey. Netiher one of us can prove or disprove the accuracy of the results when interpolating these data into the entire population of E70s.

However, since most members of this forum are enthusiast (including you and I just because of this dialog) that seamto be biased towards overlooking problems with BMW, I believe it is highly probable nearly 2/3's of E70 owners are experiencing problems.

Again, be thankful you are not having problems and enjoy your beautiful E70. Me, I'll wait until October to get my '08. Just don't like the odds with the '07.

:bustingup:bustingupyou're a funny guy.

Well, it surprise me that people will readily share the views about the issues without having first hand experience owning the E70. I wonder where the comments are based if not from mere personal experience.

X5FX,

Didn't I see a post from you on bimmerfest saying you were in a loaner car? :confused: If so, why? Whasssup with your X?

Also, I saw a post where you complained about the E70's backup camara at night. So you do post openly about issues...:stickpoke .

Anyway, just bust'n your balls. BMW should pay you a PR fee!!

Your friend,
SpeedR

GO TIGERS

Loaner= Oil change (break-in) and update progman to 25.2

Backup Camera- Yes I have posted several times about this, its not defective...they just used a very cheap part. The camera is worthless at night. I asked about it while the X was in for service and the tech told me to "turn up the brightness"...you can turn it up all the way and it does no good.

I have also posted several times about the Navs shortcomings, maybe they listened as I now have POI SEARCH..!!

I have also been vocal about the 1980's CD changer we have...but arent these issues w/ all BMW's??...not specific to the X5 and definitly not a reason to claim that 68% of X5's are defective. These are common issues that all BMW owners experience.


BTW- Yes, BMW sends me a monthly check for $10k to evangilize their products, just dont tell anyone.

GO TIGERS!!
SpeedR...if you see Reggie Bush, tell him to quite playing around in the So Cal sun and get to New Orleans and start working out.

I don't own an E70 so I did not add to the pole. However, I will add my .02 worth. I personally know 4 people with E70's 3 of which have had problems (75%) and two of them have had multiple problems with multiple trips to the dealer including one with a single stay of about 2 weeks. None of them are a part of this site (I've mentioned it to each of them).

So, these non-scientific pole results do not surprise me at all. BMW is not known for quality, and first year production quality is even worse (for any car company). Then when you add the design issues such as the back-up camera and other items released just too early such as the Nav software.

It would be great to get 'real' and 'full' data from BMW to see what the actual data is.

The backup camera and Nav have nothing to do with the E70...its the same Nav and camera on other models. Just go to any other BMW forum, the E90 forum (www.e90post.com) is a prime example and you will see the majority of the posts are talking about problems...does this mean that every model BMW is a lemon...I hardly think so. The very nature of a forum, is the open discussion of issues...therefore if you based your data on these open discussions you will never want to buy a new car.

No problem with X5 4.8i
 

I have my E70 for over six weeks now and have not experienced any problems, none.

I heard Reggie has been practicing his passes at the Playboy Mansion! Doesn't he know they don't allow bush at Playboy anymore, only clean playing fields allowed.

I have my E70 for over six months (got it on Dec) and the only issue I am having is the intermittent gremlins on my Backup camera. Nothing big though, just annoying sometimes!!! My only gripe is I can only get 15.3 mpg for a 3.0. although mostly local driving.

Mileage
 

I get only 14.1 mpg on my 4.8i. My old X5 4.4i got 21.3 mpg. That seems something to gripe about. Guess I have to buy some carbon credits from Al.