Introducing Myself
 

Greetings board members. I just sold my gas-guzzling, maintenance hungry Lexus LX470 and purchased an '08 X5 3.0si and wanted to introduce myself to the community here.

This will be my 5th BMW, and my 2nd X5. Previous cars include a '96 E36 M3 [I still own and drive this], '95 318is, '96 318ti, and an '01 X5 3.0. I originally dumped the X5 3.0 in favor of the LX470 because we had another child and I liked the additional space and seating availability it afforded. And although that LX470 provided reliable service over 80,000 miles I always missed the X5. With economy [pun intended] on the LX set at 12-14 mpg average and needing to spend considerable amount of money in the next 15,000 miles on maintenance and repairs, I decided to get back into the X5.

I look forward to learning more about this car here and sharing any information I might have in return.

Speaking of which, I have an AutoEnginuity Scan Tool with the BMW Enhanced Module. I bought this when I installed the supercharger on my M3 so I could diagnose the installation and monitor real-time variables. If you are in the Phoenix area and need to check / reset codes please send me a PM.

Congrats, and welcome to the Board. A 1996 M3 is a great classic M3...love the body style, and pure driving performance!
12-14 mpg for a LX470 isn't that bad, considering the weight and height of that car. Without sounding flip, do you think you're going to get much more with the X5? He he
You had a 318ti? For some reason I always loved that little hatchback, even though most Americans kind of shunned it. I still think it's cool in it's own way... I wanted one SO bad in 1995/96!! Freude an Fahren!

Welcome :wavey:

:xoutpost:. Hope you have many great miles of motoring in your new X5.

Out of curiosity though, if fuel consumption was an issues, why another SUV? You will get mildly better fuel consumption with an X5 3.0si versus a LX470, but I don't think anyone here is ready to admit that in the grand scheme of cars, that the X5 is "fuel efficient".

I _hope_ to average 19 mpg with the X5. If I do, that would represent just under 50% savings. At 18,000 miles per year and $4.55/gal. the annual savings are greater than $2100 per year. But to be clear the move wasn't primarily for fuel economy.

In the end it was the combination of poor fuel economy, high-mileage, outdated feature set, and high expected maintenance costs over the next 15000 miles that made me go the route I did. Oh, and did I mention I really enjoy driving BMWs?

Thanks for the compliments on the M3 and 318ti. I love my M3 and plan to drive it for many, many more miles. The 318ti was the ///M version (not motor, but body and interior styling) and it belonged to my wife. We got rid of that when we picked up the '01 X5. It was a very nice car and I too enjoyed the styling and performance.

Thanks for the kind welcome to the board!

I agree completely. The decision wasn't based on fuel economy. Clearly, there are many models offering better economy. It was only part of the equation.

Comparing the "old" Gov't Figures, too 13/17 vs 17/23 is a pretty healthy difference... The LX470 is a great car, but the X5 is even better. Welcome!

Exactly! I can also say that I never recorded an average of 17 mpg on that car...

BMW X5 3.0si is within the top ten fuel efficient luxury SUVs published by the Car and Driver.

BTW, I thought Lexus was supposed to be super reliable and trouble free. You were worried about the repair/maintenance cost?

Welcome to X5 family !!

My 3.0 has been great so far coupled with this great X5 Forum.

Good luck !!

Good bunch of people over here, you'll enjoy yourself!

Cheers,

Welcome to X5world!

:xoutpost:

I should post a picture of an old t-shirt I have that has the roundel with "This is your brain" and the Lexus "L" with "This is your brain on drugs". :rofl:

:rofl:

Well, I bought the car used with 57,000 miles on it and came to find out later on that it was either not maintained properly or there were just plain premature component failures. This was despite the fact I paid my local Lexus dealer for a detailed review of the vehicle.

With the exception of replacing the rear AC, a siezed fan clutch, an alternator and the telescoping steering wheel - wait, that was about $3,500 in parts and labor - it was trouble free. :)

Thanks all for the warm welcome! I like this forum already!

You are right in the fact that the Lexus had a lot of upcoming costs in addition to fuel economy. I had a '96 Lexus ES300, and by 125k miles, the repair bill was 1,5x the value of the vehicle. Stuff like a new steering rack, struts and shocks, leaks, etc.....

So a better drive, lower maintenance costs, and the latest technology. And you get a side benefit of lower fuel consumption. Win win!

:iagree:

And very entertaining to boot...welcome to the world.

Why even dwell on the MPG. I think when you purchase a high end car you should take into consideration the price of ownership. Can't nickel and dime this great car.

My 08 X5 3.0si is great so far. I get 18MPG on 3000 miles now. I am very happy with it.