(Soon to be) New owner

[eniacs]

Hello;

I'm soon to be the new owner of the 40d model, 2012 X5 in ruby black with the following spec list.
Its an AUC, but what should I be checking for once I go to pickup? Of course I have a warranty still active on the car, so mechanically I expect it to be fine. I will presumably need to check paintwork and interior trim since these will not be covered on the warranty. Anything else to note of that may be worth checking?

Thanks, Steve.

Model        ZXR2  E70 X5 xDrive40d M Sport N57 3.0
Colour        X03    (I)Ruby Black            Metallic
Upholstery    LUCX  Oyster Nevada leather
Maint Pack    Active from 03/05/2012 to 02/05/2017
Option        XE7    (I)Piano Black - BMW Ind.
Option        2NY    20" M Double-spoke style 333M alloy whee
Option        225    M Sport suspension deletion
Option        3AH    Reversing Assist camera with Top View
Option        316    Bootlid operation. powered
Option        4UB    Third-row seating
Option        402    Panoramic glass sunroof
Option        430    Ext. mirrors - folding. auto dimming
Option        456    Comfort seats. front
Option        488    Lumbar support. driver and front pass.
Option        493    Extended storage
Option        494    Seat heating. front
Option        496    Seat heating. rear
Option        5AC    High-beam Assistant
Option        524    Adaptive Headlights
Option        6NF    Telephone USB audio interface
Option        6NR    BMW Apps interface
Option        610    Head-up Display
Option        614    Internet
Option        620    Voice Control
Option        676    Loudspeaker system - BMW Advanced
Option        760    Exterior trim. High-gloss Shadowline
Option        761    Sun protection glass
Package      ZXB    Media package

[sramsay]

Hi, great spec car. Ruby Black should look fantastic too.

I'd check the wheels for the lacquer issue - flaking around the BMW badge in the centre. I've had 3 sets of new wheels due to this!

[RenoHuskerDu]

I checked paint thickness with an electronic gadget, and checked for body filler with a magnetic tool called a SpotRot. One door had been repainted but the thickness is consistent with a good quality repaint over a scratch, which is what the PO noted.  The body and paint are flawless.

I operated all electronic devices, windows, sunroof, stored a CD in the HD, and did a long test drive. I had a very close look at all gaps between body panels, ensuring consistency. I inspected the brake disks and pads. I looked at the wear on foot pedals and other wear areas of the cabin. I even looked at the type of music the PO had stored on the disk: kids' songs, classical, Cold Play, etc, indicative of a mature personality who had relatively young children (like me).

But the biggest factor was a seller who was honest all through the process, answered each of my email msgs faithfully, provided all the close-up pics and service records I requested, and thus inspired confidence. I had run across a couple sellers who were less than honest earlier, and I fled them. One 40d even had a rear diff gear whine, which the seller 'could not hear' at all. Right.

Full service records and one owner were baseline criteria for me.  It took me 3 months to find the car with all the options I wanted. If I liked black cars it would have been a lot faster.  Your option list is much like mine. If you love music (I play bass in a rock group) then you might want to hold out for the 6VC Control Combox option so you can plug or bluetooth a portable music source easily. But there is a thread out here on how to retrofit it.

HTH

[eniacs]

Ramsay; Yes I will check this, but since the car is still covered by manufacturers warranty I will still be able to take the vehicle back to them to have the wheels done, even if they are corroded when I buy the thing.

HTH; Buying from BMW i will not have much idea of the previous owner. I suppose the general condition of the car will suggest to this however like you say. Like you I also wanted a different colour, but I have been looking for about 3 months and not seen a non black in the right spec at the right price sadly.
What does the combox do - is this a 3.5mm input to the stereo?

Alarmingly it looks like this car had one owner from new just 6 months, then it was sold again to another owner who had it for 13 months. Then it will be me - starting to wonder if its a lemon. Hopefully it was just some low mileage user in london dropping the kids to school for a couple years.

[mark hamster 28]

check the back tailgate, mine is rattling crazy on the back passenger side..! its going back in very soon to be rectified I hope, they seem to think it needs a new seal around the tailgate ? hope it is this as I'm wondering if its coming from around the wheel ??

[RenoHuskerDu]

[quote="eniacs"]
[... ]What does the combox do - is this a 3.5mm input to the stereo?
[/quote]

My understanding of the combox is that without it, you have the USB jacks and bluetooth so you think you can just plug in your ipad etc, but it won't play your music. I don't know this from personal experience but have seen several threads on this topic. As you might imagine, it is frustrating.

