Looking to buy a used X5

[Denis O]

You know when a car dealer's lieing.....his lips are moving.

I had similar when I bought my Le Mans recently. Oh yes sir, tyres are all good. 2 were OK and 2 were not. Got another £100 off but it's so annoying. Even if you ask for actual tread depth measurements they'll tell lies.

I think your budget should be OK but you'll have to work to find one. If one comes up on here it may well be good as it's enthusiast owned. It helps that you don't mind black leather. I wanted cream and Le Mans blue so had to go to Aberdeen from Kent because my combination is like hens teeth.

Keep at it. You'll find a good one eventually.

[pvr]

Very, very annoying of course. I am probably like you where my expectation of immaculate actually means immaculate, and not what the sales guy thinks it is.

When I sold my 2005 3.0d with 80k on the clock, I can honestly say that it was a lot better than what you described.

[weirdfish]

And I would add that if you spot one in a certain area that is miles away, then you can always ask on here to see if someone is close, they could at least tell you if the description fits the car, might save you a lot of travel time.
If you spot any in the Glos area then give me a shout, I like nothing better than looking at cars, well almost.

[Shez1878]

[quote="weirdfish"]
And I would add that if you spot one in a certain area that is miles away, then you can always ask on here to see if someone is close, they could at least tell you if the description fits the car, might save you a lot of travel time.
If you spot any in the Glos area then give me a shout, I like nothing better than looking at cars, well almost.
[/quote]
Really appreciate that. Thanks mate 

[Sanj]

Happy to help look at any in the Berkshire area!

[Shez1878]

[quote="Sanj"]
Happy to help look at any in the Berkshire area!
[/quote]
Am I glad someone pointed me to this forum!

Thanks Sanj. Just need to find one now!

[pvr]

I will check out the ones near me in Sussex, all miles charged at £1 per mile  :hug:  ) O:-)

[Shez1878]

Definitely easier finding one without a COMMS pack. How easy and costly is it to fit one after purchase?

Would prefer a BMW one but seem to be ample 3rd party ones on eBay.

Any good?

[pvr]

When I bought mine new, he told me that the dealer would not trade one in without a comms pack (true or not, I don't know), but it might explain why they are all on ebay.

I retrofitted full comms on my first Z4, took me less than a day. Think it is also fine on the X5 but you need quite a few parts including the dash bit.

[Shez1878]

Can I get everyone's views on this one please?

http://www.kilrushcars.com/cars.asp?ID=1081

It had its turbo's changed at a cost of £3000, 2000 miles ago. Should turbo's go on such a low mileage car?

He has guaranteed its never had a knock however there is, what he called, a 'blow in' on the bonnet and previous owner may have tried to repair the stone chips?  :blink:

Full service history etc.

HELP!

[X5Sport]

Looks like a nice car..

Turbo's (like any part) can fail early.  Sometimes it's just bad luck (as my gearbox was with its bit of broken plastic) and sometimes it's down to things like a previous owner not warming up the car or allowing it to cool down before just switching it off which cooks the oil in the red hot bearings!  The crankcase breather can also be a cause - as we know.

That one also has the moving load floor in the boot which I had on mine and found incredibly useful.  Pull it out, load it up, push it back in again..

Back seats look barely used, paint OK, wheels OK, basically tidy.  I wonder why no front or rear shots?  Nothing wrong, just unusual to see so little of either end.  No Xenons but then that's a straightforward mod.  Satnav disc needs updating which will also probably mean the firmware needs doing too (5min job).  No Bluetooth listed?

I had a 'blow in' done on the X6 where a paint defect at manufacture was badly repaired by the BMW Vehicle Prep Centre when the car got here from the US.  You can't see the much better local BMW Bodyshop 'blow in' that was done afterwards under normal daylight - although it's clearly visible on our IR CCTV camera at night :blink:

Price might a teensy bit high, but that's room for negotiation...and haggling, (see Sanj for advice here  ) ) particularly if the Bluetooth is indeed absent on this car.  In 2004 people were less willing to put it on than now, and of course the rules about mobile phones being used were non-existent rather than unenforced  >:(

Dealer is in Tongham, Surrey which is 'moneyed' so probably been well looked after by owners that had the money to pay for whatever needed doing.  Local Dealer was probably Vines in Guildford.

[Shez1878]

Thanks mate. Very interesting read that. Didnt even notice it didnt have Xenons!

Mmmmhhh, the turbo thing has put a doubt in my mind. Also dont like the fact some work has already been done on the bonnet, and clearly not a good job.

£12.5k also seems a lot for a 04 plate.

There, talked my self out of that one too 

[X5Sport]

Sometimes the paint issues can be caused by bird poo.....water based paint is much less tolerant of it, but that's academic for now for this one.....

[Shez1878]

Right chaps. Just did what I should have done ages ago...spoke to my Service guy who knows more about BMWs than I do about....erm...stuff.

His advice was 'Diesels are good for business' ... BEST X5 I could possibly buy is a BMW X5 3.0i SPORT.

That is what I will be buying.

The search continues...!

[X5Sport]

So if diesels are good for business, why go petrol?  Unless your mileage is low of course?  Just curious, not critical..

I'm not convinced the 3.0i is the 'Best X5' at all, sorry.

Road test a 3.0i before you commit.  I found it underwhelming and needing to be pushed to make it go well.  If petrol is the choice then the V8 is much better.  If torque is what you want, go diesel (3.0D is the same as 4.8 V8 petrol) but without the fuel bill (or the soundtrack.. )

Not wishing this to sound snobbish in any way because it's not meant to be, but the 3.0i is the 'poor man's X5' and that was its market position.  The 'Sport' trim is better though..just.