XSeries-forum

Hi all,

I used to own an E53 3.0D M sport which I had no practical reason for but loved every minute of owning.

Now the combination of an impending new arrival to the family and a lack of properly working lower back mean its time to rejoin the X5 club.

Looking for a twin turbo E70 model (never go back, so no E53!) for about £10k and currently trying to understand the mechanical differences between the SD, 35D & 40D. I understand the gearbox and cosmetic changes from the LCI revisions.

Any help or advice gratefully received and looking forward to being part of the X community again!

Hello and back.

The 35d and SD are pretty much a marketing gimmick and have identical paired turbocharging systems. The 40d is slightly cleaner (cheaper to tax), slightly more fuel efficient and uses a dissimilar turbo (one larger than the other) which should reduce turbo lag. It also uses the N57 series engine rather than the good old M57 series (as used in an earlier incarnation on the E53).

The 40d with its 8-sp transmission is really good to drive compared to the earlier 6-sp variants (SD &35d)

Internally the later model has the better CIC based iDrive - though some very late pre-LCI E70s were fitted with the same.

Thanks, that’s really useful info.

So in summary-

E53 3.0D - M57 single turbo
E70 3.0SD - M57 twin turbo (both same size?), same as 335D from same era?
E70 35D - rebadged SD
E70 40D - N57 twin turbo, one small one big activated in sequence.

LCI brings better gearbox and updated nav as well as cosmetic improvements

Is this right?

Quick update - After much frenzied googling and almost making a vindecoder website think they were being ddos’d through overuse I have purchased an X5

E70 pre LCI sd
Black sapphire metallic
Comfort seats
Pano roof
Reversing cam

The comfort seats were the clincher for me as my back is ruined and the amount of adjustability is mind boggling. DVD screen in the rear is a novelty.

Mpg is absolutely shocking (avg drops at idle - any ideas?) even by usual standards so suspect there’s some tinkering to be done which is what I really enjoy doing with cars.

First mod though is a baby seat. Oh how life has changed!

Quick pic below

looks really nice, I've got comfort seats in mine and after 6 months I'm still playing with them they are awsome.

Hi

Congrats on the X5 and lit looks good and one withthe comfort seat was worth finding.

Re the mpg yes they can be a bit low around town but reset the trip computer and run it for a week and see.

Also it could be it needs a good run as that would help the dpf do a regen and should improve emissions and more than likely the fuel consumption, especially if the car has just been used locally and short journeys such as around town and not on a long run

Graeme