E70 X5 Twin Turbo
Discussion
After numerous SUV's over the years including an E53 X5 back in 2005 when it was only a few months old, we found ourselves in the market for another back in December.
After setting a flexible budget but some stringent criteria, the search could begin.
Obviously I wanted as higher spec as possible, but did not want an M Sport as strangely, I don't think they suit colour coded bumpers, so an SE it was, plus I didn't want black paint, and didn't want beige or grey leather. I also preferred to not have the pan roof as they can be troublesome with age.
Proving what a joke the current tax system is for cars, especially of the potential age we were looking, the 30d was out as it's £560+ per year to tax whilst the 30sd/35d Twin Turbo is only £330.
In an ideal world then, it would be silver outside, black inside, 20" wheels, xenon headlights..... yes, these were still optional, heated seats (optional!) and anything else.
I also wanted a sub 100k car with a proper service history.
So, after a couple of weeks of looking, this came up
This really is my ideal spec as it's got the Sport Pack on it (seats, suspension etc) and I bought it directly from the 2nd owner, a London solicitor who was obsessive about it, with 78k on it, and a maintenance history as well as a service history, including the diff oil etc.
Since purchase and despite Covid19, I have managed to continue with the obsessive maintenance, and although predominantly our winter car, have had it in and out of my mechanics lair on several occasions over the last 10 months and 3k.
Intially in January, it was an oil and filter change, as although it was only a couple of thousand miles since it was last done, it was over a year from memory (condition based servicing), plus my intention was to have them changed every 6 months anyway, irrelevant of miles covered (BMW turbos!).
Then a plan of attack was put in place to include replacement of all 6 glow plugs, a gearbox service, and getting rid of those bloody run flats!
My god, the ride on those run flats. I don't know if it's just because they are that bad or partly because they were also quite old due to the low mileage, but the ride was utterly horrendous.
Anyway, we are now up to date, a major service was carried out in June including the brake fluid, the gearbox service was done around the same time, all four tyres have been replaced despite the previous set still having decent tread, which although there were stock issues when I replaced them due to we all know what, the ones I ended up getting are much better than I thought they'd be, which means I won't have to replace them again now things are trying to get back to normal, and the ride has been transformed. It's still firmer than I think is necessary, but so much more tolerable now.
On the glow plug note, it's a good job I opted to have them changed as one had failed, which despite not causing any issues back in the summer, may well have now we're coming into winter. Funnily enough, I've just had the diesel S Class we bought a couple of months ago in for the same preventative maintenance and, low and behold, one faulty glow plug, so money well spent.
I also had a detachable towbar fitted just in case I needed it, as before the world turned to s**t, we were going to be doing some work on the house and may have been hiring a trailer, but now winter is here, that'll be on hold.
I have to say, due to the way this thing has been maintained, the way it pulls is ridiculous, especially 40mph to very illegal if you were so inclined, and is much stronger than the E60 535d we had a couple of years ago.
To further future proof it, I'm tempted to get the three different thermostats changed along with the waterpump as I've read this is a worthwhile job, plus the Sat Nav has just stopped reading the disc on occasion, which although rubbish compared with modern units or Waze, my OCD may mean I have to send it off to be repaired as it's only £179 and a common problem apparently.
After setting a flexible budget but some stringent criteria, the search could begin.
Obviously I wanted as higher spec as possible, but did not want an M Sport as strangely, I don't think they suit colour coded bumpers, so an SE it was, plus I didn't want black paint, and didn't want beige or grey leather. I also preferred to not have the pan roof as they can be troublesome with age.
Proving what a joke the current tax system is for cars, especially of the potential age we were looking, the 30d was out as it's £560+ per year to tax whilst the 30sd/35d Twin Turbo is only £330.
In an ideal world then, it would be silver outside, black inside, 20" wheels, xenon headlights..... yes, these were still optional, heated seats (optional!) and anything else.
I also wanted a sub 100k car with a proper service history.
So, after a couple of weeks of looking, this came up
This really is my ideal spec as it's got the Sport Pack on it (seats, suspension etc) and I bought it directly from the 2nd owner, a London solicitor who was obsessive about it, with 78k on it, and a maintenance history as well as a service history, including the diff oil etc.
Since purchase and despite Covid19, I have managed to continue with the obsessive maintenance, and although predominantly our winter car, have had it in and out of my mechanics lair on several occasions over the last 10 months and 3k.
Intially in January, it was an oil and filter change, as although it was only a couple of thousand miles since it was last done, it was over a year from memory (condition based servicing), plus my intention was to have them changed every 6 months anyway, irrelevant of miles covered (BMW turbos!).
Then a plan of attack was put in place to include replacement of all 6 glow plugs, a gearbox service, and getting rid of those bloody run flats!
My god, the ride on those run flats. I don't know if it's just because they are that bad or partly because they were also quite old due to the low mileage, but the ride was utterly horrendous.
Anyway, we are now up to date, a major service was carried out in June including the brake fluid, the gearbox service was done around the same time, all four tyres have been replaced despite the previous set still having decent tread, which although there were stock issues when I replaced them due to we all know what, the ones I ended up getting are much better than I thought they'd be, which means I won't have to replace them again now things are trying to get back to normal, and the ride has been transformed. It's still firmer than I think is necessary, but so much more tolerable now.
On the glow plug note, it's a good job I opted to have them changed as one had failed, which despite not causing any issues back in the summer, may well have now we're coming into winter. Funnily enough, I've just had the diesel S Class we bought a couple of months ago in for the same preventative maintenance and, low and behold, one faulty glow plug, so money well spent.
I also had a detachable towbar fitted just in case I needed it, as before the world turned to s**t, we were going to be doing some work on the house and may have been hiring a trailer, but now winter is here, that'll be on hold.
I have to say, due to the way this thing has been maintained, the way it pulls is ridiculous, especially 40mph to very illegal if you were so inclined, and is much stronger than the E60 535d we had a couple of years ago.
To further future proof it, I'm tempted to get the three different thermostats changed along with the waterpump as I've read this is a worthwhile job, plus the Sat Nav has just stopped reading the disc on occasion, which although rubbish compared with modern units or Waze, my OCD may mean I have to send it off to be repaired as it's only £179 and a common problem apparently.
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