Newbie

[Bennn]

Hello. New here but not to BMWs

Just put a deposit down on our first X5. And E53 3.0d.

Seems a nice car! Just wanting to know if these suffer the swirl flap problems the other diesel BMWs do.

It's a 2005 facelift. Cheers Ben

[X5Sport]

Hello and welcome.

The E53 was never fitted with those particular devices so you are completely safe. It’s why it never officially achieved EU4 emissions limits.

Any articles you read on line are wrong. No one on here has ever found a 3.0d E53 with them although other BMWs certainly got them - I removed said nasties from our E46.

Later models from the E70 onwards do have them and they are far more reliable.

[Bennn]

Thanks for the welcome and the post. That obviously great news! Be nice if I don't have to get my hands dirty straight away!

Cheers

Ben

[graemeX5]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Congrats on your E53 and look forward to pics in due course

Graeme

[Bennn]

Thanks guys.

Got it today and im afraid it's got a few issues.

Diesel fume smell on idle in the cabin. Could be a cracked manifold? Did smell this when I bought it but I assumed it was because it had been running inside the showroom for a bit.

Water temp only seems to get to halfway if the car has been idling for a bit, generally sits about 1/3rd when on the move. Is this thermostator normal with the diesel models? (I've only ever had petrol BMWs before)

Lower rear tailgate not working. Probably the electric switch?

Seemed to be a lot of condensation after it's been parked up a few minutes but it's has been raining all day. Not sure about this one.

And finally the steering wheel vibrates violently when you brake from about 60mph. After you have braked the wheel continues to vibrate the odd thing is this seems intermittent. Was thinking possible a combination of a sticking calupers and warped discs. I've checked the tyre pressures which are fine?

It's probably my own fault for not checking more vigorously but I only had a brief test drive (going no more than 40! I normally buy private but thought it would be less hassle buying from a dealer!

I rung the trader I bought it from and he said drop it back Monday night and they will sort out the problems but I think I'm going to drop it at my specialist Monday morning and see if they will spend an hour giving it a once over and get them to do a report first before I take it back.

Can't believe he wouldn't have known about any of the above so just don't trust him now.

It's a shame because it's a ballache and other than the above we really like the car.

Is the above unreasonable for me to ask the seller to fix? It's an old car now so I expect some wear and tear and tbh if it was just one thing id be happy enough to take it on the chin but not the above faults.

Unfortunately doing the work myself isn't an option anymore our 6th month old has out a stop to that!

[Horizon]

Hi and welcome to the forum, water temperature reaching halfway when idling then dropping to a third is common on the 3.0 d. The thermostat fails open, so when driving along it over cools , as it can't shut to maintain normal coolant temperature. The thermostat needs replacing .
Wheel judder under braking from 60 mph, also common problem, it can be worn/ warped discs, worn suspension, as mentioned sticking callipers, I had 2 on my X3, the front one used to cause horrendous wheel wobble through the steering when leaving the motorway.
Feel the wheel centres around the studs for heat, don't too hot the disc, as you will weld your finger tip to it, as I did.
These cars are 13 + years old now, and some have spaceship mileage on them, so hardly suprising most are in need of TLC and money spending on them, as these cars are now cheep to buy, but expensive to repair
Hope you get a result from the dealer.