E53 X5 4.4 comments wanted on

[318Touring 40]

yes or no, reliability, is it a gas guzzling monster, maintenance cost including wear and tear, Jap import or NZ new etc.etc,

All comments are welcome.

[kiwi535 538]

they must be relatively heavy on gas....

[Jedski 0]

Yeah my old man on his 4th or 5th now, 4.4 -> 4.8 and they all eat gas

[DCEIVN 0]

your old man has had 5 X5s????

[drifty325i 0]

Ive driven a few, and i must say they go dam well for a 4wd. They handle,stop,and go quicker than most sports cars. id suggest the 4.8 but the 4.4 is still a gem. If you are that worried about fuel consumption go for the TD, but i just love the v8s

[Jedski 0]

yea gets upgraded every time a new model, plus 4.8is blew a gasket (not sure which one) and had problems with the electrics windows and stereo turning on and off, leaking especially through the sunroof. it was the first one in the country and apparently assembled in the US (will find out more). Beautiful handling and a motor that left alot cars in it wake especially my rugby team mates coming home from training down the silverdale highway.

4.4 was abit gutless i remembered, compared to the range rover 4.6HSE.

Oh yea I was pleasantly surprised with the diesel i think it was a 3.0D, if consumption is an issue i would get one of those ahead of a 4.4 really. But these are sloser to car than SUV's

your old man has had 5 X5s????

True bro, Im glad i have moved home aye!

first and second most recent went back to BMW, both as explained above had problems and BMW with thier great service replaced them.

Edited October 27, 2006 by Jedski

[Palazzo 477]

As devils advocate, doesn't the fact that 3 out of 5 have been returned to BM answer your reliability question? I t ain't gonna get better with age.

[318Touring 40]

As fuel consumption go, anything at aroung 14-15l/100km is fine, long as not 20l/100km!!

Diesel's still very expensive at the moment especially keeping in mind that there is a new shape coming.

As devils advocate, doesn't the fact that 3 out of 5 have been returned to BM answer your reliability question? I t ain't gonna get better with age.

Eh, where did you read about this? Quite concerning that 60% were that bad.

[ThreeOneEight 0]

A neighbour of mine has had a 4.4i for six years- was one of the first in the country, done about 120,000 km now with no major troubles. Don't live inner city so consumption is better than average, depends where you do the bulk of your driving.

Still looks good, too, seven years after they came out. New X5 will have a hard act to follow!

[Jedski 0]

Actually two of them but they were both advance versions which sadly doesn't reflect the production models and gives a bad image for all their products. I hope they have learnt from this.

[318Touring 40]

Took a 4.4. for a test drive this afternoon.

Well, 4.4 is more than enough for me. I beat everything at the lights, without even trying hard, that thing is crazy!

Don't really like the colour though as it looks exactly the same as my E39.

[kiwi535 538]

hmmm an x5 for grass gymkhana.....

As fuel consumption go, anything at aroung 14-15l/100km is fine, long as not 20l/100km!!

Diesel's still very expensive at the moment especially keeping in mind that there is a new shape coming.

Eh, where did you read about this? Quite concerning that 60% were that bad.

its not just that deisel is cheaper than petrol,they get much better Km per litre for same size engine.for example a 530 e39 diesel gets around 1000 k on the open road and 650 ks around town,out of around a 70 l tank.

[318Touring 40]

hmmm an x5 for grass gymkhana.....

Hmmm...maybe not. I'll take the Compact to something like that.

[kiwi535 538]

Hmmm...maybe not. I'll take the Compact to something like that.

where is the fun in that?You had the E39 last time

[ThreeOneEight 0]

A diesel model X5 would probably be a better long-term investment; high end european diesels tend to have better residual values than their thirstier petrol brothers and sisters. I imagine a high tech euro diesel and high tech euro petrol V8 probably have similar service/repair costs, too.

Horses for courses? (they tow a horsefloat well!)

[martyyn 2]

As fuel consumption go, anything at aroung 14-15l/100km is fine, long as not 20l/100km!!

I hate to say it but with the 4.4 your more likely to see 20 than 14 around town in Wellington. It all depends on wherther or not you go up and down hills all day.

My trip from Northland down to Willis Street and back averages at 14 mpg which is not far off the 20l your dreading.

See if you can get hold of one for more than a couple of hours and just do your typical trip several times and see what you get.

Your right about not needing anything more, the 4.4 is nothing short of rapid

[318Touring 40]

Yeah I'll pass on this one. As the colour is very similar to the E39 it's just like driving my E39 on a higher platform.

If it's black with privacy glass option might be a different story....

[shadowninja 0]

Any colour you like, so long as its black.

I'd go for the 4.4L petrol version. Out of interest, what kind of $$ were you looking at for this beast?

[318Touring 40]

Out of interest, what kind of $$ were you looking at for this beast?

Year 2000 4.4l at 90000-100000 kms will set you back in the region of $50,000-$55,000.

One plus mark for this car is that is covered by BMW Premium Selection, however from 31st Dec this year cars that are more than 5 yo or has > 100k on the clock will not be eligible Premium Selection anymore.

shadowninja, you still got your beautiful blue 3er?

Edited October 31, 2006 by 318Touring