E70 opinions and feedbacks.
 

Hi all,
I am a long term owner of 2001 3.0 X5. I bought it new, currently at 240k and it is still running strong. After 12 years of owning this awesome SAV, I have learned and managed to do most of the repairs and maintenance myself, include routine maintenance, brake changes, swing arms, all shocks, air suspensions, alternator, all belts, fuel filter, radiator and overflow tank.... replacement,. I actually learned a lot from this SAV and enjoyed performing these repairs, could be very difficult at times but fun to do, big thanks to many knowledgeable X5 owner here.
The time has come that I need to get a new and reliable SUV since our family will welcome another little member soon :) and it will be for my wife. The E70 xdrive3.5 with sport package is a strong candidate in my list. The driving experience, handling and its sporty look win hands down in my book. I am a bit hesitating because in the past, E53 has quite a bit of problems, mostly electrical problem reported by E53 owners here, however, I had few of them and I managed to fix most of them with tons of help from members and X5 experts on this forum. I am not sure I was lucky or not that I just happened to have an X5 with few problems that still runs strong at 240k miles. I am wondering if BMW has figured out these problem from the E53 and improve on the E70 . Also I wonder if any common problems exists that E70 owners may experience on their rides
Any feedbacks or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you for all your help in advance.

Justin

Well, what a refreshing post: you do realize that you are a rarity, owning from new to 240k, right? That usually covers three owners.


Ownership changes distinctly over 10 years- first lease/new car crowd ("what options should I get, whats the residual"), then the smart buyers ("I'm driving a 3 year old car still with a warranty for half the price of new") and then the long termers (all over the place, from "Why is this so expensive to fix" to "I love this car" to "How do a fit larger turbos and NOS") .....Me: 2001 MDX 236k; 2003M5 160k, Q45 245k.... and more

:)

You are a DIYer, so your ability to manage the potential failure should be comforting. Yes, maintenance will be maintenance, no changing that trajectory. In terms of the E70, there is a lot of data here but the problem is that it is not compiled nor really quantifiable- but my sense is that there are 'infant mortality issues' with certain cars/years, but we have not seen a real pattern in longer term failure.

For example, some cars seemed to have high battery discharge issues...batteries would fail, cars not start. Dealers accused owners of not driving enough, etc...but then over time BMW pushed out a specific TSB/SIB on how to monitor the bus for excessive draw. Turns out bad modules would just wake up periodically, turn stuff on, and suck down the battery. My perception is that this is no longer a factor in newer cars.

Diesel. Oh Diesel. BMW F'd this up big time. They just blew it in terms of the SCR system design/execution. Turns out the interrelationships between sensor values, sensor aging and tolerance and error checking within the operation of the system in the broad range of operating conditions was beyond the software that was shipped with the car. It took BMW 3 years and many recalls to get thgis right. I had a 2010 that spent 60+ days in the shop. Lemoned. Now a 2012 that never slept over a single night.

My prediction:

Take care of the tranny. Change the ATF. Dont drive like a racerboi.
Be prepared to replace rubber suspension/isolation points if you want to maintain that tightness.
Watch the cooling system, assume it will need something past 100k
They'll be something- a sunroof motor, AC component, module here or there...before 200k


Finally, I am convinced we can rely on the ability of forums to learn, and come up with more effective diagnostic and repair strategies then what BMW recommends for their dealer network. This happens in the stage 2 & 3 of owners when serious DIYers are faced with $$$ repairs!

My 2 cents

A

If I was buying new with the intention to keep it for a long time, my number one concern would be complexity. Things don't wear out on these vehicles so much as they experience random failures due to too much system complexity engineered in by the design team. Whereas you can do preventative maintenance for the mechanical items, that isn't as true for the electrical ones.

In practical terms, that would mean I would select fewer complex options. The potential for trouble over the long term wouldn't be worth it.

Small point, but there is no 3.5. It is a 35. It is a 3.0 litre engine.

Good luck.

Like any BMW buying the updated facelift model usually = less problems.

Since the 35i shares many drive train components as all the other 35i (335i, 535i...etc), whatever problem that might may pop up should have plenty of online forum help to resolve.

My .02. I've a BMW in one flavor or another since 1979.

I picked up my current E70 ( two of them actually ) in Dec 2009. (Delivered in late Feb 10)

One was a X5M the other a 3.0 MSport. Both have been the worst BMW's I've ever owned. I sold the M after about a year, I still have the MSport.

