Thinking of buying an X5 again

[The Li-ion King]

I went to look at an X5 at the weekend, as I miss my BMW's after being in a Merc and a Nissan for the last two years. Went to a dealer in Luton and finance was done but I am getting a bit worried about running costs - it's the 3.0d Xdrive MSport which is quick enough. It's a lot of car to move about, so worried about car parks, especially getting into multi storey ones. I know fuel consumption is another concern, I am in a 1.6 manual diesel at the moment, but insurance might be a problem as I hear the X5 is the UK's top stolen / recovered car.

Bought a Faraday Pouch for the key, but my last X5 was taken from my car park (was in a private block of flats), so worried about lighting striking twice. Felt a bit pressured into the sale (I know there's a cooling off period but put down quite a lot for deposit).

Don't want to mess the dealer about but I am having second thoughts. It's a 2015 model, the last one was an older E70 which got pinched. I know tyres etc are expensive, and issues with suspension are common. Any suggestions? Collection is 2 days time.

Should be over the moon but I just feel a little unsure.

[mekondelta]

We have a Stoplock Pro https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-security/car... which we use for peace of mind. It's also mighty handy to open up the passenger mirrors if you don't have auto folding mirrors! :-) We went X3 as the size of the X5 just seemed too big for London. Haven't regretted it but I think X5 would have been ok. I would plain avoid multi storey car parks, almost any car is too big for them.

[The Li-ion King]

mekondelta said:

We have a Stoplock Pro https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-security/car... which we use for peace of mind. It's also mighty handy to open up the passenger mirrors if you don't have auto folding mirrors! :-) We went X3 as the size of the X5 just seemed too big for London. Haven't regretted it but I think X5 would have been ok. I would plain avoid multi storey car parks, almost any car is too big for them.

I was thinking of the X3, but might be a squeeze with 3 kids. I currently have a 7 seater Nissan X Trail, the third row is useless for any child over 7, rendering the second row just as cramped. Also, we have one of those huge two seater pushchairs that weigh a ton, so the X5 will handle that as the boot is huge.

Multi storey car parks are even a struggle in the Nissan, only Westfield seems to be decent enough. A mate of mine has a Nissan Pathfinder which is even bigger than an X5, so I guess it's just about finding the bigger parking spaces. There's a few large SUVs around where I live (Audi Q7's, Range Rover Sports) but I am just concerned with the X5 looking so conspicuous amongst more common cars, from a thieves perspective. I know you can't believe everything written on the Net, but the X5 is made to look like one of the easiest to nick, yet they still sell like hot cakes.

I do have electric mirrors which helps, and I live on a main road. Just wanting to weigh everything up. Watching too many of those YouTube videos with nice cars. It would be great to be back in a BMW, but just worried about the theft aspect

[mekondelta]

Well the stoplock is bent so it sits quite well on the floor at the back and rests on the transmission tunnel so it's easy enough to live with even for kids. That may give you enough peace of mind for simple theft? The committed will always have a way. For car size, just pretend you're driving a bus, avoid width restricted roads and ms car parks.

[The Li-ion King]

Tax is a little eye watering at £160 / 200, but it's certainly got road presence. Just a little worried it may have too much, and simple things like parking become a nightmare.

Great, spacious interior, though. I might do the sensible thing and go back to where I started with a 3 series Touring. £30 a year for tax, but still enough poke to put a grin on your face. Will be a lot cheaper to insure as well.

[SD_1]

The Li-ion King said:

Tax is a little eye watering at £160 / 200, but it's certainly got road presence. Just a little worried it may have too much, and simple things like parking become a nightmare.

Great, spacious interior, though. I might do the sensible thing and go back to where I started with a 3 series Touring. £30 a year for tax, but still enough poke to put a grin on your face. Will be a lot cheaper to insure as well.

Does an extra £170 over the course of a year in tax really make any noticeable difference when you are spending £25k odd on a car?

[The Li-ion King]

I went and chopped in the Nissan for a 320d Touring MSport.


Plenty of fun, such a lively ZF gearbox, great when shifting on the paddles! Best drive home I've had for ages. Luton to London in 34 degrees heat
was no bother.

As regards the tax thing, just £30. My main issue with the X5 was... is, it's very desirable to thieves too in this part of town. The last one was stripped for parts, plus I feared big bills with things like suspension bellow / compressor failures, or even day to day running costs.

Very happy with my 10th BMW after time spent away. Thanks all for the advice

[Aluminati]

Can’t beat an X5 as an all rounder imho.

[The Li-ion King]

Aluminati said:

Can’t beat an X5 as an all rounder imho.

