35d
 

So we are looking for a bit smaller SUV. We currently have a Denali that my wife drives and I use as a tow vehicle for the race car/20ft enclosed trailer and goodies. We need something a bit smaller for her to drive on a daily basis pretty soon but will be keeping the Denali for tow duties and/or any heavy lifting. Having never looked at X5's before but always being a BMW guy (orginal owner of a CB/Cinn E46M3 at the moment), we would like to check them out but see several options. The 35, 35D and the 50 (M - she doesn't need a 500hp SUV). I see some advantages with the 50 that I could justify for motoring around town and in the city but I am particularly curious about the diesel reliability, fuel mileage and any out of warranty issues people are having that I cannot seem to find on here. We would like to hopefully find something that we can keep for quite some time and since I have had such great fortune with my E46 (while maintained very well), hoping I could learn from you guys here on the X5 options and get my expectations in order.

Thanks in advance!

Opinions:

35i has perfectly adequate power, and is the least expensive.

35d has lots of torque. Not so with revs or hp, but still lots of torque. I wouldn't worry about reliability, the base engine has years of service in other countries, it is just (relatively) new to North America. Same reliability as 35i in my opinion. Diesel downsides are higher purchase price, some fumes or smell when refueling, local availability of diesel fuel, and some additional engine noise. Drive one and decide how important some of those relatively small issues are to you and to the primary driver. I think one of the magazines just did a comparison test (X5, Toureg, etc, all diesels) and the X5 didn't do so well, as it is just about to be replaced (7 year model cycle).

50i has lots of power. If that is important, fine, but it would be my third choice of these.

Something to remember on diesel mileage (which is very good) is that the payback period isn't so good, considering also fuel price as well as purchase price. You may have some form of government subsidy, tax credit, or BMW sales incentive that helps with the purchase cost of a diesel. Without that, using my local fuel prices, and retail for the 35i and 35d, the payback period for the diesel (to breakeven) was around 6 years last time I calculated it. That sort of investment return wouldn't ever get off the ground where I work.

As the automakers like to say, people will pay a lot of money for economy.

JCL has some good points, particularly if you buy new. I took delivery of a 2010 35d for the spouse in January, and she loves it. She had an Envoy XL getting 12-13mpg, 35d is getting 21 mpg used the same. On a CPO purchase there was NO premium for the diesel like there is on new purchase, and depending on your area, there are some great off lease low mileage units to be had.

Diesel noise is a little louder than the 4.4 in my 2000 x5, but not bothersome. Fuel availability is not an issue in our area- about 50% of stations have it.

Based on 6 months of ownership, I say buy it if you like it.

The new 35d's still have the eco credit in the US, $3,500 off according to bmwusa, so that's nice in comparison to a 35i Premium, considering the d is $1,500 higher to start.

I have a 2012 and love it, I do mostly highway driving and the mileage has been creeping up as it ages, got 27 mpg on my last tank which was 95% highway (almost 550 miles). My lifetime over 25k miles is just under 23.

Diesel prices vary a lot, I use gasbuddy to search out stations and I log the price of 93 every time I buy. Diesel can range anywhere from .10 less to .45 more than 93 depending on the state and time of year.

Good luck with your decision!

Diesel prices are high in winter, low in summer. In addition, summer diesel yelds much better MPG.

I recently made a 314 mile round trip on half a tank! 4 adults and 2 children in the vehicle (yes, the 3rd row was used). Computer was showing 27.0 MPG for the trip. My first time this high.

Thanks for all of the info guys, very helpful and I believe I am leaning towards the 35d but we will likely go drive them this weekend and she can find out what she likes. I did see the eco credit on the site and that is a nice plus. For those who took delivery new, what pricing is out there on new vehicles? I remember with the M, $500-$1000 over invoice was about right in our area, would it be about the same with the 35d plus the eco ($3500) and loyalty ($750) incentives?

Any of you guys having any issues with maintenence/reliability? Known problems or repairs?

Thanks in advance, all of this info is exactly what I was looking for. Great board you have here. :thumbup:

No problems so far. I bought the end of 2011, I was close to invoice before any incentives were applied, maybe a couple hundred over, that was at a high volume dealership.

I got 35D and I highly recommend it, lots of power and gas mileage is very good...

you probably wont need the Denali anymore, look what other members are towing with their X5s...

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...you-towed.html

2010 35d with 88k miles- average mpg is 23.5, tow capability is excellent @ 6k lbs. If you're a member of CCA ( why wouldn't you be as a long time owner?) you'll get a check from them for $1k

500-800 over is very fair...from what I read. So invoice, plus MACO plus training, minus eco minus loyalty plus 500 or so.

I had a 2010 D that spent 60+ days in the shop and got lemoned at 32k miles. Then bought a 2012 D that spend 0 days in the shop, 26k miles now.

Check out Adaptive Drive. Read up on it here and bimmerfest...transforms the car.

GL

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