With the combox, plugging in personal media via USB or bluetooth works like a dream. My kids had music from their phones playing on the stereo within 5 minutes after we picked up the car.  The car will play mp3 or wmv files from phones via bluetooth. I think that the combox is what makes this possible.

Regarding those two owners, maybe buying a pint for the seller would get him to tell you the story. In Germany, strict privacy laws prevent that kind of info from being passed down formally. But I got it by establishing a relationship with the seller. It helps that my career is in marketing... 

Reno

[X5Sport]

The Combox replaces the old TCU and ULF type phone controllers and allows for various media functions to work, including what's noted above and music videos from your iThingy as long as you have full media integration for the smartphone (6NF & 6NR) and the correct type of phone adapter.

It looks like this (X6 version mounted behind left side boot trim):


Cars fitted with either the Media Package or Pro Nav got it automatically and with the two options above you got the 'media' version which runs an extra USB line into the base of the phone unit in the centre armrest - in addition to the USB port in the armrest.

It has now been replaced by a different system in the F15.

Richard

[eniacs]

Thanks Mark, we have a small test drive befor agreeing things so I will have a listen out.

Reno its sounds like from Richard I should have a combox to enable music stored on the phone etc to be played. Im not too worried about this. I am coming from a car that has FM and a 6 CD changer so a DAB radio by itself is like space age to me, let alone adding onto it ability to play music stored on USB devices!

Also since the car is in london I'm trying to convince myself that it will be fine and the previous owners tried it for a while and decided to get the new shape. I imagine some rich inner city type.
My last car had 5 owners when I bought it at 6 years old and then I kept it for a further 6 years, no issues at all in 35k miles of ownership. I wonder if perhaps this one had a couple issues which annoyed the owners so they changed it. Or perhaps their partners just preferred one in white instead...

Presumably this thread will be worthless until I put up photos of the purchased car in a weeks time! So excited, its ridiculous. It feels like such a childish thing to get so excited about a new car.

[X5Sport]

If you look at the build sheet (not the options sheet) from the Dealer, look for option SA6VC.  It should be there as you have the other options and the car was made after Oct 2010 which is when the Combox first arrived.

[graemeX5]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Congrats on your new car, it sounds awesome.

Re checks as the other have said check every thing more than once esp the sunroof as some E70 ownwers now saying they are having probs like the E53 ones so test it thoroughly but if covered by a BMW warranty that should give you piece of money.

Hth

[RenoHuskerDu]

[quote="eniacs"]
[...]
So excited, its ridiculous. It feels like such a childish thing to get so excited about a new car.
[/quote]

It's really quite a remarkable car. I've owned some great cars over the years, but the E70 is truly superior in every way. The Active Drive is astonishingly effective at controlling body movements such as roll, without being unduly harsh. I keep glancing down at the speedometer and realising that I am well over the limit but all seems right as rain as the landscape tends to a blur. There is more risk to my driving license in this car than even in my old 928S4. That's the only criticism I can come up with so far.

[X5Sport]

The 40d has a nasty habit of going a lot faster than you might think!  It gets there a bit quickly too!!  I have the speed warning gong set up on mine as a gentle reminder.. :-[

[eniacs]

Picked up the car from health row bmw. A couple scratches on the bodywork, nothing major and to be expected with the female owner and low mileage.

The drive is superb as you have said above, it's standard suspension with msport kit (msport deletion) and it's great! I'm so glad I didn't get another hard suspension car, body roll is barely noticeable. 20 inch wheels on it and pot holes and speed bumps are smooth experiences.

Parking the beast is difficult, being high up makes me concerned that I am closer than I actually are. Top view helps with this, but day to day it's not getting used to be honest.

Does anyone have issues in multistory car parks? It seems very close to the height!

[RenoHuskerDu]

[quote="eniacs"]
...Does anyone have issues in multistory car parks? It seems very close to the height!
[/quote]

This car replaces my LR Disco, so it's actually shorter. I am already trained on avoiding low structures.  Just ask the attendant if a Disco will fit, as it's the tallest of the lot.

Once, in Oz, I got stuck in a parking structure where the exit was slightly too low. The rented TLC troopy  would not make it out.  Pssssssssssst ... a couple of bars (30psi) out of the tires and I made it out! But after only two miles driving to the nearest filling station with air, you could cook an egg on the tires.

[535dboy]

Multi story car parks are a nightmare

You can get the car in the space but then can't get out of the car!!