Newbie on the hunt for an X5 2011 7 seat

[tristan]

[quote="X5Sport"]
Oh dear..... :puke:

+1 on the Comfort Seats.  Definitely worth having if you can find them.  19" wheels are also more compliant as said - but the 20" do look good and fill the wheel arches..

Richard
[/quote]

Thanks for the advice Richard, comfort seat definately look more inviting and the 19" will be first choice or 20s without the sport suspension.

Best regards Tristan

[tristan]

[quote="shadrack"]
[quote="535dboy"]
Fair enough

I know Nat will comment but what about a disco?
[/quote]

you can get a new disco for 39k, then reliability dont matter, also they are 255bhp so should be ample, also have pretty good residuals
[/quote]

A disco is an excellent choice, more practical for sure but assuming you want sat nav, non white paint, the must have Meridian Stereo upgrade, roof bars, mats etc you're looking at £45k - well over budget and almost certainly a less engaging drive...

[tristan]

[quote="Nat"]
Hi,

Im not far from you............

40d...........thats what you need.

That suggestion of a Land Rover................2 words, the second one is Off....!!

You wont be disapointed. I wouldnt bother with a pan roof, nothing but trouble IMHO. There again its a must have for many, but at some point you will have a £2500 bill with that because it WILL fail.

The 8 speed g/box is great and i'd say its the must have.
I went for a 40d SE , m sport suspension delete. Its plenty firm enough , and there is little out there that you cant keep up with. Even the X5M doesnt get away that easily, I know I chased one 2 weeks ago down the A21. Being an SE ,  I have running boards ( which are wider than the Msport sill extensions ) and I dont have the issue of stone chipping on my painted arches or my rear doors. Comfort seats are great too. Only other thing I can say is I would't buy one from your local main dealer, nor any of their afiliated branches. Lets just say after many years of going to them I found then utterly pony.
If you are after a main dealer , I can recomend Arden BMW maidstone.
Otherwise, they are plentifull and finding one shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I hear everything you say about your driving style, but would advise dont be 100 I want an M sport only. Go drive an SE, think you will find it a much better ride for little or no loss of handling.

Good luck,
Regards,
Nat.
[/quote]

Thanks for the advise Nat, I agree with you on Coopers, I bought a new car from their Sevenoaks branch and wouldn't use them again. Service department were useless.

I've heard Arden are much better.

Have you tried H&C Motors in Maidstone, they are a highly regarded independent? I've used them before and a work colleague swears by them. Very decent and honest chaps...

I'll take your advice and not rule out an SE. With decent wheels, running boards and the right colour they can look v good.

Best regards Tristan

[Nat]

Hi,

I have never used H & C .........bit too far away but good to know.
Im still under full warranty so if and when i will frequent Arden. As for the Cooper group , well I will never go there for anything other than parts, and that will be in an emergency only. Useless just does not cover it.
I have an SE , 40d in azurite black, 20" Y spokes. Im very happy with it and just a tad different from the sea of Msports out there.
Whatever you do keep away from that Big motoring world..........at all cost.

Good luck and keep us posted

regards,

Nat.

[tristan]

Hi Nat,

Azurite black looks amazing and would be my first choice in colour, I'm sure its high maintenance mind! Its a shame they don't do Carbon Black on the SE trim only Sapphire black.

Thanks for heads up on Big Motoring World, don't know anything of them, their vehicles look like higher mileage ex lease cars bought at auction to me.

Cheers Tristan

[Nat]

Hi,

Azurite black looks almost black. No more maintenance than a black car and looks great in sunlight.
I wanted carbon black but as you say they won't do it on SE........don't know why really. Ruby black looks really good too.

I went the SE route, because the Msport is just too hard on out fkd roads, & I needed the running boards. The Msport has what to me seems a very fragile plastic sill cover made to look like a running board and all the ones I looked at were very badly scratched. Little people stand on them + they are exposed to stone chipping. Also all the used cars I saw had paint chipped off their arch extensions to varying degrees and a lot of those that had been re-painted were badly done. As the SE has them unpainted not an issue, and the running boards being wider it seems to deflect stones from the back doors ( another specific Msport issue) .I drive an M5 every day and trust me the SE won't disapoint, & it  is probably no more than 0.000001 of a second behind the Msport. However it rides that much better ( which is all the time )and most of my mates who have an Msport wish they had gone the SE route. Find one with comfort seats for the ultimate in comfort.

Stick Big motoring world into google................it will be very enlightening. Seriously AVOID at all cost , no matter how good/rempting the car/deal might be.

Good luck,

Regards,

Nat.

[Barney]

Another 40d SE with Msport deletion and 20" wheels here  Superb motor, mine has the black (unpainted) side skirts as opposed to the ali side steps.
Platinum grey with beige leather and black carpets/dash, a better combination than all beige interior to keep clean. Also I agree with Coopers being useless, I travelled miles to view an X5 in Colchester, told them I was fussy only to be met with a shocking AUC that had massive and very poor repairs on the entire drivers side.
Another to avoid is Snows of Portsmouth, arrogant MD and sales staff who talk shite, again a shocking example of an AUC.

[Benstan]

Interesting re Snows - I bought my X (albeit new) from there and the salesman (Karl/Carl?) was superb. 

[Barney]

Can't remember the sales guy, think his name was Ben?? Again I asked for an honest description of the X5 I went to see, talked to him many times throughout a week or more before, he was 100% it had no paint repairs, wheels were oem with no refurb.
When i travelled from herts to see it the car was shocking, obvious smart repairs on three out of four corners and the whole car was covered in overspray, you could feel a rough finish on all horizontal panels. The wheels were refurbed, looked like a kid had done them and one tyre had a massive chunk out of the side wall and they suggested this was safe ?
Having spent hours travelling to view and wasting my time/money I e-mailed the MD and told him of my experience, his attitude was very poor and reflected the rest of my experience with the dealership.

[Benstan]

Can't deny that's inexcusable.

[tristan]

I've given up searching for SEs with comfort seats this week.

Off to Cotsworld Cheltenham tomorrow to test drive a 40 M Sport with 20" and no deleted suspension - madness I hear you cry. I've planned ahead however and bought a gum shield and disposable incontinence pants (cheap & discrete means of adding shock absorption). I'll let you know how things go......

[535dboy]

Depending what you are used to you may not find it that bad !

[petert]

I used Cotswold Cheltenham for spares and servicing for 6 years and found them pretty good.  Sourced a car through them as well though it was a company car so I didn't have to do any interaction with sales staff.

Good luck!

Peter T

[tristan]

[quote="535dboy"]
Depending what you are used to you may not find it that bad !
[/quote]

Success - I bought the car!

Very impressed with Cotswold Cheltenham just a shame they're a 150 mile drive for me.

Yes Mr 535 you're right, having driven to Cheltenham in a golf gti the x5 felt like a luxury tourer. I'm sure its all relative. I found the ride smooth and the seats v comfortable, no crashing over pot holes etc. Ok the car was quick but not dramatically so - certainly less top end punch than the golf. Hopefully I'll adopt a more relaxed driving style, else a trip to BW Chiptune will be on the cards.

Anyway, the car wasn't fully prepared (stone chips on rear wheels arches, corroded rear badge) so it will be another week before picking her up.....

Tristan

[Wakey]

Congrats!

Let the honeymoon commence!  Well next week when you get it anyway!