X series any good?

[wasnt m3]

Pat is 100% correct, couldn't have said anything better. Maintenance is definitely on the higher end with the X5. I ended up buying an X3. Honestly, not much less room than an X5, way better on fuel, and maintenence is more in line with that of an e9x 3 series. I don't like the looks so much but it ticked all the other right boxes for me.

[andyhundley]

I would buy a 6 cylinder if you do end up buying one.

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[StriggityStrack]

Thank you for the thorough response Pat. I don't think I could coax my wife into driving any non domestic car other than a BMW because of familiarity. She is odd. I think I might look at the x3 then. Are there any lemon years?

[patsbimmer1]

I might have misinterpreted something but when you say new family you mean a baby, right? If so then you'll be disappointed with the x3.  The backseat provides similar car seat space to the e90 which isn't much.  I've tried it lol.  The only nice thing is not having to bend over.

[patsbimmer1]

My wife had no idea what a volvo was until I showed her one and once she drove one she fell in love.  Just get your wife in some different vehicles.  My wife was dead set on an X5 and I was dead set on not going bankrupt from repairs and listening to her complain about things not working.

[andrewwynn]

If you are a handy person I wouldn't consider the x5 a car that is too high of maintenance to take out of contention.

When I bought my much older (01) x5 from auction my first choice was an xc90 until I looked at a few and every single one had terrible damage to the drivers seat due to a design flaw. Look at an old used xc90 you will see what I mean.

I love working on the x5 and In 2 years with two 2001s we have spent maybe $12-1500. When factoring in $0/mo payment and that our insurance with $0 deductible is $90/month for TWO, it gives us effectively 80-100 mpg.

I still love the XC series of Volvo and wouldn't avoid one. For me the x5 is the perfect vehicle. When mine is retired I will get another newer model year.

Trying to find a photo online and found another related issue apparently another xc90 design flaw flings the seat belt buckle forcibly into the b pillar and damages the fabric. Volvos official response was to hold the belt as it retracts to avoid the problem. Yeah, right that's going to happen.

The seat if I recall has some plastic contraption to cover the belt mechanism and its flimsy and you slide over it on entrance and exit. It will break, 100% of the time.

100% of the used xc90s I looked at had this issue. They were older models so hopefully they revised the design but look at a model a few years older than your intended purchase to see what to expect. I was very disappointed to see otherwise 10/10 vehicles with a 3/10 looking wear in one place but where you see it every time you get in the car.

[Earl]

I think it is generational like the comment above. The earlier ones would make sense to be less problematic to me. I was under the impression that earlier ones were more e39 based as they were an SUV version of a 5 series. This makes sense for early x3's at least because they are basically e46 suv's.

[andrewwynn]

A big part of me deciding to get not one but two x5 e53 was the 3.0 engine is a solid amazing piece of work. When I bought mine with 128,000 on the clock it didn't have a sign of oily dust on it anywhere. Not a drop. Sadly since then the oil seal failed at the top of the oil filter and now it needs a serous engine scrub. In my case part of why we doubled down is having a second machine from which I can harvest a part for either testing or emergencies. Example: wife's cam shaft sensor failed an hour drive away. Got a ride home stole my cps from my car drove back and swapped the cps and got her car back home. Ordered new cps to put in my car. I had just replaced about 9 mo. Earlier in my car so that one should be good another 5000-7000 hours.

[StriggityStrack]

Now I'm torn because it seems hit or miss... Btw Pat I did mean family as in baby. I really badly want a large SUV but my wife would actually prefer a crossover because she likes smaller cars. I'm not on here to make a decision on which one I will and won't buy but rather use this advice when scouring used vehicles. I really appreciate your input because it's a slightly biased but extremely honest review. At the end of the day as long as I know my family is in a reliable vehicle that can handle all 4 seasons in Wisconsin I won't complain.

[patsbimmer1]

I think where it's getting confusing is andrewwynn is talking about the e53 while you are looking at an e70.  The m54 and the m62 are much more reliable than their brothers in the e70 but if i'm reading it correctly he's got 2 e53's to make one consistently running one.  Not everyone has that luxury.  Keep in mind, I've never said they were bad vehicles, I love the X5!  I'm actually driving a 2012 out to Milwaukee tomorrow with some friends to spend the night downtown.  These vehicles just aren't as reliable as comparable vehicles and they're not nearly as cheap to maintain when you talk about electronics and suspension components.

Now, as far as crossovers go, you won't have nearly the space your wife thinks you will in a crossover.  As far as backseat room your talking about very similar levels to the similar car they're based on and hatch space isn't nearly as much as you'd assume either.  Thankfully my wife realized this and thinks most crossovers look like piss.  Take your wife to a carmax with your car seat and just try and put it in the back seat of these vehicles and adjust the front seat to where it would normally be for a passenger.  I had my wife do this and it was a good exercise.

At the end of the day though, buy what you love.  You're either going to spend your time hating the vehicle every reliable minute after reliable minute or you'll be cursing the times the vehicle broke down.  And if it's your wife's main transportation and you only drive it periodically then, for the love of god, let her buy what she wants!

[andrewwynn]

Well spoken pat, I went to the car auction dead set on getting LEXUS 330 or Volvo XC90 but the X5 that wasn't on my radar specifically because it wasn't in the top ten lists of reliable used cars "found me".

You have to be able to do minor car repair yourself to want X5 but that same skill set will save you $1000s independent of which car you get.

+10 on the comments about back seat and baby seat. Make sure one fits and can be installed and removed easily and holds tight. (Best test is an adult kneeling inside: also fantastic way to get the straps tight as hell).

It's not an accurate statement to say I have two to keep one running, it's just an extraordinary perk. At first I had one. I was very ok with dealing with the *periodic* failures and before purchase I has already looked up the prices of most of the typical parts that wear out and break (fuel pump, water pump, thermostat, ac compressor) and they weren't appreciably more expensive than a Saturn. It's the labor and insisting on using genuine BMW for all parts. A car with 140,000 on the clock doesn't warrant a $600 original cv axle when a $120 with a warranty can be found.

Since E70 most likely my next car time to start planning on which engine might be M54 similar in reliability. The M54 is a beauty for sure. Maybe look at the 2006?

The most significant thing is: bond with the car: it's home away from home. Make sure the seat will go in and out and you won't take an eye out on the sharp corner of the door while doing so.

Oh one very significant thing: I hate one piece tailgates almost as I hate the minivans they are usually attached to. I didn't realize this until *thankfully* I'd already gotten the X5 which has a SPLIT tailgate. There are half a dozen reasons why but two of the biggies are: ➀ far easier to load as you always have an empty platform to set things before Tetris packing and ➁ no avalanche of crap falls out because you can open the top first to check on things.

Go check out in person let us know what you decide.