X5 Advice 3.0d, 3.0i, or 4.4i... Real life Experience!
Discussion
I promised the wife an X5 when I finished my degree and got a job; which means I have started looking now.
The diesel claims approx 32mpg, where as the 4.4 at approx 25mpg, but an ex-owner told me that out of the two he would go for the 4.4 as the diesel struggles on the open road, drastically reducing the claimed mpg if keeping a thrifty pace.
My wife uses her car daily and drives around mostly rural roads throughout the day. At the minute she drives a Mk4 Golf GTI 1.8T and averages less than 25mpg, so similar consumption would be acceptable.
I am to buy from a BMW main dealer for around the £20k mark and the car MUST be a Sport and MUST have leather. I'd appreciate the experiences from owners relating to mpg, and any other advice or factors I should take into consideration.
The diesel claims approx 32mpg, where as the 4.4 at approx 25mpg, but an ex-owner told me that out of the two he would go for the 4.4 as the diesel struggles on the open road, drastically reducing the claimed mpg if keeping a thrifty pace.
My wife uses her car daily and drives around mostly rural roads throughout the day. At the minute she drives a Mk4 Golf GTI 1.8T and averages less than 25mpg, so similar consumption would be acceptable.
I am to buy from a BMW main dealer for around the £20k mark and the car MUST be a Sport and MUST have leather. I'd appreciate the experiences from owners relating to mpg, and any other advice or factors I should take into consideration.
In my experience, the 4.4 will struggle to hit the twenties, of the diesel I only drove the new version and it returned around 25 mpg on a long run to Stuttgart and back in the streaming wet (bad for economy in principle, but good for economy in practice as it restricted Autobahn speeds to sub-ton levels).
The latest 3.0 is just perfect for the X5 with the six speed auto, IIRC the earlier ones are about 30 bhp shy of its 232 bhp output in a car weighin just about the same - not sure if that would make it 'struggle' or not, but then again there are different levels of 'struggling' (says the man with the 89 bhp MINI
)...
The latest 3.0 is just perfect for the X5 with the six speed auto, IIRC the earlier ones are about 30 bhp shy of its 232 bhp output in a car weighin just about the same - not sure if that would make it 'struggle' or not, but then again there are different levels of 'struggling' (says the man with the 89 bhp MINI
)...I get around 22mpg long term out of a 3.0 manual petrol, I believe the v8 is about 19-20 on the same basis and far more enjoyable!, a diesel model would be what? 3-5k more expensive over the equivalent v8 (lpg anyone?) a lot of petrol plus no turbos to injest into the engine! YMMV! Ian
Our 4.4 sport seems to average around 23 mpg. I have to ask why on earth you want to buy from a dealer. At the age / price bracket you are looking at a BMW dealer will probably just source you a car and charge you 2-3k for the pleasure. All the best with the search though I love the x5.
I bought my 330 cab from a main dealer a few months ago and its the first car where I really enjoyed the buying experience.
A couple of niggles on it and they had it straight back in with a courtesy car to boot.
I know I have paid more than I would have from a private sale, but with all the horror stories of people being ripped of either way I opted for peace of mind (and Full BMW warranty for a year).
A couple of niggles on it and they had it straight back in with a courtesy car to boot.
I know I have paid more than I would have from a private sale, but with all the horror stories of people being ripped of either way I opted for peace of mind (and Full BMW warranty for a year).
Forget the 4.4/4.6s IMO, fuel consumption is a farce with stop/start driving and anyone buying one new has to prepare to lose 50% of its value in under 3 years, the Diesel is the one to go for hence why they are holding there value better than the equivalent 4.4 sport after 2 years.
Your wife probably couldnt tell the difference with modern diesels compared to the petrol version anyway. Great cars in my opinion but the fuel consumption/value after 3 years is a joke and i am suprised BMW have not realised that the public are reaching breaking point with 90-100 litre fuel tanks that need filled up once a week at £100 a pop.
Your wife probably couldnt tell the difference with modern diesels compared to the petrol version anyway. Great cars in my opinion but the fuel consumption/value after 3 years is a joke and i am suprised BMW have not realised that the public are reaching breaking point with 90-100 litre fuel tanks that need filled up once a week at £100 a pop.
Edited by Wanta996 on Wednesday 27th June 14:43
I have a 4.4 lpg converted. 15-16 mpg on gas at 32p/litre (I have my own tank). Most 'private' gas fillers charge 38-42p. Big forecourts upto 49.9p. Work it out.
Around home cheaper to run, faster and smoooother than derv. Needs a sniff after 200 miles so to fill up away from home can get costly.
I will replace it with a 4.8is and I'll definitely gas convert.
My sons 330d goes like stink though and easily acheives 40mpg, but it doesn't tow a large livestock trailer.
X5 not as robust as a Landcruiser but far more pleasure to drive.
Around home cheaper to run, faster and smoooother than derv. Needs a sniff after 200 miles so to fill up away from home can get costly.
I will replace it with a 4.8is and I'll definitely gas convert.
My sons 330d goes like stink though and easily acheives 40mpg, but it doesn't tow a large livestock trailer.
X5 not as robust as a Landcruiser but far more pleasure to drive.
We've had two 3.0dsports - both mainly used by the girlfriend, both new. The first did 18,000 miles in 12 months and averaged an incredible 32mpg - driven hard but 80% on motorways. The second is just over 2 years old now, it's done 19,000 very mixed miles, including lots of short journeys, and is averaging 27.5mpg. They don't struggle. Quite the reverse, with at least the same torque as the V8 in the real world they are just as fast.
Edited by Pugsey on Wednesday 27th June 21:42
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