Looking for X5 - NEED Advice - Reliabilty ?
 

New here and need advice. I am looking @ 08 and 09 X5's. I pretty much know what I want but i am a little concerned about the reliability of these great looking SAV's. I have scoured these posts and have read the issues that people have. I am seeing the money it takes to keep them fixed and running and this makes me nervous. I always thought BMW were reliable machines but I am unsure now. Maybe I am over analyzing all of the information but I need a SAV that is reliable and does not need much more than regular maintenance. I have always had US made cars. Outside of tires breaks etc i never worried about the electronics, electronic water pumps etc that go out or leaks that are expensive to repair. SO please reply back and let me know what my real expectations need to be when I am looking at these machines. Also, should i favor an 09 over the 08's?

TY IN ADVANCE FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!

Attached is the service history for the 08 X% i am looking at. It is a CPO until Jan 2014. It has the following:
Sport
Premium
Premium Sound
Comfort Access
Navigation
Cold Weather
20" Wheels
Space Grey Metallic with black interior

Thoughts?

Pass on that. Looks to be a lot of suspension work.

I'm with BGM...
brakes a few times, suspension glitches, the usual other gremlins, and that list goes on and on, and... weird with two new tires, and then a set of four new tires soon after.

There are posters here with very few probs on their E70s, and there are some with a similar or worse litany of problems, fwiw.

My '01 E53 has a list of stuff about 1/4 that long, and most of that is simply maintenance work over the last 11 years. Whew, the E70 has too much stuff and too many gizmos, imo.

I would rec'd to keep looking, and find a used E70 with a CPO or a solid aftermkt warranty.
These are not soccer mom/dad vans...
GL, mD

Would. It change our mind since this has a cpo until 1/14

Good God! That is a LOT of issues... Don't walk. RUN away

Have you read the CPO 'what is covered', 'what is not covered', boilerplate and then read between the lines? And, considered that you are a neophyte to the BMW situ vis a vis any relationship with the selling dealer, as CPO stuff 'covered' seems to be partially/often contingent on how many cars one bought at that dealer, how many doughnuts one brings in, who tips the fookin SA the most, etc., etc.

Maybe all the stuff that should have broken, or would have broken, is fixed now. Maybe not...

It's your decision, as none of us can really counsel you on 'is that a good buy'.
I would take a Pasadena, but that is fwiw.
GL, mD

As many people say, "BMW" stands for "Break My Wallet."

There are lots of reasons to buy a BMW, but reliability and low cost of ownership is not one of them.

Personally, I would not buy a used BMW, I go with a cheaper, more reliable vehicle and would save my money until I could afford a new one, but that's just me.

I have been looking for a used E70 and what I'm finding is that a TON of them on the used market have a litany of problems in the service history. I have seen countless "Computer module checked" and "engine module checked" multiple times within a few thousand miles and then its for sale. Seems to me that all the problem ones are dumped back into the market and slapped with a pretty useless CPO warranty.

I don't think those are necessarily bad things--they usually check the diagnostics this way as it's the gateway for the whole car. It really depends on the work that was actually done as more of a concern.