Greetings from Brisbane

[OneEyedMan]

Hi,

I was forgetting my manners and hadn't introduced myself before posting on the E53 forum. Expat Brummie living in Brisbane signing in. New owner of a 2006 E53 3.0d - not sure if it's facelift or not. I'd post a picture or two but it's back at the dealer's already - noticed orange and red Oil Service lights when I picked it up, wouldn't start (flat battery) two days running and the wife nearly ran into the back of someone because the handbrake was so weak. Other than that it seems like a fine car !

The dealer seems to be sufficiently embarrassed and doing the right thing. Here's hoping.

Cheers
Peter

[X5Sport]

Welcome...........

Sounds like the Dealer hasn't done a very good job on your new toy, servicing overdue, dead battery and weak handbrake!

As an auto driver I don't trust the handbrake and always used Park. My new X6 has an auto-brake which is fine now, but not sure how well it will work in a few years time.

Yours should be a facelifted version as they arrived in 2003. If it's got the 218bhp engine then it's facelifted. Projector headlights for the dip beam are also part of that change.

[Sanj]

Welcome to the forum Peter. Yes, it's a facelift.

Another member reckons these X5's are serious money second hand where you are, that true?

[OneEyedMan]

This one was A$40k with 100k km's on the clock. Not sure how that compares to UK - it's been a while since I left. Used cars seem to go on forever here -no salt on the roads I'm sure has something to do with it.

[Sanj]

£26.6k (internet conversion rate today) for a 60k miles 2006 is higher, by some way. What extras does yours have? Interesting...

[OneEyedMan]

I think using the current exchange rate distorts the calculation - the A$ is currently very strong against the GBP. In the last 2 years it's gone from A$2 to the pound to the current A$1.5-ish, so we should probably knock a few grand off for a better comparison.

As for toys, I'm not sure which of these would be standard kit, but it has leather, Sports auto steptronic 6-speed, Bluetooth, Parking sensors, running boards, climate control, on-board monitor, professional (?) 16:9 head unit with TV (no sat nav) and CD stacker (with MP3 decoding). Wheels are 17" but different to standard I think - sort of a 5 spoke design with split spokes if that makes sense.

Dodgy photo here https://files.me.com/peterregan/3acjul

[Sanj]

Thanks for sharing the pic - that makes yours an SE. They had SE and Sport versions, the Sport had bigger wheels, electric seats, different headlining, other extras. Check here:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1700

Even with say a price tag of £23k for an SE, that's quite dear! In the UK that would be £8-10k less.

But you do have a very fine example which seems well spec'd. Again, toys above standard, if interested, is here:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1731#p18295

[Turks]

Welcome to the Forum...

A mate of mine has just sold his M6 to a guy who is taking it over to Aus with him... it was a bit of an investment aparently as it will be worth double when it lands on Australian Soil so he said..


Turks.

[OneEyedMan]

I can certainly believe that - any European products can command a (sometimes unrealistic) price premium. In fact my wife's sister was planning to do the same thing with a small Alfa when they were emigrating. Ironically the X5 is one of the better priced European options - as a 4 x 4 it's classified as an 'agricultural' (can't remember if that's the exact term) vehicle and so attracts much less import duty than a BMW sedan. Best tractor I've ever driven !

[X5Sport]

Perhaps I should get my brother to take my X5 and X6 to Melbourne with him, and mail me the funds back...............

[x555]

Welcome along Peter