BMW X5 E70 - Being anti-PistonHeads
Discussion
Update again. The EGR thermostat nipple (
) decided to leak heavily 10 miles from home, and allowed for all the coolant to leak out. Filled with water and drove it home, was fine luckily. Called out RAC next morning, who agreed with me, and proceeded to try and get it repaired. BMW were booked out till next week, and Darren Wood Specialists were booked out for the next three weeks, so the RAC man kindly decided to go the extra mile. A cup of coffee later and it was replaced for the grand sum of £40, no extortionate £320 labour charge for what was actually a 3 hour job due to having to remove parts to get to it.
Other than that, hit 120k miles. Front tyres still good after 2 years and 30k miles. Right side air suspension bag in for replacement next week at BMW, that totals £1000 on suspension alone on the car, but they are consumables after all and have lasted the right side of 10 years.
Repairs aside, drives like a dream.
) decided to leak heavily 10 miles from home, and allowed for all the coolant to leak out. Filled with water and drove it home, was fine luckily. Called out RAC next morning, who agreed with me, and proceeded to try and get it repaired. BMW were booked out till next week, and Darren Wood Specialists were booked out for the next three weeks, so the RAC man kindly decided to go the extra mile. A cup of coffee later and it was replaced for the grand sum of £40, no extortionate £320 labour charge for what was actually a 3 hour job due to having to remove parts to get to it. Other than that, hit 120k miles. Front tyres still good after 2 years and 30k miles. Right side air suspension bag in for replacement next week at BMW, that totals £1000 on suspension alone on the car, but they are consumables after all and have lasted the right side of 10 years.
Repairs aside, drives like a dream.
Yet another update.
Car showed messages of a low battery, with 'imminent shutdown!' being flashed on the iDrive in the usual German way. Decided to use BMW to change the battery as I wanted it done properly due to them being AGM batteries that need coding. Had heard of improper installations leading to leaking battery acid, which we didn't want. The replacement was £320 total.
Williams BMW coffee is nice though, as well as their cakes.
Car showed messages of a low battery, with 'imminent shutdown!' being flashed on the iDrive in the usual German way. Decided to use BMW to change the battery as I wanted it done properly due to them being AGM batteries that need coding. Had heard of improper installations leading to leaking battery acid, which we didn't want. The replacement was £320 total.
Williams BMW coffee is nice though, as well as their cakes.
0a said:
They always seemed a bit small on the inside compared to the outside to me - not as bad as the X6 though!
Interesting that you say that. When we were looking for a 7 seat SUV, we looked at the discovery, GL, X5 and the Q7. We found the X5 to overall feel the roomiest, other than the GL (this had the most space, but too old of a car) and we surprisingly found the Q7 to be small, even though it is the size of a bus. You are right about the X6, especially with the low roofline.
MOT update:
The car binged and bonged and asked for a brake fluid service. 2 recalls arrived as well on our doorstep, as well as it needing a MOT, so we decided to use the main dealer for the MOT. To our surprise, it actually failed the MOT because of excessive play in the front suspension arms, as well as cuts in the tyres on the nearside only. Very annoying as they wanted 5 hours of labour for the suspension arms, and way too much for tyres, so we gathered it up and took it to a well known independent of ours.
Suspension arms were done, but took about a whole day, so glad we didn't use the dealership for it. Tyres that failed were replaced with part-worn tyres as the other side at the front was already quite low. The garage owner is very good, he owns a E70 himself and understands the situation with tyres as well. Astonishingly, he sourced part worn star marked tyres of the exact same brand, of which the rear used tyre had only lost about 1mm of tread. Luckily, solves the issue of tyres in the rear in that they have to be changed by axle, so in the future we will put a new pair of tyres on the front. Original fronts had lasted 3 years/36k miles which is extremely impressive for the car, but the rear tyres were only 1 year old so that was rather annoying. All in, saved about 60% of what the dealer wanted, all whilst using OEM parts. New front star marked tyres are rather cheap at Costco, so we will be using them in the future for new tyres.
Overall, it still soldiers on, despite an abusive MOT. Certainly would have made people who didn't know too much about these absolutely quiver, the dealer bill was the cost of a reasonable car. Could be worse however, it could be a Q7! Which is slow! :P
The car binged and bonged and asked for a brake fluid service. 2 recalls arrived as well on our doorstep, as well as it needing a MOT, so we decided to use the main dealer for the MOT. To our surprise, it actually failed the MOT because of excessive play in the front suspension arms, as well as cuts in the tyres on the nearside only. Very annoying as they wanted 5 hours of labour for the suspension arms, and way too much for tyres, so we gathered it up and took it to a well known independent of ours.