Latest update:

The Mrs hates clambering into the 3 series (her words not mine :P ) as it's so low to the ground compared to other cars we've had. The kids like being high up as well, so I've asked my long suffering dealer to get the X5 ready, and this 320d goes back in a fortnight! I was worried about the theft aspect, but that's more an issue with the first generation keyless, and a lot of the E70's.

Seen so many X5's on the road it made me want to go and get one... apparently there's some recall due to the Body Domain Controller



(Fuse Box to you and me ) which can overheat, leading to Zafira-style fires but BMW are taking care of this issue. Apparently there's a 2 week lead time for the part, but then I'll swap over into the X5.

I've enjoyed the latest NBT-Evo iDrive system in the 3 series, but I'm not used to clambering down into cars... my 3 year old daughter quite likes it though

[rich12]

I've had my 40d 2014 X5 for 2 weeks now and love it.
I was going for a RRS again but to find a decent one it's another circa £10k.

I bought it from a bmw dealer and managed to get nearly £2k off in total so I'm paying £307/month with just a £500 deposit for it over 4 years.

My biggest gripes are purely on spec, no pano roof and the sound system is shockingly bad.
Apart from that, I love the way it looks and love how it drives.

[theboss]

rich12 said:

I've had my 40d 2014 X5 for 2 weeks now and love it.
I was going for a RRS again but to find a decent one it's another circa £10k.

I bought it from a bmw dealer and managed to get nearly £2k off in total so I'm paying £307/month with just a £500 deposit for it over 4 years.

My biggest gripes are purely on spec, no pano roof and the sound system is shockingly bad.
Apart from that, I love the way it looks and love how it drives.

I might be in the market for something like this... I had an E70 40d 7s before my current M5 and really liked it. A growing family now dictates a need for something similar. Have been weighing up buying new (current discount of ~£11k and 2.9% on the G05 x30d) vs approved used for a F15 model but the rates always seem ridiculous. Can you share any details of your deal?

[The Li-ion King]

rich12 said:

I've had my 40d 2014 X5 for 2 weeks now and love it.
I was going for a RRS again but to find a decent one it's another circa £10k.

I bought it from a bmw dealer and managed to get nearly £2k off in total so I'm paying £307/month with just a £500 deposit for it over 4 years.

My biggest gripes are purely on spec, no pano roof and the sound system is shockingly bad.
Apart from that, I love the way it looks and love how it drives.

I am in a 320d MSport at the moment, but having come from an SUV beforehand (Nissan) have forgotten how low to the ground you are in a regular Tourer / Estate. The X5 I've seen is a 30d, but that's more than enough power. There is no pano roof on the X5 I've seen but when I did have the pano roof on the Nissan, I think only on a few occasions I used it (the sun just burns your head, lol) so not a great issue. On one of the hottest days of the year, as long as the aircon works, you're fine

Got a Harmon Kardon system in the 3 (LCI model) with the latest iDrive NBT Evo (non-touch), it's just like being in a go kart as I'm so low to the ground. Decent enough spec but no folding mirrors.

I had an E70 but it got pinched, so was a little worried. Apparently that's an issue with earlier cars. It was a 57 plate.

Popped into the BMW dealership (took a seat in the newest X5 2020 model - great, but I'll wait until the price drops after 3 years )

It's just getting used to parking such a big car, I'm sure it's as long as a 7 series.

I hear the RRS don't really hold their value too well...

[rich12]

theboss said:

I might be in the market for something like this... I had an E70 40d 7s before my current M5 and really liked it. A growing family now dictates a need for something similar. Have been weighing up buying new (current discount of ~£11k and 2.9% on the G05 x30d) vs approved used for a F15 model but the rates always seem ridiculous. Can you share any details of your deal?

Sure.

It was up for £23500 (64 plate with 70k miles)
Told them it needs to be £300 a month for me to go for it with a grand down and they got to £302 (8.9% pcp for 4 years).
They reduced it to £22,100 to get to that figure.
Day of collection, I had to cancel deal due to unforseen circumstances and they came back knocking another circa £300 off to help me out and keep the sale..

In the end, I got an immaculate 64 plate 40d with 70k miles, serviced by them 3 days before collection for £500 down and £307 a month for 4 years (gfv of £12700 I think).

Cheapest 40d on bmw right now is £26k+ so very happy with the deal even though the Apr is much higher than I'd usually go for.

[JohnBRG]

I had a E70 30d which got nicked. So I did the sensible thing and replaced it with a 40d. Great family car but eats tyres and rides poorly on blingy wheels (I sold the gangsta 20s and am now on 18s). I don't find parking to be an issue, I have the overhead camera thing which is excellent.

[Chamon_Lee]

SD_1 said:

The Li-ion King said:

Tax is a little eye watering at £160 / 200, but it's certainly got road presence. Just a little worried it may have too much, and simple things like parking become a nightmare.

