Potentially consdering Pre LCI E70 - as yet undecided.

[AW8]

As title really......very early stages and yet to decide whether to purchase, (various factors involved).

[sid10]

2010 April cars had 8 speed box , better fuel economy , slicker changes . I am in the same position as you tried a few brand new F15 s 40d but just don't feel as fast or chuck able as mine , tried a Porsche Cayenne diesel but again a bit underwhelmed .
Although the newer cars are well made , smoother , faster , more economical , won't need as many parts , I keep on getting back into mine and it's like getting into a comfy pair of shoes .I always think of a second hand car is why are they getting rid of it and what happens if it needs 6k for a gearbox . Sometimes it is better the devil you know .

[Horizon]

AW8, as you are happy to keep your cars for 10 years, your costs per ownership are quite low compared with mine.
I tend to change my cars at least every couple of years, so in the car salesmans dream, I buy at dealers price and PX for a crappy amount, so even though I'm buying 12k cars I'm selling at 7.5 K 2 years lateri. I only use my cars at weekend as I have a firms van for during the week. So only cover around 5 k PA
If you only change your car every 10 years your annual costs are so much cheaper than mine.
What I'm saying is I feel that if I kept a car for 10 years I would be able to spend more initially
Get what you desire and enjoy it more than a compromise.( Loan rates are available at 4% APR M&S and Zopa.)
But it's always better spending someone else's money

[CondorX5]

I also keep my cars for years and years as you know, and still have the E53........
What I would say with the E70 and why I went with LCI rather than pre LCI is that the preLCI didn't really offer me that much of an upgrade against the 4.8is to make the investment sensible for me.  I wanted to "future proof" for a little longer if possible to avoid a change in a year or two.  So the CCC /CIC issue was a no brainer for me, it had to be the upgrade. I am sure X5Sport will be along with the correct dates etc, but my 2012 (build was actually late 2011 ) E70 MSport 40d ticks those boxes for me and I think the 2011/2 dates are when the changes happened.

So I ended up spending far more than I really wanted to to get what was in my opinion a really good looking E70 (very biased of course, but I prefer the looks of mine to the F15).  I found while looking that the SE models seemed a bit boring / bland compared to MSport models but thats just a personal taste thing.  Looks on mine had been considerably enhanced by a brand new set of 21" black BMW alloys and tyres, a £4k combo, added by previous owner or dealer not sure - the SE models just never came close to those looks.

Although I don't really need 7 seats and would have preferred without TBH, mine has that option -does add to resale though. 

I believe a lot of SE's and earlier MY cars came with the standard sound system which by all accounts is not great - the "upgrade" to hifi loudspeaker system or to Logik /HK deemed necessary if you are anythng of an audiophile.  I have heard both the middle and higher upgrades and honestly can't say I hear a huge difference.  I really enjoy mine, which is the middle "upgrade".

The runflats are standard, I was worried initially but actually the drive quality is fine on my 21" wheels, I like it. Have got winters -also runflat * rated as advised.  As there is no spare I am going to stick with runflats but many have changed successfully.

I think Transfer boxes are a bit of an issue on E70's as have read a lot about the slipping on full lock issue - mine is showing signs but I am not fussed as it is an AUC so will be going in to have it resolved. If nuying outside of BMW AUC network that must be carefully checked or will cost £££££££. There were recalls on this I think, as well. 

Gear box is silky smooth on my 40d, love driving it, love the connectivity, have got all the internet, streaming, bmw apps etc up and running and really enjoy using them, plus added benefit of BMW Assist and remote app access etc.  All quite a bit of an upgrade to an E53!

Any details I can give which might help in your quest, let me know....  I know I had to wait a bit longer and budget a bit higher for mine.

[celica]

We have pre lci e70

Cracking motor, for the size it's easy to drive and park

Ours is actually quite highly spec'd, more than what I was looking for and now I have these options hard to move away, such as:
- adaptive drive, I knew nothing different until I went into my bro in law lci version without and thought this feels not so nice going around round abouts and bends, the front end was soft and just wallowed around corners, both sport models on 20"
- hud, heads up display; just keep your eye on road and having it just below eye level is fab during day and night
- 7 seats, okay it's tight at the back, but on a sport team night out they all appreciate a lift and means family and kids grand parents, kids mates can get in all together
- rear screen and dvd, keeps the kids entertained
- rear climate control and heated seats meant my parents could regulate the temp
- auto active headlight main beam is a novelty not used much
- bi xenons makes night time driving on dark country roads a breeze
- I think I also have speaker upgrades in mine too

I couldn't believe that xenons, heated seats and sat nav aren't standard! These were a must for me. The bonus part of hud is that is that the nav instructions show up there too.

