Newbie to E70

[X5-D-Sport]

Gents,
I'm hoping up upgrade from an E53 D-Sport to an E70....
Got about £8>£10 k to play with.

So a few questions, if some one will humour me a few moments please ?

*****
Is there a Sport verson of the E70 in a diesel ?  . . ala the E53 D-Sport with firmer suspension & more HP's.
I gather the engines are a straight 6, 3litre twin turbo, pushing about 300HP ?? yes/no ?

Guessing they have a 6 or 8 speed gearbox ??

at what mileage do I not bother looking, or best search below ?

I have seen some for approx £7,500 with under 100,000 miles - worth having ?

What mileages generally starts gobbling spares, ie gear boxes, engines, diffs etc ?

Any primary engine issues... such as timing chains, head gaskets etc & at what mileages to be wary.


I have been very fortunate with my E53 D-Sport which has done 187,000 miles & still has good diffs, excellent engine, but the gear box groans now & then, so Im debating whether to fix the gearbox or get an E70.

many thanks for your time Gents.
Grant B

[X5Sport]

The ‘sport’ will be the M Sport trim level.

6 speed box from 2007 to 2010 when the 8 speed was brought in.  Some 30d 2010 models retained the 6 speed for a few more months.  The 40d got it from the get go.

The 40d is the 300+ bhp version (LCI 2010 onwards)
30sd and 35d are twin turbos with steadily increasing bhp and torque.  35d replaced the SD.  Both are pre LCI.
50d is the triple turbo - and much later model than you may be looking at.
All use the same 6-cyl IL 6 3 litre engine base, modified for each variant.  Lump us an M57 series (similar to E53) until 2010 when it became the N57 series.

6 & 8 speed boxes are significantly more reliable than the E53 version.
No manual option for the E70.

Wrong tyre choices kill transfer boxes and diffs.  Same issue as the E83 X3.  Much more of an issue than the E53 has.

They generally seem to be more reliable than the E53.

[Tunni123]

I have a 3.0d MSport 62 plate E70.
Can’t fault it at the moment, had it since October.
The 8 speed gear box is brilliant aswell.
MPG I’m getting is around 28-29.
As X5sport said... the tyre situation with the transfer boxes and diff’s is the only CON I would say.
Any more questions just ask 
Tunni123

[X5-D-Sport]

fabulous Information - many thanks indeed Gents.

[Lyons]

When you say wrong tyre choice, in what way?

[X5Sport]

Pretty much anything that doesn’t have a ‘*’ on the sidewall.  As staggered setups were used across the range AFAIK the rolling radius becomes very important.  The E70 (much like the E83 X3) is far less tolerant of tyre choices than the E53 is.

Although not everyone suffers, the risk of broken diffs and transfer boxes seems to rise dramatically if non BMW  approved (‘*’) marked rubber is chosen - RFT or non-RFT.

We have seen a steady increase of reports as these models get older and putting premium rubber on them gets harder to justify.  A set of 4 20” Bridgestone Dueller RFT for my X6 were £880 a couple of years back.  Don’t even think about asking a BMW dealer for their price unless you have recently had a strong drink!  Non-RFT are about 25% cheaper and give a better ride - but you need a spare or some kind of reinflation kit.

[pvr]

Can you expand on the identification of the non BMW approved tyres?

[X5Sport]

Simple - no ‘*’ on the sidewall means not ‘approved’ by BMW as being suitable.  If you use on a car under warranty, BMW will in all probability walk away from any transmission issues.

Buyers purchasing from a Dealer need to ensure it has the correct tyres fitted before taking delivery.  Some are getting sold with the wrong rubber and relying on buyer’s ignorance.  It gives any buyer a large bargaining chip to have the correct rubber fitted 

It really should state something in the Owners Manual as I think that there might be a defence.  I’m not sure how the law might view the ‘should only use genuine parts’ (or similar wording line that so many manufacturers use.