The M Sport has been in the shop a total time equal to 3 months since I took delivery. It spent it first 6 weeks of life in the shop because it was "bricked" when they tried to re-flash the firmware trying to fix several software issues.

Neither car had any mechanical problems. Every issue has been related to fit/finish or software. The tailgate on both cars rattled from day one, the MSport tailgate still rattles today. That's just one small example.

Just two weeks ago I canceled my order for a X5 because, frankly, I got cold feet when I thought of all the issues I've had with this car and I just didn't want to chance it again with a new car.

I purchased a warranty and maintenance extension and decided I'd drive this car for another year or so and make a decision then.

Thank you for the kind words and feedbacks so far, guys.

ard: that is what I am wondering if I am just lucky to get an X5 with fewer problems, eventhough I have a fully loaded X5 with premium package and navigation ....

JCL and N3985: you have a good point. The electrical complexity on BMW is a nightmare. It took me sometimes to figure out how to by pass the DSP sound system to get a good clean signal to feed my after market amps. One thing I forgot to mention was the navigation system kept giving the wrong global position and I just left it as is. I wish things can be simpler but it would not be a BMW, right ;)?

Dwill: I hope yours is just isolated incident because E70 is a nice ride + good performance SAV. I would hate to go with some other SAV if this rattling problem becomes more prominent

My take on it is very similar to that espoused by ard. Due to changing viewpoints and economic times I have decided to get out of the leasing cycle and start keeping my cars long term. I had a couple of E53 x5's and found them to be ok in the reliability area, but they were not first year production cars like yours. The x5M is my first E70 and I PURPOSELY purchased a last year production (mine was custom built) car because I figured it would be the most reliable I was going to get. I plan to keep this long term. I think you would do well to pick up an E70 now rather than wait for the new x5. We all know it will be a nightmare when it first comes out and will take several years to work out the bugs as was the case with the E53 and the E70 when they first came out. I have been following xoutpost and bimmerfest E70 threads and I noticed that the complaints have died down drastically for people who were buying 2011 or later x5's. I attribute that to BMW fixing most of the issues. Lastly, I agree that you should get a car that has the least amount of options you need. The only options in my x5M were SIRIUS and high gloss roof rails. I declined all of the tech stuff (except navigation which was standard) because that crap is a disaster after the warranty ends. If I get the M5 or M6 to replace the 535 down the road(as is the plan) it will be a base car with 6MT, SIRIUS, heated front seats and nothing else. I always order my cars this way when they are purchased for the long haul. Good luck OP.

I've never been a candidate for leasing since I put around 30k worth of miles on my vehicles in a year.

With my E70, I was nervous buying a CPO with almost every option offered since I just figured that that would be more to break.

My car spent a good amount of time at the dealer when I first got it, because I went through it with a fine tooth comb. I also read almost every thread on this forum. I got rear bumper and entertainment system replaced, new radiator, etc. Overall, if there's an issue that I could get hit with, I probably have. That being said, the joy that I have in driving this vehicle has been amazing. I use every single option, and when they boys are happy because of the third row, or entertainment system, or whatever, I am glad that I bought the vehicle that I did.

Anyhow, with the owning of my vehicles, I have a Jeep now that's around 160k miles and going strong. Whenever I have a car come off payments, I always "pay" another 12 months worth of payments into a savings or brokerage account. This becomes an emergency fund for large repairs that may be needed. I plan to do the same thing with my X5.

:iagree:

I'm 45 miles from 100k on my X5 and it's really been a good ride. I've had to fix minor issues here and there plus a few big things (Water Pump was the biggest) but overall I've enjoyed this car more then any other vehicle I've ever owned. Now I'm getting ready to replace the front struts and do a few updates to keep it fresh but overall it's been really nice.

I'd pull the service records and look for multiple trips for major things (HPFP,Computers,Leaks etc.) that could spell trouble

The E70 is a good upgrade from the E53 and its close enough in nature that is not a major transition. The AD feature in Sports equipped versions really makes for a nice cornering change compared to the E53. I still have a 02 BMW X5 Sports model with 157K miles. I am fixing some small things before I sell it. I kept it around for trips back and forth from Florida as it gets pretty decent gas mileage compared to my E70. It is a 4.4i model. I average 20/22 on the hwy driving compared to 15/17 on the highway with my current E70. Besides I just drive it and not worry about mileage.

I travel less now and will sell the E53. The E53 was easier to drive(if that makes sense) and was more like a car to me. I love my E70 but there are still some characteristics about the E53 that is missed.