Hi all

[B088IN]

Evening, good to be here. I'm currently looking for an 2007 X5 and the best place for knowledge is here. So as I'm hunting for my new car I hope to be here to research and then once I have one, to be able to contribute more.

Cheers

[graemeX5]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

Well you get some good information and I would recommend the E70 buyers guide as a start to read and work out want are needs and wants in your spec as there are a lot of cars out there, and some like the SE generally had a better spec and aluminium side steps but unpainted arches  which the MSport had.

Also you got a 3.0d or a 3.0sd (or also know pan as 35sd), and iirc the ad had the twin turbo more powerful it may be worth driving both. Also decide if it's an MSport or an SE model your after. Remember most features are options. Later facelift cars 2010 called lci had improved idrive systembut it depends on your budget.

Some earlier E70 diesels had the higher road tax £500 as opposed to £295 so you may want to check on that, with a car being an '07 about 10 years old then history whether full service history or proof of maintenance is a must as if you but a good one it will be a pleasure to have and bad one is costly.

Also more recently there have been some cars with PDF issues as getting blocked so worth checking MoT and also info on dash and in the idrive system to see if any servicing faults shown,  as its expensive to fix and you can't legally run without one as a recent top ice eluded to as it invalidates your insurance !

There are a lot of cars for sale so remember to check the electrics all of them work such as the mirrors check they fold and move and have the right glass as a member bought a car and the near side mirror glass was wrong and to replace with correct one as it was a folding heated glass it was circa £300, yes a big ouch!

Some cars have had water in the front an rear footwells  as have had booked vent pipes and bulkhead area with leaves etc and had water come in via air vents, in the rear it could be because the rear door plastic membrane has been broken, check sunroof if fitted as older E53 were problematic and is a similar unit, check tyres as expensive to replace whether 18", 19" or 20".

The gearbox should be smooth and no noise from transmission, also check if all recalls done for the X5 - I'm sure X5Sport will advise where you check these, as there was a security one a while back,  thats in addition to any normal car checks.

Some have bought from BMW or dealers and got warranties and others haven't bothered but depends on your budget and the risk and warranties on older cars can be more expensive but it's worth considering or at least having a reserve fro that rainy BMW day.

Good luck with the search.

Graeme

[B088IN]

Thanks for the in depth reply, I will take note.

I am looking with a top range budget of around £12k so I am expecting it to have around 120k on the clock. I want a 2007 onwards, and this will be a second car. I don't think I will have the budget to get the extras I want for a sd model, so will probably be looking at the 3.0 SE. I know the tax will be about £200 more, but is the engine really that much better in the sd model?

I am after a black colour with either grey or black interior. Also would like to have reversing camera if possible for the other half to help with the reversing. Am i right in thinking that all the 2007 models onwards had both front and rear parking sensors?
I'd like electric seats if possible and I would also like the M Sport model if possible as I prefer the look with the added body kit. But, looking around my budget, I may have to sacrifice the M Sport for the normal SE as I don't think there are many M Sport models, and this that are in my budget seem to be around the 170k mileage which is too high for what I want.

Will check all electrics etc when I get round to viewing them. Also will ensure it has a full service history, preferably BMW but indy is acceptable. Also will check for noises etc when test driving.

So with that all in mind, I take it I am ok to stick with the 3.0d and miss out on the twin turbo, looking at the specs between them, i don't see a huge difference, perhaps it feels more different when driving?

Thanks again for your replies

[X5Sport]

Hello and to the Forum.

Vehicle recalls are here on DFT website.

The critical one to check for E70s made in 2010/2011 covers the propshafts.  The front one suffers failures due to a joint failure.  If it goes you are looking at a hole in the engine so worth checking it has been done.  Any slack in the joint should result in a new shaft.

DPFs should be checked by getting the codes read from the on board memory.  They can be fixed by specialists but if gone too far are VERY expensive.  I was told almost £2k fitted by a BMW Dealer.

The twin turbos have the same basic 3.0L engine but are quicker, especially the 40d and M50d - which has three hair dryers.  2010 onwards cars have 8-sp gearboxes and are cheaper to tax.

Service records are now electronic so don't expect the service book to be stamped.  You can get the service record from BMW but they charge for it.

[B088IN]

Cheers guys. Think the twin turbo is out of my price range, as is anything as late as 2010. Think I'll be around the 2007 age range and the standard 3.0 se or m sport

[Horizon]

http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... 663.0.html
12k can get you a decent car, without spaceship mileage.

[B088IN]

Also regarding DPFs I know you can get them cleaned even fully blocked. A mate had his done but don't recall who did it. Just done a brief search online and found these guys - http://www.dpfcleaned.co.uk/?gclid=CKbc ... Gwodu-sIpw
No idea if they are any good or if it works but they offer a money back if they don't clean it plus a year warranty on it once cleaned.

[B088IN]

[quote="Horizon"]
http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... 663.0.html
12k can get you a decent car, without spaceship mileage.[emoji3]
http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... 733.0.html
[/quote]
Thea like Links don't seem to take me anywhere but the front page in the Tapatalk app, do i need to see it on a laptop to see them mate?

[Horizon]

I'm not using tapatalk, just on my iPad, one advert is in the forums " buy and sell section," one is still on the home page, what device are you using, I can't get on with tapatalk myself

[B088IN]

I have an iPhone 6 Plus. When I click the link it says I can open tapatalk in App Store, click no and then it takes me to the main site page

[B088IN]

Yes, it must be a Tapatalk issue as I can see both the adverts as I am now using my MacBook to view the forum 

[B088IN]

On another note regarding the forum used on a laptop, how do i subscribe to a thread and then see said subscribed threads, I can't find it anywhere on the threads. If i use Tapatalk, I can subscribe easily and then go to the subscribed threads, just can't see it at all on the laptop  :blink:

[X5Sport]

Try the user control panel area?

[B088IN]

I think I have found a work around, although it seems a real pain, and there must be an easier way to see subscribed lists but here is what I have, let me know if there is an easier way  :blink:

1 - In the thread you want to subscribe too, at the top, click the icon 'Notify'
2 - to view the threads you have subscribed to go to 'Profile' then 'Modify Profile' then down to 'Notifications'
3 - Scroll to the bottom of the page and you can see the threads you are receiving notifications from

Seems a bit of hard work, but hey, each forum board is different, maybe I am doing it wrong, all other forums I use have a subscribed section.

Hope this helps in case anyone else was wondering 

[B088IN]

So, the things have changed and my second car is looking like I'm going to have to go for early model X5. Looking into it I should be looking for a 2004 onwards 1st gen model. As it will be a second runaround and won't be used a lot, I take it the better option would be a 4.4 petrol over the 3.0d. I've read the buying guide sticky, which is excellent by the way, and it compares the petrol vs diesel recovery to be around 5 yrs, this obviously isn't the case now as diesel and petrol are similar costs. So what would people go for now, the diesel or the petrol?
I'm also looking at a budget of around £3.5k, do you think I'll get a nice example without space ship miles of wither the diesel or petrol versions for this?
Thanks