X5 E70 Advice

[NZ BMW 368]

Hi Everyone, 

For various reasons we're now considering an SUV for the household. I've been out looking and within the price range I have the option of: 

X5 - E70 - 2008-2009

Range Rover 2006-2007 

Mercedes ML 2007-2009ish

I've pretty much discounted the Range Rover, on the basis that I can't find anything really in the price range sub 120k's and they only come in V8, whereas, I tend to lean more to six cylinder engines. I'm also very worried about the notorious air suspension issues I keep hearing about. 

Which brings me to the BMW or the Mercedes. Having driven both, my initial impression was that the ML felt like a larger version of my C Class (funny that) and the BMW, what had the sports pack was very similar to my old E39. One thing I did notice with the X5 was that the ride, at least to me, was very harsh. 

I can't seem to find much of a buyer's guide online. My main questions are around what to look out for;

How reliable is the air suspension for example?

Do E70s still suffer from crippling BMW cooling system faults? 

Does anyone here have an E70? what are they like to live with? 

Any advice as it relates to the sports model and the standard? 

I intend to use the vehicle mainly for longer trips outside of the city but it will also get a bit of city driving on the weekends. 

Thanks for the advice. 

 

[BMWX5UK 1]

Hi,

I can probably answer most of these, we have a 2010 30D MSport model with the 8 Speed, if you can afford it get the LCI model, we imported ours direct 5 years ago from the UK and have done 110,000kms, and its been nigh on faultless. service intervals are nice and long too as its needs based, not just mileage based.

We bought a space saver tyre from new, as the run flats are expensive, and you get a better ride with regular tyres.

never had any issues with the Air Suspension, and the MSport looks the best Gets great fuel economy too, if you are careful you can get around 6.6l / 100kms, but usual mileage including around town is about 8.4l /100, but its pretty grunty, lots of torque.

We are selling ours shortly, as we have a new car arriving from the UK soon.

Lot of bling for your buck, second hand, I would probably avoid a Jap one, get either NZ or UK models.

[NZ BMW 368]

I must be honest, looking at the LCI's I'm struggling to see the premium they command. Granted you get the upgraded iDrive, and the new diesel engine and gearbox but I don't know if that is worth a 10K premium to me. 

I'm trying to stick to mid 30's as a budget so with that in mind these look reasonable to me: 

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1140196473

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1119367526.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1107250575.htm

I actually don't even mind the clay-yellow interior of the second one. 

The point about the spare wheel is a good point - generally if they are the 5-place seating arrangement, do they all come with a spare? 

 

[isis 16]

We bought a NZ Diesel Motorsport version about 5 years ago.

Like Clive, its been a dream machine with just the normal consumables - usual oil changes and brakes (pads & rotor) replacements.

Car has been maintained at the dealers.

i'd advise against owning one if you're watching the pennies. A normal oil service averages 1k, brakes all around about 4k. Tyres are about 1500-1800 if you're on run flats. they need replacement on average of 30-4000ks if you dont push it hard

not all 5 seaters come with the spare. its an option & a great option!

[isis 16]

No each tyre..:) and they're running 315 r20 on the rears

brakes includes pads, disc and sensor. Bm workshop replaced the fronts as I couldn't get a booking at akl city and it was about 1800

[BMWX5UK 1]

That's the thing with buying older BMW's you are still buying the service costs of a +$100k vehicle.That said, I haven't found ours to be too expensive, have had Mercs in the past, found them to cost a bit more, and had a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and that was expensive,  I found the BMW cheaper as the service intervals are longer, but yes brakes cost a lot to replace.

We just bought regular tyres for our X5, about $1k for a set, fitted, non runflat. 315 rear, 275 front, You can fit a space saver into any 5 seater X5, the space is there you just need to push the bolt that secures the space saver to the car through the carpet in the luggage area, no probs

As for LCI vs non LCI, I don't think its much more to get a LCI, I always find with BMW that the LCI's fix a lot of issues in the first versions, also the pure white angel eyes look a lot better than the old.I generally never buy a german car on launch date, takes them a couple of years to iron all the bugs and manufacturing issues out, then the LCI is the icing on the cake.

I personally wouldn't buy the 3.0 Petrol, I remember from the E53, the 3.0 used as much fuel as the 4.4V8, and wasn't that quick. In the X5 the Diesel is the way to go, the torque is awesome, very brisk 0-100 and amazing fuel economy for the size of car and performance. Also not sure about parts, as we don't have that petrol model in NZ

And lastly, Japanese BMW's have quite a few differences over UK or NZ. resale will be a lot less, the UK Imports are pretty much identical to NZ, including GPS, radios, etc.

