I thought I would get a progress thread going for my E53 X5, for advice with any problems or issues I encounter and just general guidance. I recently bought the car after selling my BMW E90 335d. I loved the 3-Series but I’m getting married in a couple of years and needed to free up the cash. I originally looked at a few other saloons and estates including the E60 5-Series, B7 and B8 Audi A4, and C6 Audi A6. I had my heart set on the A6 but after owning a 335d I thought I would always miss the power. I decided on the X5 because although it won’t be as quick, it will have other advantages, like being more pragmatic and looking more aggressive.
With the help of this forum I narrowed it down to wanting a facelift E53 3.0d Sport with the communications pack - and a couple of weeks back I found one. It’s a 2005 (05) Sport in black with black leather interior and graphite trim. It has the communications pack with navigation, digital TV and Bluetooth, along with the standard Sport spec, electric memory seats, xenon headlamps, halos, 19” Style 63 alloys etc. It has 122k on the clock but comes with a full service history, most of it dealership, and has only had one owner for the majority of its life. It’s a bit rough around the edges, the light clusters are faded and slightly yellow, the bonnet badge could do with being replaced and the alloys could do with being refurbished, but out of the ones I went to see, this one looked the cleanest and in the best condition. I’ve also found since owning the car that the horn doesn’t work and the passenger side mirror ‘auto-dip in reverse’ doesn’t work properly either, but I’m hoping these are only minor issues.
My old 335d:
The X5 replacement:
Plans are to sort all of the issues, change the gearbox oil, and then modernise the car with a few subtle changes. The forum has been extremely helpful so far. Comments welcome.
Pictures by www.mattoakley.co.uk
Jack.
Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.