Great, spacious interior, though. I might do the sensible thing and go back to where I started with a 3 series Touring. £30 a year for tax, but still enough poke to put a grin on your face. Will be a lot cheaper to insure as well.

Does an extra £170 over the course of a year in tax really make any noticeable difference when you are spending £25k odd on a car?

Think you need to just let this deal go and get your deposit back if possible if the idea of road tax at 160/200 seems “eye watering” to you.

It’s best to take your time and make a choice your comfortable with rather than this mental torture your putting yourself through. The fact that your questioning the whole thing says it all

[The Li-ion King]

JohnBRG said:

I had a E70 30d which got nicked. So I did the sensible thing and replaced it with a 40d. Great family car but eats tyres and rides poorly on blingy wheels (I sold the gangsta 20s and am now on 18s). I don't find parking to be an issue, I have the overhead camera thing which is excellent.

My one seems to be on the smaller wheels rather than the 20's. Tyres look chunky enough. 3 series is on low profiles ( 18's?) and low profile tyres do nothing for the ride. I'll keep an eye on the tyres, I don't do that many miles as I'm generally in a company van during the week.

@Chamon_Lee no real "mental torture", more of buyer's regret after choosing the 320d (more to do with having to climb down into the car than step up into an SUV), the Mrs hates the 3 and wants me to get the X5 so the X5 will be mine in days (at BMW waiting for recall parts - EGR and fuse box capacitors). Running Costs are no real issue, to quote Yiannimize "You don't buy a big house then worry about the electric bill", so anything further down the road will just be part of the X5 experience

Edited by The Li-ion King on Sunday 28th July 21:18

[jagr]

Buy the car you like, glad that's what you are doing in the end. Don't let thieves deny you of the X5.

I had my '56 X3 2.0d stolen and replaced it with an '07 X3 3.0sd which had its plates cloned and because of this bought an XC90 within 5 months that was sold and now back in an X3. This time a newer shape F25 30d 2011 and as soon as I got in I felt like I was home.
Friends and family don't understand why but I just like them and I am not letting thieves dictate what I want.

[margerison]

Chamon_Lee said:

SD_1 said:

The Li-ion King said:

Tax is a little eye watering at £160 / 200, but it's certainly got road presence. Just a little worried it may have too much, and simple things like parking become a nightmare.

Great, spacious interior, though. I might do the sensible thing and go back to where I started with a 3 series Touring. £30 a year for tax, but still enough poke to put a grin on your face. Will be a lot cheaper to insure as well.

Does an extra £170 over the course of a year in tax really make any noticeable difference when you are spending £25k odd on a car?

Think you need to just let this deal go and get your deposit back if possible if the idea of road tax at 160/200 seems “eye watering” to you.

It’s best to take your time and make a choice your comfortable with rather than this mental torture your putting yourself through. The fact that your questioning the whole thing says it all

Just get a 2017+ X5M...the VED is only £140

[The Li-ion King]

jagr said:

Buy the car you like, glad that's what you are doing in the end. Don't let thieves deny you of the X5.

I had my '56 X3 2.0d stolen and replaced it with an '07 X3 3.0sd which had its plates cloned and because of this bought an XC90 within 5 months that was sold and now back in an X3. This time a newer shape F25 30d 2011 and as soon as I got in I felt like I was home.
Friends and family don't understand why but I just like them and I am not letting thieves dictate what I want.

I won't... I spoke to the dealer where I bought the 3 series MSport from, he's agreed to give me the X5 when it returns from BMW. Turns out it's for the EGR Recall where glycol (?sp.) can leak from somewhere, into soot deposits and cause a fire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_xnuw3q1ZU

It's one of 22 cars in a compound somewhere waiting for a part to be shipped from Germany, it could be sooner or later between this week or the next. as it's a National Recall, there's quite a backlog, but at least the £600 worth of work is being done gratis by BMW which is great. So I'm treating the 3 series as a temporary hire, until the X5 is ready for collection later this month.

Getting back in a BMW with a familiar layout after about 2 years away (Mercedes R Class, Nissan X Trail) was great, I get to experience one of the latest iDrive NBT Evo systems, but yeah, the downside is climbing down into the car. It reminded me of my mate's Lotus Elise in terms of height / ground clearance. but I've been in a minivan and an SUV for a while and prefer the higher driving position.

I've been seeing loads of X5's about, so I'm sure what I worried of in 2013 has long passed with the newer vehicle. Got money put aside for the maintenance, such as tyres etc., but I'm sure it will be fine

EDIT: No issue with fuse capacitors, but most BMW diesels up to 2016 are being recalled for this EGR fault. My 2017 (66) 320d is not affected

Edited by The Li-ion King on Saturday 3rd August 16:56

[jagr]

My 2011 X3 30D had the recall done in March this year.