Havent driven a 3.0d but coming from an e61 535d, the 3.0sd/ 35d was a must. Makes things effortless.

I'm sure when I first bought it as I had a list of option prices somewhere, I've got well over £10k and probably near £20k of options

In black, m sport guise it's still a cracking looking motor in my opinion, especially after I give it a detail with polish and wax.

[AW8]

Thanks for those that have taken time to reply thus far.

Above comments fully read & considered.....thanks.

Condor, Horizon & sid10....Being wholly realistic here..... As appealing as the 40d seems the sums don't stack up for me unless they have covered Millenium Falcon distances. I should clarify that whilst would qualify for finance, I am also keen NOT to outright. Income, outgoings & house/living expenditure being significant factors.

If come time to change it turns out that acceptable cars are out of budget then I will wait for further depreciation, consider something else or smply stick with mine..... obviously subject to my E53 remaining useable.


Celica - a great spec car. Curious as to how you & others get on with CCC. Also curious re 3.0sd/35d mpg, both everyday & when driving for economy....perhaps on a longer trip or with cruise set at say 60 or 70 mph.

I curently do very few miles on unknown.....so as long as the NAV is up to MK4 quality in E53 then I will be happy. I am sure that I would appreciate the CIC & additional features but I genuinely only want the screen to provide acceptable navigation, allow me to see radio channels & if optioned to have a reverse camera.

It is daft that sat nav, heated seats (& xenons) were cost options.

Please can someone confirm that the media pack incorporated the entry level audio ?  I am not after the logic 7 audio set up, however, I spend an hour  a day commuting & would like an acceptable set up.....even if half the time I just have radio on.

I genuinely appreciate all replies.....so thanks again.

[celica]

Oh I forgot, another option I wanted and have is reverse camera, a must have now I've had one.

I even have one installed on my fun honda car lol
Makes backing up so much easier, even though it has sensors front and rear on the x5

Media pack, I forgot what's included, but the cic is a must minimum, I think some came without nav as mentioned and some came with I think a business nav which is just arrows I think and not a colour screen? It's nice to have split screen, ie main 2/3rd screen with whatever you like ie radio and then the 1/3rd with another screen like journey stats or maps, you can even have nav on main and then to be clearer the bigger arrows and road name on the other

I don't use the car much myself as it's more the wife's and weekend for family outings
Average is probably 25mpg

Long cruise runs 30mpg

Might be better with a remap which I've always wanted

Other options I forgot is about the seats. Standard seats seem not to hold their shape over time or as comfortable, ours is full comfort, electric. It has over 10 electric settings I think, lumbar support etc. 2 seat memory; but the coolest thing is the side bolsters come in to shape when you start the car and when getting out it deflates so easier in and out; also added to the steering wheel electrically moving up and in when turning off. Neither myself or wife are large people which I guess is easier entry and exit if you are, but it's nice getting a good control seating position and not having to squeeze past the steering wheel to get out, if that makes sense

I believe ours has professional hi fi, not sure the true definition, but also the added cic we have is easy Bluetooth pairing with phone calls

Another bonus is ours came with tints. Nothing too dark, but gives the car extra privacy, security and looks good

[celica]

Ours also has the chrome pack which gives it a nice touch in looks too in my opinion



Black comes up well


Black comes up well, reflection of my fun daily lol

[graemeX5]

Hi

Remember looking for an X5 as we head towards the winter the prices go up in the trade and down in the summer, so I wouldn't rush it unless the car is truly everything you wanted.

It probably worth making a list of your budget the essential items on the spec, engine size, road tax, 7 seats etc, personally the 3.0sd or 35d would be good, or even a 4.0d. Then the desirable items heated seats, steering wheel, the upgrade speaker system, etc and go from there. As you said the pan roof again can be a prob and some have had transfer box probs.

