Advice needed on X5 purchase

[ragandstick]

I have been offered an X5 3L diesel auto with an 06 plate and FSH and 56K on the clock for £12K as a private sale. What I would like advice on is
1. Will it be good for towing my caravan on long autoroute trips in France ?
2. If I do 5k miles a year on long runs for the next 5 years will I be likely to get any expensive repair bills ?
3. Will I enjoy driving it?
4. Is the price right?
Any comments would be much appreciated.

[Deva Link]

1. Has it got the towbar and electrics and extra fans fitted already? If not, they're very expensive as retrofits.
2. Maybe, maybe not.
3. Don't know, tell us a bit about yourself to assist in our decision making process.
4. How does it compare with AutoTrader? Do you personally know and trust the person selling it? There's some value in that.

[AudiSport]

We bought an X5 the same spec mentioned above and... It has to be the best car we have ever owned. It's smooth, powerful, achieves 30mpg mixed and is a great environment to spend time.

I'm sure they are not for everyone, but it works for us. Pay a local BMW dealership a couple of hundred quid to check it over. That's what we did, even though we bought it from a family member. It wasn't that we didn't trust him, we just wanted someone to give us an idea of what the next few thousand miles will cost.

We have spent in 18-months:
£20 wiper blades
£800 on Tyres

Service due soon mind.

[London GT3]

I don't know if it has condition based servicing but if it says front discs then that could be about £900 I believe. I have an X6 and it needed new front discs and pads at 32,000 and it showing them due again at 65,000. If your X5 is similar then this might be a biggish bill in the foreseeable future. Other servicing is very reasonable and you will find a number of independents to look after the car and I think BMW have a special deal for cars over 5 years old.

As for towing, I tow with my X6 and it is fantastic. I had the tow bar and self levelling rear suspension specified from new.

I don't know what you have been running but an X5 will never be cheap to run but at 55,000 miles it shouldn't be outrageous if you accept that it is a big car with big car running costs.

[CycleSi]

Not sure where you get those prices from as my local BMW dealer (Sytners) are doing front pads & discs for X5 E53 6 cyl for £345 inc. parts, labour & VAT and for £499 for 8 cyl models.

[London GT3]

Apologies if I have given the wrong figures. £900 is what I was told for my X6 3.5d. The first set were covered on my inclusive service pack which runs out at 3yrs or 60,000 miles. If it's £400 to £500 then I will be delighted!

[Scamp's Walker]

Hi, can someone explain the extra fans and electrics towing thing. I have herd this before but no one has ever really explained it well to me. I understand that there was something called tow assist (not sure what that is?) is that what you mean?