Suspension arms were done, but took about a whole day, so glad we didn't use the dealership for it. Tyres that failed were replaced with part-worn tyres as the other side at the front was already quite low. The garage owner is very good, he owns a E70 himself and understands the situation with tyres as well. Astonishingly, he sourced part worn star marked tyres of the exact same brand, of which the rear used tyre had only lost about 1mm of tread. Luckily, solves the issue of tyres in the rear in that they have to be changed by axle, so in the future we will put a new pair of tyres on the front. Original fronts had lasted 3 years/36k miles which is extremely impressive for the car, but the rear tyres were only 1 year old so that was rather annoying. All in, saved about 60% of what the dealer wanted, all whilst using OEM parts. New front star marked tyres are rather cheap at Costco, so we will be using them in the future for new tyres.
Overall, it still soldiers on, despite an abusive MOT. Certainly would have made people who didn't know too much about these absolutely quiver, the dealer bill was the cost of a reasonable car. Could be worse however, it could be a Q7! Which is slow! :P
Some pictures. Really do like the Black Sapphire, really adds to how menacing this can be to someone in the outside lane. Also a big fan of the brushed aluminium, many people opt for the black shadowline but it is actually high quality aluminium used and not fake chrome (Audi are good at that!).
old man is still loving his 
although his is slightly quicker, having been mapped to 375bhp
just had airbags fitted on the rear £200 something supplied and fitted the pair
also had the mirror glass fall out funnily enough
and other than a door actuator going wonky has been perfectly fine with no issues at all,
fantastic tow cars and its causing my dad some serious headaches on what to replace it with, only option that comes close would be the same but a few years newer.
certainly not anti-pistonheads at all, lovely place to be especially if their specced right stupidly fast once mapped and a perfect all rounder,
although his is slightly quicker, having been mapped to 375bhp
just had airbags fitted on the rear £200 something supplied and fitted the pair
also had the mirror glass fall out funnily enough
and other than a door actuator going wonky has been perfectly fine with no issues at all,
fantastic tow cars and its causing my dad some serious headaches on what to replace it with, only option that comes close would be the same but a few years newer.
certainly not anti-pistonheads at all, lovely place to be especially if their specced right stupidly fast once mapped and a perfect all rounder,
My goodness, 375bhp is a lot! Previous owner mapped ours to 315hp/500 lb-ft of torque but that is some crazy figures. Had the exact same thing happen to us on our wing mirror, what a silly thing to happen. Undoubtedly cars that can do it all, you are right that there are few cars which are good enough replacements.
absolutely stonking with 375 bhp, custom map courtesy of those nice chaps at ecotune
if your pockets are deep enough for hybrid turbochargers you can be well over 400 bhp and 600lbs/ft
keep pointing out to my Dad his is a bit on the slow side still and needs uprated turbos chargecoolers and a power figure starting with a 5
its at this point he normally points out that my Omega still has an output starting with a 2 and offers to race me towing his caravan
if your pockets are deep enough for hybrid turbochargers you can be well over 400 bhp and 600lbs/ft
keep pointing out to my Dad his is a bit on the slow side still and needs uprated turbos chargecoolers and a power figure starting with a 5
its at this point he normally points out that my Omega still has an output starting with a 2 and offers to race me towing his caravan
Glasgowrob said:
absolutely stonking with 375 bhp, custom map courtesy of those nice chaps at ecotune
if your pockets are deep enough for hybrid turbochargers you can be well over 400 bhp and 600lbs/ft
keep pointing out to my Dad his is a bit on the slow side still and needs uprated turbos chargecoolers and a power figure starting with a 5
its at this point he normally points out that my Omega still has an output starting with a 2 and offers to race me towing his caravan
I would pay money to watch that race! if your pockets are deep enough for hybrid turbochargers you can be well over 400 bhp and 600lbs/ft
keep pointing out to my Dad his is a bit on the slow side still and needs uprated turbos chargecoolers and a power figure starting with a 5
its at this point he normally points out that my Omega still has an output starting with a 2 and offers to race me towing his caravan
rayyan171 said:
I would pay money to watch that race!
i really dont fancy taking him up on it tbh, as much as my Omega is a cracking bit of kit in its own right 240bhp tweaked 3l v6 with a few choice mods its a n/a with well under half the torque of my old mans X5 he would eat me alive 26ft caravan or not.
Glasgowrob said:
i really dont fancy taking him up on it tbh,
as much as my Omega is a cracking bit of kit in its own right 240bhp tweaked 3l v6 with a few choice mods its a n/a with well under half the torque of my old mans X5 he would eat me alive 26ft caravan or not.
Most certainly. These cars are true 'Bahn-stormers' and, when at high speed, feel like they are doing half of that speed. We took a trip down to Southampton, and took the M6 toll. Never experienced a car that handles the motorway that well, and we have a E39 as well as an Audi A6! Dare I say that the X5 is more confidence inspiring in the twisties as well. Masterful engineering in the chassis for these cars.as much as my Omega is a cracking bit of kit in its own right 240bhp tweaked 3l v6 with a few choice mods its a n/a with well under half the torque of my old mans X5 he would eat me alive 26ft caravan or not.
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