I did that when buying the E53 and my current E70, in which I wanted heated rear seats, and yes I know I don't sit in the rear but it was a feature I wanted. )

The SE versions are generally better spec'd cars than the M Sport and you can get an aero kit for them and colour code the plastic arches and they do look loads better as some on here have done. Again it's down to personal choice which is why I was looking at an M Sport rather than an SE. I thought a diesel was good but I don't do much mileage 4K a year so diesel for me would not be necessary.

As you are doing reasonable mileage I would say they make a good buy, and on a 2008/09 diesel car I think it's about condition and maintenance rather than mileage and there are a lot out there, again BMW generally keep the better spec'd cars, but I wouldn't think they would have many in that age, so it may be via a non franchise dealer.

Although it may be worth still looking at bmw dealers secondhand deals as you never know, if they have a part ex they want to shift.

Good luck with your search

Graeme

[CondorX5]

I did a lot of research on all these "packs" for the E70 and found the most accurate way of ensuring the options I really wanted, was to get a printout of the cars spec, if it was one that interested me -  severalsites where you can get this info FOC as long as you know the reg. 

Reverse camera with the addition of Top View is a great option, I would be bereft without it now! 
The big difference AFAIK with CCC/CIC was the hard drive /dvd nav  and the front loading CD player that in LCI models became a dvd player. I think the screen size was a bit smaller as well.  Non CIC models also lack the ability to be easily coded, for instance, with BMW Apps and needed a special phone adapter for streaming to work with your mobile, while LCI models have a combox option making retrofit coding simpler, with no need to add hardware.  But of course, none of this makes that much difference to potential enjoyment of the car.

I have read a lot of reviews about the bog standard sound system not being great, but thats possibly down to personal likes and dislikes - I have heard the hifi upgrade and the Logik7 and honestly can't tell the difference, both are very acceptable, I enjoy listening to mine, whch is just the hifi upgrade, not the Logik.
I suppose much like E53s or any other car, perhaps a good idea to have a shortlist of must haves, anythng else is a bonus.

What I would note about the HUD is that while some people love it, others find it very irritating - I tried it, its a very clever bit of kit but irritated me intensely to have this irritating thing in my direct vision, I could not drive with it on - so while I didn't exclude cars with it, it wasn't on my must have list!  You can luckily choose not to use it if it happens to be installed.  But loads of people love it, again a personal choice.

I think X5Sport's X6 might have the CCC -Maybe he will pop in and provide some techy details! 

Good luck with the search, will let you know if I see or hear of a nice one about in your mentioned budget range.

[john_o]

For a x40d we get 26mpg around town (mostly school run) with that going up to 30+ as soon as you get onto the motorway at 70mph. Whilst away last weekend I had the overall average at 34 for a long time.
That's also with the lci 8 speed box.

For me must have options were 7 seats,heated seats,  pan roof and xenon.

As others have said.  Comfort seats are a coveted option. I dont have them. But great if you can find them

I miss keyless access but believe it's also an additional security risk.

John

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

[AW8]

Thanks for further replies & clarifying issues & adding to info.

Celica - great pics......reminds me I need to machine polish & wax mine again soon.

Trouble with shortlisting essential options is the options wish list gets bigger.

Proper nav, heated front seats, xenons, pro hifi, reverse camera would be pretty essential.

Pan roof desireable but durability & repair costs a concern. Heated steering wheel (rare) would be nice but not essential as would 7 seats (only on about 1/3 of cars so narrows number of vailable cars significantly. HUD a curious toy - I agree with condor though - probaly
just as well it can be turned off if disliked.

Colour wise...blacks or maybe grey - perhaps silver (though a reluctant choice). Interior - black (ideally with silver although black/grey looking bamboo is nice).

Been looking a lot on AT, PH & ebay this week.....some cars of some interest up and down from £15k

I don't think many on hear will remeber my hunting when on the old website. It would be fair to say I tend to do my research and some. As far as used cars go, Like most I am not immune from getting caught out but it would be fair to say I know my way around a used car,  paperwork & online history.

Graeme - Very aware of seasonal price fluctuations  with certain types of cars but thanks for the welcomed reminder.

