1st Jul 2010, 17:44
I got a kick out of this review and these comments. My family fell for the BMW ego-trip with the 5-series some years ago, and discovered that paying over twice as much for a car that is in the shop twice as often as a Ford soon shrunk our swelled heads back down to size. We now drive a solid, well built and very reliable Ford Fusion, and save enough money to buy a small country.
19th Jul 2010, 23:47
Thank God I found these comments before I took ownership of a 2002 X5 4.4l BMW in a couple days. Since my wife was not available to sign the paperwork with me, I had to re-schedule to take ownership. Thank God I did not close the deal on this time bomb. I am even willing to walk away from the 3k I put down on the X5 if the dealership refuses to give my money back after reading these comments. I would never drive or ride in a X5 without a moped inside. I'm shocked that BMW would design and manufacture such an unreliable automobile.
4th Aug 2010, 00:13
So I jumped in my 2001 4.4 X and headed to Washington DC for a conference with my fiance in tow from Connecticut.
Once we got there, we parked the truck for the four days and walked or used public transportation. As we pointed the truck towards I 95 north after doing some sight seeing, the battery light came on; alternator.
Like all who have spoken before me, the truck is amazing when it runs. But despite their best, BMW has missed the mark with this model year. I am sitting stranded for the second time really far from home.
My main pulley belt went a month after I bought the car and destroyed the fan water pump, 1600 dollars of headache with only 35k on the dash.
The radiator cracked at 70k and now the alternator at 80k. The ball joints are worn and I wore out the tires, which are very expensive. The rear driver's regulator went in the dead of winter and now the front driver is also bad.
This is my third BMW and this has been the worst. I have a 2000 528I which runs like a dream with 167k. I was stranded once when the alternator went at 160k, but that was fine. My 1998 328I has not had a hitch.
I love BMW, but I may just stick with the cars and 86 their SUV.
14th Aug 2010, 13:34
Just bought a 2003 X5 3.0 with 72,000 miles. The owners appeared to take care of it very well, but 200 miles later I got rear brake light fault, and a few miles later the Engine Fail Safe came on, and I had to crawl to a place before getting towed. Half hour later, the car runs flawlessly???
A mechanic printed out fault codes, but I think most were old, so I have to wait for this to happen again before reading fault codes again.
Another 200 miles later, the car runs well, but brake lights go out, and have to be babied back to health.
I'm surprised to be seeing all these problems for a BMW.
Crossing my fingers.
22nd Sep 2010, 21:22
2001 BMW X5 4.4. I have had to deal with the window regulators, alternator, radiator, cv joint and A/C blower.
The X5 drives really nice and I am very satisfied. I had bought the vehicle used and have had the X5 for 3 years. I'm on the east coast and have driven north to Canada and south to Florida. I do read the horror stories but all makes have their problems. Learn how to fix things and the pain won't be that bad.
My X5 now has 140,000 miles and looks great. Very happy owner and driver.
25th Oct 2010, 13:22
I have a 2001 X5 with 192K miles on it. I bought it in 2004 with about 40K on it. Still going strong!
1st Dec 2010, 00:24
I have a used 2002 X5 3.0 with 150K km on it. I bought it last summer to tow my new boat. So far no problems with it except the battery died (last replaced 2005) so I think it is reasonable. It drives well, tows well, is very comfortable and very solid.
I was very impressed with the body. Looks like it was finished well. The paint still looks like new.
I got the best customer service ever at the BMW dealership when I went in to buy an air filter and to get an oil change.
I used to have a top of the line Ford Explorer, and had nothing but problems with it. Fit and finish, durability and driving dynamics, it does not compare to the X5. I'll never buy another Ford again in my life. It will be BMW from now on.
1st Jul 2010, 07:07
My 2001, 4.4 X5 cranks well but it takes many tries (15 minutes, 20 tries) before it'd start. Once it's going all seems fine.
The shop replaced the plugs, relay and radiator, and the car worked OK for 3 days. This is the second mechanic who is looking into it. It is not an obvious problem such us keys or fuel pump; we smell raw gas when we try to start it.
I read that CPU might be trying to guess which cylinder to fire first, and fires at random until it hits the correct one. This idea fits well with the behavior of the car. Any suggestions?
I still have the same problem, and nobody has been able to figure it out. I wanted to let other folks out there know that my experience with BMW has been embarrassing and very expensive.
BMW replaced the transmission twice, the second time I had to pay two grand out of 7, the difference was covered by BMW.
3 out of 4 power window regulators have been replaced after they broke! The car has very little use, we don't have kids and the only window that gets used is the driver side, also the only one that has not been replaced.
I have replaced the plastic radiator that had a leak on a seam. Also I have replaced the water pump that broke to little pieces as the car was going at 25 MPH. The windshield wiper quit working, I had to replaced the arms and motor. As I saw in other comments, my dash board has lots of bad pixels so it's very hard to read.
I also have a Honda Odyssey with 100k miles that has never quit on me, and a 1998 Volvo that recently lost the A/C, but otherwise has been tough and reliable. Neither car has ever had any of the repairs we had to do on the X5; broken power windows!
We lost all confidence on the X5, and we only use it for short runs, where somebody can come to the rescue, which happens often. The car now has 55k miles and I'm ready to do without, after we get it fixed.
The X5 is a great car when it works, but I will never get near another BMW. I loved the idea of owning a BMW, and I loved riding this car, but I feel cheated by BMW with its very cheap components.
I'm surprised I haven't seen a Class Action Lawsuit, the kind Toyota is dealing with.