2000 - 2002 BMW X5... reliability?
12-15-09, 07:29 AM
#16
There will be those that are going to tell you otherwise from common knowledge. If you read posts, you know what to expect. Think about it for a seconds. We have read here post after post of issues especially after warranty. The car has over 150k miles.
Will it run? Of course. Will it cost an arm and a leg? Yup. It is up to the potential buyer if paying for out of warranty costs (which WILL NOT be a rare occurrence) is worth it.
Anyone can go and browse the BMW forums and read the same thing. Lease it then release it. If you keep it prepare yourself to pay to keep it running.
This was a big recall concerning brake lines.
http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2003/...bmw/index.html
Here is a post on the BMW forum on what to look for.
Valve cover gaskets, CV boots, thrust arm bushings, thermosdat, water pump, expansion tank, belts, hoses, transmission service (the 100k service thing is a crock), diff service, missping pixles on the displays, HVAC controls. All should have been done at 60k if anyone cared about the vehicle. If not, you will be doing them after you buy it. Look for an X5 with old school maintenance. It is expensive to keep them up if all they got was the bull.**** "factory recommended service". BMW required lots of preventative maintenance before they started selling the cars with "maintenance included" which basically equals almost no maintenance. Good luck.
he pretty much nailed everything except rear upper control arms and ball joints. if they havent been replaced by now they will need to be. the X5 suffers from suspension components wearing out since its mostly E39 5 series but with more weight
Will it run? Of course. Will it cost an arm and a leg? Yup. It is up to the potential buyer if paying for out of warranty costs (which WILL NOT be a rare occurrence) is worth it.
Anyone can go and browse the BMW forums and read the same thing. Lease it then release it. If you keep it prepare yourself to pay to keep it running.
This was a big recall concerning brake lines.
http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2003/...bmw/index.html
Here is a post on the BMW forum on what to look for.
Valve cover gaskets, CV boots, thrust arm bushings, thermosdat, water pump, expansion tank, belts, hoses, transmission service (the 100k service thing is a crock), diff service, missping pixles on the displays, HVAC controls. All should have been done at 60k if anyone cared about the vehicle. If not, you will be doing them after you buy it. Look for an X5 with old school maintenance. It is expensive to keep them up if all they got was the bull.**** "factory recommended service". BMW required lots of preventative maintenance before they started selling the cars with "maintenance included" which basically equals almost no maintenance. Good luck.
he pretty much nailed everything except rear upper control arms and ball joints. if they havent been replaced by now they will need to be. the X5 suffers from suspension components wearing out since its mostly E39 5 series but with more weight
No doubt BMW's can hit and go over the 100K number but the maintenance costs will be a lot more than that of a Lexus to 100+K miles.
BMW changed some of their maintenance times to longer intervals when they went to the 4/50 maintenance free incentive.
The free maintenance isn't free,it's in the cost of the vehicle.
Last edited by Joeb427; 12-15-09 at 07:40 AM.
12-15-09, 07:46 AM
#18
No I don't completly agree with this notion. If you take a look at the price of critical wear & tear parts you will see. Lets take a replacement oe rear upper control arm for example for a 2007 335 & one for a 2007 IS350.
IS350 rear upper control arm. Discount price: Rear1= $93.60 & Rear2 = $162.46
Total for the pair= $256.06
http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/Search.asp
2007 BMW 335
Rear upper control arm MSRP= $109.21 each Discount= $87.37
Total for pair $174.74
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0
You can check for other parts like radiators, hoses, etc. for price disparities. Granted, some parts will be more expensive than the other for both brands but both the majority of parts are on par in price.
IS350 rear upper control arm. Discount price: Rear1= $93.60 & Rear2 = $162.46
Total for the pair= $256.06
http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/Search.asp
2007 BMW 335
Rear upper control arm MSRP= $109.21 each Discount= $87.37
Total for pair $174.74
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0
You can check for other parts like radiators, hoses, etc. for price disparities. Granted, some parts will be more expensive than the other for both brands but both the majority of parts are on par in price.
12-15-09, 07:51 AM
#19
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
12-15-09, 07:55 AM
#20
No I don't completly agree with this notion. If you take a look at the price of critical wear & tear parts you will see. Lets take a replacement oe rear upper control arm for example for a 2007 335 & one for a 2007 IS350.
IS350 rear upper control arm. Discount price: Rear1= $93.60 & Rear2 = $162.46
Total for the pair= $256.06
http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/Search.asp
2007 BMW 335
Rear lower control arm MSRP= $109.21 each Discount= $87.37
Total for pair $174.74
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0
You can check for other parts like radiators, hoses, etc. for price disparities. Granted, some parts will be more expensive than the other for both brands but both the majority of parts are on par in price.
IS350 rear upper control arm. Discount price: Rear1= $93.60 & Rear2 = $162.46
Total for the pair= $256.06
http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/Search.asp
2007 BMW 335
Rear lower control arm MSRP= $109.21 each Discount= $87.37
Total for pair $174.74
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0
You can check for other parts like radiators, hoses, etc. for price disparities. Granted, some parts will be more expensive than the other for both brands but both the majority of parts are on par in price.
12-15-09, 07:55 AM
#21
There will be those that are going to tell you otherwise from common knowledge. If you read posts, you know what to expect. Think about it for a seconds. We have read here post after post of issues especially after warranty. The car has over 150k miles.
Will it run? Of course. Will it cost an arm and a leg? Yup. It is up to the potential buyer if paying for out of warranty costs (which WILL NOT be a rare occurrence) is worth it.
Anyone can go and browse the BMW forums and read the same thing. Lease it then release it. If you keep it prepare yourself to pay to keep it running.