A relevant concern is mpg......Granted I am in a V8 E53 but reading stories of 25 mpg  average in an E70 3.0sd/35d isn't making me rush into this.....Just in case - I don't need the advice re not buying a car if fuelling or fixing costs are consideratiins.......I have run a non warrantied V8 E53 for 10 years and an RX-8 (230) before that !

Food for thought........Hmm.

[AW8]

John - crossed reply times, however thanks for reply.

Comfort seats rare but always highly regarded.....E53 & E70.

[celica]

Good luck in your searches
Every car of mine has taken months (and don't I forgot hearing from other half lol)

It was my first experience of heads up display too, at first I wasn't sure as got in the way, lucky there is a button next to the auto light switch to turn off and on, which I did at the beginning; but now it's always on.

I forget its there, until I'm cruising on motorway or going from a road through a village and think best check speed thought and then eyes just focus on it to remind yourself it's just there

Adaptive drive is so much more composed so wouldn't rule it out; makes it not feel like a suv in cornerig feel

[NehalX5]

New to X5 ownership, but can't say I didn't research.

We looked for 6 months when buying, looking at various spec vehicles. We set a budget of £18k and didn't bother with anything above 100k miles.

Initially, lots of local cars came up, with there being even other marques. We took a drive to look at some seven seater SUV's in general. Came across a GL which felt very high quality to be honest, but size was very off-putting, and wasn't fast either, coming from a XC90! We saw a Q7 and was put off from the moment the door rattled horribly when we closed it. Did feel smaller than it really was, but we disregarded it as an option (thank god)!

From the moment we saw a standard SE 2007 X5, it looked promising. Sitting inside, it felt very nice, so from then we looked.

We browsed Auto trader and saw some low mileage example on auto trader, but was high at £16k for a 2007 model!
Kept my eye on an LCI 2010 xDrive30d, but was disappointed to find it had been sold, nearer to the end of our search. A very high spec model came by, with £20k of options, but we lost it to someone else. However, when testing the one we bought, we came to realise that the other one simply didn't pull as well, even though they both had the same engine.

Ours had the spec of the M-sport package with 20" 227m wheels, the (much needed!) media package, heated seats front and back, xenons, back-up camera, privacy glass, chrome package and the all-important 3.0sd engine. It was the best as tax was low, it was a 2009 model and was well looked after by the previous owner. It also has the BMW professional Hi-Fi system which is very good for what it is. Will never beat the Dolby system in our XC90 though!

CCC iDrive is just fine for everyone, it's like having the previous model iPhone - the newer one has more functions but the previous one works just fine. The sat-nav is surprisingly good, I expected it to be dismal due to age but it does have traffic updates and actively attempts to create ways around the traffic - which it does very well. It has many options, including dynamic routes, fast routes and no motorway routes. Other functions work really well e.g. service, radio.

For you, black M-sport models should be fine to look for, do not be scared to look privately too, as we managed to get a warranty on ours, even though we bought privately. Media package is a must, however it doesn't come with an upgraded stereo. Logic 7 was rarely equipped on cars, due to it being £2000! Adaptive drive is something you can look for, but no real need for it, as I personally think it drives great anyway on the M-sport suspension. We took it up to Snake Pass and it was very,very good and spirited in the car! Sports mode on the car is very fun! IMHO, avoid the sunroof, as I bloody hate the things, simply from the fact that they leak/break and cost £££ to fix. Our XC90 had the sunroof leak onto the car's central electronic module, costing £1000 to fix . Black is the best colour, known as Black Sapphire metallic. Heated seats are a must, they are very powerful in terms of bum toastiness.

Most important, the MPG. Trip computer (which you can cleverly show alongside nav in CCC iDrive) shows 26.2mpg all the time, including school runs and motorway runs combined. Personally, its very reasonable, less than the XC90 but is a good MPG considering we take advantage of the second turbo a lot  ) . Full tank (£90+ to fill up) gets 550-600 miles which is very good, but not the best. 2.4 D5 XC90 in comparison got 550 miles from full tank, taking £70-80 worth of diesel.

I checked options by googling BMW warranty check and obtaining VIN from the warranty website when you put the number plate in. Works on any car actually  :blink:

Then used BMW VIN check to check options on car, was very helpful in search.

Patience is key, you will find a X5 that is yours.