E70 4.8 or 3.0 petrol ?

[Simdrive]

Hi all,
Sorry this is my first post on a forum. I’m looking into buying a petrol X5. Budget is about £9-13k. I  really don’t want diesel for various reasons. Can anyone give me general pros and cons of either 3.0 or 4.8. How does fuel consumption compare? I’m sure I would love the power and speed of the 4.8 but fuel consumption would be my concern.  Any other advice/information gratefully received.

[X5Sport]

Hello and

There is a very detailed buyers guide on the Forum which will answer many of your questions.

The 30i will produce low to mid 20’s maybe a bit better.  The 4.8is will often give teens into 20’s but can go below 10 if ‘making progress’.

I found the 30i underpowered for moving such a heavy car, hence more V8 engines being about in the petrol variants.  It’s also why the diesels were so popular, more so as the twin turbo and triple turbo variants were launched.  Same torque as the V8 but significantly better fuel economy (high twenties to mid thirties) though you don’t want one.

Mechanically far more complex, the V8 needs to be monitored carefully and all need servicing correctly.  Have a look at the Buyer’s Guide and see what that provides 

Fitting BMW spec tyres (marked with an ‘*’) is important unless you want to risk diff failures.  You can’t just chuck any old rubber on these cars (same with Audi, Merc and a couple of other large AWD makes now).

Of course you could always go for a 4.4V8 turbo, but only if you get free petrol 

[Spandex]

I was getting a long term average of 19mpg in my 4.8. My daily commute was around 8 miles of NSL dual carriageway plus a few miles of slower roads/traffic either end. Every few weeks it would get a longish motorway blast too.

Although the V8s do have some known issues, I don’t think they’re particularly common and I wouldn’t expect the engine itself to be less reliable than the 3.0l. Other stuff, like bigger brakes, different gearbox, etc. might be more of an issue for running costs. You’re also more likely to get the bigger wheels on a 4.8, which means expensive tyres.

One advantage of the 4.8 (entertaining engine aside) is that they’re usually much better spec. I was originally looking for a 3.0l petrol, but just had to go and look at the 4.8 I eventually bought because of the huge spec it had.

[Alan Gunn]

I think any x5 likes a good drink.
But wait till it want's a repair.
x5 ownership is expensive but the smile you get on your face when driving one is worth it. 

[X5Sport]

They do indeed like a drink, but they weigh over 2T, so no surprise there.  It’s why I bought a 220xD Gran Tourer as the run about.  Almost 50mpg with less than 1,000 miles on so far.

[lezmtaylor]

Don't forget you can either buy an lpg converted or have it converted (about £2k) this will significantly improve your fuel consumption costs (lpg about 65ppl) .
My 4.4 lpg does equiv of 30-35 mpg.
look up lpg posts on here.

Lez

[X5Sport]

Can you have lpg on a 7 seater?  Just in case the OP is considering one.  Does make sense though 

[paulrog]

I've had a 4.8i and now I've got a 3.0 diesel 4.0 LCI and although I loved the 4.8 the running cost was very high, petrol and car tax.

The X5 I've got now I think is just as fast, used half the diesel and half the car tax.

But like you I do prefer petrol cars as I hate the dpf and how you can clog it all up. So what I've done is get Carly bmw app for your phone, together with a Bluetooth USB device you can force the car to regen when your out and about. I've changed the engine oil to Mobil ESP which is a very low ash oil.

[X5Sport]

As long as you aren’t doing short journeys the DPF will last well over 100,000 miles and they can be cleaned, and as of this Summer newly approved petrol engines and new to market model cars have them too (the GPF) - because direction injection petrol systems are up to 10,000x more polluting than indirect.

Public awareness of the challenges presented by modern pollution controls across all engine types is well below where it ought to be, particularly in the used market, but also in the new car market.

I have now had three cars with DPFs and never had an issue but no one have ever talked about the needs DPF equipped vehicles have in terms of driving patterns.  Forums (such as this) wave the caution/knowledge flags very clearly - but not the industry itself.

[NehalX5]

That V8 seems very tempting. The howl they produce is very nice. There is a good video on youtube of someone who absolutely abuses one on some country roads, looks very cool whilst doing it however.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJiwZMUdl24

The video goes to show just how well an X5 with the dynamic pack handles, very impressive.

There is issues with coolant leak on the 4.8i engine, there is more knowledge about the engine on 5/6/7 series forums as the engine was more common in those cars. Think there are valve stem issues as well, not sure what it means but heard it a lot when regarding this engine.

Overall, all the engines have their drawbacks, the turbo diesels all have issues here and there, I would go for the 4.8i especially if you are in a position to afford one. We put all issues aside and are now running an Audi A6 with the supercharged V6 petrol, and have no regrets.

Tide is turning towards petrols anyway, but not too sure if these 4.8i engines are ULEZ compliant. The diesels from the era aren't but the petrols may be, it must be checked.

[lezmtaylor]

Re having lpg on a 7 seater, check with the lpg installers, they will soon get back to you.
Just google lpg installers.
Lez

[Spandex]

[quote="NehalX5"]
Tide is turning towards petrols anyway, but not too sure if these 4.8i engines are ULEZ compliant. The diesels from the era aren't but the petrols may be, it must be checked.
[/quote]
The 4.8 is ULEZ compliant. ULEZ mainly seems concerned with particulates, so petrol engines get a fairly easy ride compared to diesels. Euro 4 for Petrol (typically cars registered from jan 2006) and Euro 6 for diesel (typically cars registered from sept 2015).

[NehalX5]

[quote="Spandex"]
[quote="NehalX5"]
Tide is turning towards petrols anyway, but not too sure if these 4.8i engines are ULEZ compliant. The diesels from the era aren't but the petrols may be, it must be checked.
[/quote]
The 4.8 is ULEZ compliant. ULEZ mainly seems concerned with particulates, so petrol engines get a fairly easy ride compared to diesels. Euro 4 for Petrol (typically cars registered from jan 2006) and Euro 6 for diesel (typically cars registered from sept 2015).
[/quote]

Indeed. Believe our A6 3.0TFSI is Euro 5 compliant, so no issues there, but the X5 3.0sd is Euro 4, which is an issue for ULEZ.

[Spandex]

[quote="NehalX5"]
Indeed. Believe our A6 3.0TFSI is Euro 5 compliant, so no issues there, but the X5 is Euro 4, which is an issue for ULEZ.
[/quote]
Just to be clear, Euro 4 is only an issue for diesels. The 4.8l X5 is Euro 4 petrol, and this meets ULEZ minimum spec.

I know that's what you meant, but you said "the X5", rather than "my diesel X5" so I thought it's best to make it clear for anyone else reading.

[Spandex]

The simplest way of saying it is, all petrol E70 X5s are ULEZ compliant and all diesel E70 X5s are not ULEZ compliant.