This was a big recall concerning brake lines.
http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2003/...bmw/index.html
Here is a post on the BMW forum on what to look for.
Valve cover gaskets, CV boots, thrust arm bushings, thermosdat, water pump, expansion tank, belts, hoses, transmission service (the 100k service thing is a crock), diff service, missping pixles on the displays, HVAC controls. All should have been done at 60k if anyone cared about the vehicle. If not, you will be doing them after you buy it. Look for an X5 with old school maintenance. It is expensive to keep them up if all they got was the bull.**** "factory recommended service". BMW required lots of preventative maintenance before they started selling the cars with "maintenance included" which basically equals almost no maintenance. Good luck.
he pretty much nailed everything except rear upper control arms and ball joints. if they havent been replaced by now they will need to be. the X5 suffers from suspension components wearing out since its mostly E39 5 series but with more weight
Will it run? Of course. Will it cost an arm and a leg? Yup. It is up to the potential buyer if paying for out of warranty costs (which WILL NOT be a rare occurrence) is worth it.
Anyone can go and browse the BMW forums and read the same thing. Lease it then release it. If you keep it prepare yourself to pay to keep it running.
This was a big recall concerning brake lines.
http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2003/...bmw/index.html
Here is a post on the BMW forum on what to look for.
Valve cover gaskets, CV boots, thrust arm bushings, thermosdat, water pump, expansion tank, belts, hoses, transmission service (the 100k service thing is a crock), diff service, missping pixles on the displays, HVAC controls. All should have been done at 60k if anyone cared about the vehicle. If not, you will be doing them after you buy it. Look for an X5 with old school maintenance. It is expensive to keep them up if all they got was the bull.**** "factory recommended service". BMW required lots of preventative maintenance before they started selling the cars with "maintenance included" which basically equals almost no maintenance. Good luck.
he pretty much nailed everything except rear upper control arms and ball joints. if they havent been replaced by now they will need to be. the X5 suffers from suspension components wearing out since its mostly E39 5 series but with more weight
12-15-09, 08:01 AM
#22
Granted, some parts will be more expensive than others for both brands but the majority of parts are on par in price.
Lexus labor rates especially in NYC is right up there with BMW. We will all have to open up the wallets
12-15-09, 08:16 AM
#24
Guest
Posts: n/a
Guess what? I don't just browse or "troll" (which ever term fits) BMW forums, I am actually a member of a few & own the vehicles in which the forums are based on. Yes I actually OWN my X3 & new to the fam 335 xdrive coupe. So I think I speak from experience.. But of course, the op can always listen to folks with no ownership experience
There is NOTHING wrong with recommending to a person to check out that brand/car site for more info to read up on the car. How that is trolling is beyond me.
We are very very happy you are a member on BMW forums (many of us are)and you own 2 BMWs but again you miss the point entirely. The point is he can simply browse a forum to read up on topics of interest, in this case the X5 year(s) he is interested in. Clearly if he wants to join and ask, he can.
The internet has priceless info for consumers and car forums are a part of it. People browse/join forums to speak to owners or read on owners likes/dislikes. THUS the OP asked us "what are our thoughts".
Shall the rest of us post the BMW forums we are members on?
The vehicle in question is the X5 so maybe CDNRockies can chime in as he has one (a few other members do here as well but I can't remember any other names). Owning an X3, 335, Z8, M5 is irrelevant since its not a X5.
Last edited by LexFather; 12-15-09 at 08:20 AM.
12-15-09, 08:38 AM
#25
Lexus Test Driver
Its a mix Joe, sometimes BMW parts are cheaper and sometimes not, they are after all, different parts. All I am saying is that Lexus parts are not generally cheaper than BMW. If you say Lexus generally cost less to maintain after warranty, then I would agree with you because German cars are generally less relaible as it ages. Even that general view has its exceptions, some German cars can be problem free for years and years and some Japanese car can be lemon as well. When you see reliability ratings in surveys, they are nothing more than the average and not always absolute.
12-15-09, 08:43 AM
#26
Its a mix Joe, sometimes BMW parts are cheaper and sometimes not, they are after all, different parts. All I am saying is that Lexus parts are not generally cheaper than BMW. If you say Lexus generally cost less to maintain after warranty, then I would agree with you because German cars are generally less relaible as it ages. Even that general view has its exceptions, some German cars can be problem free for years and years and some Japanese car can be lemon as well. When you see reliability ratings in surveys, they are nothing more than the average and not always absolute.
12-15-09, 08:43 AM
#27
Lexus Champion
CR only goes back as far as '02 models, but for the '02 X5 the used car prediction is "Much Worse Than Average". Starting with '03-'04 and up, it improves.
12-15-09, 02:18 PM
#28
Lexus Fanatic
Early X5s were known for a defective engine fan switch that could cause overheating and engine fires. BMW replaced a number of engines (and sometimes vehicles).....under warranty.
12-15-09, 02:27 PM
#29
For the most part, BMW parts are indeed cheaper than Lexus parts. Some are ridiculously cheap.
But with 160k on the clock, as with any car, its pretty much nearing the end of its service life. Unless he snatches it for 3-4k, and has fairly good mechanical skills to save money on some repair costs, just avoid it.
But with 160k on the clock, as with any car, its pretty much nearing the end of its service life. Unless he snatches it for 3-4k, and has fairly good mechanical skills to save money on some repair costs, just avoid it.
12-15-09, 06:06 PM
#30
Lexus Fanatic
tell your friend that buying an old German car with close to 100k miles on it would be dangerous imho. I would never own a German car without warranty. I know the appeal of buying such a nice looking performance SUV but tell your buddy to stick with something Japanese if he wants to buy a car that old