 

 

[BMWX5UK 1]

2 hours ago, 3pedals said:

The service costs on our X5 and our other BMW's haven't changed over the 200,000 +  kilometres we have clocked up on each of them, there is no 100,000 plus trigger point  so you can relax on that one.

The real risk is when you buy a vehicle that has no service history or a faked service history and you have to pay to catch up.

What has changed is parts prices  and the standard of service ---- gone are the days of +6  and all the items in the Service Schedule being checked / done as  the norm; now you have to ask, because dealers appear to be cutting back to meet their short sighted clients' requirements.

I'm not referring to kms' I'm saying when you buy a older BMW that's become cheap due to age, you are still buying into the service bills of a car that originally cost $100k+

 

 

[jonoe30 53]

When I talked my mother into a 2008 E70 3.0Si I had my doubts about economy and performance with the smaller engine. I've driven it quite a bit and I think the N52 3.0l is perfectly adequate (as the transmission is brilliantly matched), without the service and battery requirements it sounds like V8 has. Despite being pre-LCI (just) it is the final iteration of the N52 engine/6 speed ZF transmission so most of the drive-train bugs should have been ironed out (though we have been told to expect to replace the electronic water pump before 100,000km). Its a Japanese import and she got it with 50,000km and full Japanese dealer history. Despite this she got a 3 year mechanical warranty which I think will cover the worst of any bill shock, and as preventative maintenance I took it to ZF specialists for a transmission fluid and filter change straight away ($600). Scheduled servicing is reliably around $1000 (though I can't speak to what's getting done each time).

Her real life fuel economy is ~11l/100km, but they live rurally and drive rather sedately. I don't have a particularly heavy foot, but was averaging around 18-19l/100km when I had it for a month here in Ponsonby.

I think when she upgrades to the new version in a few years we will look at the 3.0l diesel - despite enjoying listening to the roar of the straight 6 a lot, as it uses it's full power band to move it's mass. But alas, having since driven a 3.0l diesel the torque makes all the difference around town and I think would make it the perfect package. I would be interested to drive an LCI with the updated transmissions; they may add something to the economy/performance in the petrol 6's.

One criticism I have, and it's subjective, is the rear suspension (Nivomat shocks I believe with non-air suspension) is overly firm for a non-motorsport version and makes the vehicle feel unbalanced/light in the rear (it weighs 2300kg) particularly when hitting mid corner bumps/undulations in the road. 

Out of the 3 you posted, I would go for the one with the comfort seats (clay colour) - may add something to the resale desirability as they are much more adjustable than the sport seats, though those are pretty comfortable too! Also some comfort seats can be found with active ventilation which I cannot rave about enough in summer (look for a fan symbol on the seat heating button and perforated seats)

[NZ BMW 368]

Thanks for all the info, it's always great to hear what others who have been there and done that have to say. 

I went and looked at a couple today and ended up also testing out a 2007 with the 4.8, it was very impressive in terms of how smooth the power delivery is. Whilst the 3.0 was fine, as someone mentioned above it did seem to have to use everything it had to keep moving... I have some thinking to do. The car had about 70,000kms on it and I believe the comfort seats are some of the best things I've sat in. 

Those dealer servicing costs do seem high, I would agree with the others... I've usually been able to get away with a service costing circa 5-600 if nothing was wrong and nothing I've seen on these cars would lead me to think that I can't get away with brakes being similar in cost to my old 530i or the previous two Mercedes. I would expect that the additional costs would be; more oil (if 4.8 motor) and tyres, given that they all have 19's on them. 

As mentioned above, not having a spare on any of them is kinda annoying. Although most punctures tend to be slow leaks and you only notice over time. Guess we will see what the option is to add a space saver. 

Guess I have to mull all of this over, vs the other option... simply do nothing. 

Edited August 20, 2016 by NZ BMW

[NZ BMW 368]

Well... in the end I went with the 4.8 petrol. I picked it up yesterday. 

It's very nice and being the larger engine most of the options boxes seemed to have been ticked. Look forward to seeing how it goes. At the same time I made sure to get the 4 year Autosure warranty with the most comprehensive cover. 

 

[TermiPeteNZ 1316]

Nice! Enjoy

[Tristan 338]

On 18 August 2016 at 5:54 PM, NZ BMW said:

I must be honest, looking at the LCI's I'm struggling to see the premium they command. Granted you get the upgraded iDrive, and the new diesel engine and gearbox but I don't know if that is worth a 10K premium to me. 

Haven't gone through whole thread but I have an 09 35d which is brilliant but we also have a 2013 30d Performance Edition and the 8 speed gearbox is leagues ahead of the 6 speed.

It feels on-par or even faster than my 35d despite having 30kw less and 100(iirc) nm less

Drive both, but I know that if I was getting a Performance Edition with similar Ks to mine I'd be paying at least $20K more than what I did for my E70