I've just posted on another thread about my situation with a 3rd party warranty. I'd definitely extend for peace of mind, especially at 56k miles. I would think carefully about buying 3rd party as I got burnt.

Celica I bought my 2011 40d only 6 months after the BMW warranty expired but the non-BMW dealer I bought it from offered me a 3rd party one so I was happy. 1 year later I had a gearbox issue which ended up with me needing a new 8-speed ZF box and mechatronics unit. Repairs came to over £9k - 3rd ...

There's a couple on eBay but they don't always specify if it's a 7 seater. Search "breaking E70"

Wow you're right. I haven't done this search in about 2 years but yes the diesels appear around the same price as the petrols. But my comment about spec remains (by the way I was referring to the 4.4l V8 - the 3.0l doesn't have the torque you need in such a big car). It's clear to see the V8s have ...

I have a 40d - took me ages to find one with the right spec and colour. I love the car but if I had the choice again I'd have gone for petrol. I spent nearly £5k more for my diesel than an identical petrol version because generally diesels are more in demand. I argued that road tax and economy would ...

Gotcha. And a good point - but at least I'll be able to crawl to a garage as the tyre "runs while flat", or damaged as the case may be. If the garage can't replace I can as a last resort buy a cheap Nankang or equivalent to tide me over. When I bought the car about 18 months ago the previous owner ...

Contis are another £100 each though. And the BS have proven themselves well for me in the past. Yeah I had the Diamaris RFTs on 19s on my E53 and they were good. Worth the outlay. 535dboy no warranty I'm afraid - I've just had a brand new ZF gearbox fitted and a BMW warranty would have been handy...

Ok thanks all. Never would have considered insurance. They always get you somehow don't they? So far verdict seems to be biased towards RFTs - a few people have PMd me to say the same and one person recommend Hankook RFT. Next question is which to go for. Richard isn't keen on his Dunlops. Mine came ...

:blink: E70 40d needs new tyres - mine is a 7-seater so no spare. Here are my thoughts: Pro: - cheaper (by a margin) - better ride - wider choice and easier to replace or fix (got a nail in my old RFT and nobody would touch it, insisted I bought a new tyre until I found a hole in the wall who fixed ...

Well believe it or not I'm still without X5 - the mechatronics unit starved the gearbox of oil and so the gearbox self-destructed. So had BMW followed their computer and simply replaced the mechatronics unit they would not have discovered the problem. I'd have spent £3600 for nothing. Thank you ...

Ugh that would have been painful if you'd have to have paid for it. Trouble is they're shameless about it. When BMW called me they said it in such a matter-of-fact way, as if all their customers simply accept a £3600 outlay for something that might or might not fix the car. So I paused at the news ...

Hi Peter, I did actually read your message as my search must have picked up "transmission fault" in your text. At the time it didin't help me get my car into Neutral, but now... So my problem was two-fold: 1) car stuck on sloping driveway; everyone tells me a crane is required to collect it and 2 ...

Richard - you're a star for helping out a newbie - thank you. The car starts and runs fine. The battery was charged and then disconnected but for 1-2 min, no longer. Does it need 30 min? If so I'll try that tomorrow. RAC subcontracted the work to a recovery company who walked away saying the slope ...

Well it's been a long day and the upshot from 1 independent visit and 2 RAC visits - one with a flatbed - is that the car is still in the driveway. It cannot be recovered because nobody can get it into Neutral for a tilt and slide recovery vehicle, and so because of the way the car is parked and the ...

You could be onto something there. Let me investigate with jump leads to another car. The X5 starts fine but the low battery indicator did show. Thanks for now, will update later.