E53 to E70 - Whos Made the Switch, and what is your Opinion?
 

Looking for opinions form owners that went from an E53 X5 to a (2010+) E70. We are looking at 2011-2012 3.5i X5 Sports Activity (Coming from a 3.0i Sports Package E53).

What are you thoughts? How much better(or worse) is the E70? Reliability, performance, fuel efficiency, etc, etc..

I am surprised that no one has responded to this question yet. I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I have an '04 e53 3.0 and have loved it for 7 years and looking to move up to an '11 or newer. Although, it will be really hard to give up my e53.

From everything I hear, as an e70 owner, the e53 owners have a much better car.
This mostly has to do with the new engine the e70 has. I can see issues develop in the car once it goes out of warranty.

My suggestion, if you were to go e70, get an extended warranty especially if you get the 4.8 liter engine.

:popcorn:

Found a few opinions here:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...y-e53-e70.html

E70 has a much better ride ....if both have the sport package.

e53 4.4 seems to leap out of the intersection....E70 have taller 1st gear?

both 4.4 and 4.8: cooling system parts, alternator, valley pan, etc, etc starts failing at 60-100k. we are not confident to take long trips with it.

we are sticking with 3 series, inline 6 from now on.

I can only speak of my older E70 and E53 but for the ride itself I like my E53 better. As for reliability I hate both. I to will stick with 3 series from now on if I decide to stick with BMW.

I appreciate the feedback guys. We have honestly not had much issue with the E53 3.0 for the length of our ownership (little over five years now - Bought CPO with 46K miles on it). However, we do alot of driving, and are concerned about big things starting to go in the future (it has nearly 140K on it now). We just put an alternator on it, but at this mileage assume its just the start of repair costs?

Went from an '01 E53 4.4i to an '11 E70 35i. Actually loved both vehicles and only traded the E53 in because of the CCV issues in the winter.

Actually like the styling of the E53 better but the more modern interior is better. If I could combine the exterior of the E53 with the interior of the E70 would be perfect IMO.

I would not get anything before '11 with the 6-cyl IMO. The TT setup is very comparable to the 4.4 in our E53 with a lot better gas mileage. No issues yet but only have 49k on it. Just had it in for front brakes and was speaking with the SA on if I should get the extended warranty. His opinion was that it would be difficult to reclaim the $5k for the extended warranty in the next 3.5 yrs 50k miles. He has witnessed very little issues with the 3.0 engine, whether TT or not.

Actually if you want something similar in size to the E53 look at the new X3's. They had one that was a 35i with the M Sport package package and if the CEO would have been with me and approved would have driven that back home!

If you have any questions on the '11 35i shoot me a PM.

I had an '01 e53 for 9 years until it was totaled in an accident in '10. e53 was great but I like the evolution to the e70--for the most part I would only would go with the 20s and the wheel arches that come with--a much more aggressive look than e53. Reliability wise, I only have 53K miles on my '08 4.8 so far nothing mechanical has broken down and just couple software updates. My e53 I had little problems with as well.