Buying an E53 X5? Buyers Guide What to Look Out For?

[rbelton]

Hey guys, after 5 years of ownership of our 2005 E53 X5 3.0i (gas inline 6 cylinder) I made a few videos detailing some things to look out for when buying one. I also made a video that details our repairs from 120,000 miles to 183,000 miles over the course of a 5 year period from 2015 to 2020. I thought this may provide some help and cost of ownership insight to those considering buying one of these going forward. It has been a good car to us for what we needed, though it required some kind of repairs and maintenance almost monthly.

Should you buy a cheap X5? Cost of Ownership Summary.



link: https://youtu.be/JkpaOVuoKQY

E53 X5 BMW Buyers Guide - What to Look Out For?



link: https://youtu.be/2rJfVAPrDk4

Hope it helps! Any questions just drop a comment.

Rich
Bimmerzeit

[M3rocket]

Interesting videos. Our experience is much the same -- over 5.5 years of ownership, we've averaged $1,445 in annual maintenance. I concur about exterior door handles and window regulators and pano sunroof. Our sunroof spontaneously exploded driving down the freeway one day! Fortunately, insurance covered the costly replacement.

One major thing I'd add to your list of common repairs (unless I missed it) is the cooling system: radiator, water pump, thermostat, expansion tank, belts, etc. tend to fail at about 100-120K miles, and perhaps the alternator. I had to do the same work on my M3 at 105K miles. Too much plastic!

Ever notice the bizarre turn signal feature when engine is off? The first week we owned the car in 2015, headed to the airport self-park lot, got our bags out and locked the car. The left front and rear signal lights were on solid. Unlocked, checked lights, couldn't find any reason, and finally gave up so we wouldn't miss our flight, but knowing upon return we'd have a dead battery. Long-story-short: turns out I had bumped the turn signal arm down as I exited the car, which turns on those lights -- a European feature for lighting the sidewalk when dropping-off a passenger on narrow, dark streets. Took many online searches to find the answer. Even my bimmer mechanic had never heard of it.

[rbelton]

Thanks. Yes funny you mention that, my wife bumped the turn signal stalk before parking two days ago and left the lights on. Got a text from our neighbor saying the lights were left on. Definitely an interesting parking "feature".

[Zulu95]

German mandate. My VW 411LE had the exact same feature back in the 70s.