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New member advice needed!!

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:48 am
by markk320
Hi,I'm a new member and I have the opportunity it buy an X3,54 plate,3.0 auto,petrol for  £6300. It has done 56000 miles looks immaculate. Been stung once before buying used cars and need some advice.
Is this car as bad on petrol as I have been reading? Is this a good engine or should I look out for a diesel?
Also are there any known problems with this car? Any advice please. Thanks for your help.

Re: New member advice needed!!

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 8:34 pm
by Buzznuts
I am new to these motors myself and have just bought 30.d and I am currently getting 25-26 mpg on every day running around( I am yet do do any motorway driving) so with that in mind I reckon the petrol will be one thirsty beast. However the performance of the petrol is very tempting. You don't buy a x5 to save money that's what i have had to tell myself however I have noticed that a lot of petrols seem to get LPG conversions done on them. One thing I will say I enjoy driving my 3.0 diesel a lot more than the impreza recently had.

Re: New member advice needed!!

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:00 am
by shadrack
[quote="markk320"]
Hi,I'm a new member and I have the opportunity it buy an X3,54 plate,3.0 auto,petrol for  £6300. It has done 56000 miles looks immaculate. Been stung once before buying used cars and need some advice.
Is this car as bad on petrol as I have been reading? Is this a good engine or should I look out for a diesel?
Also are there any known problems with this car? Any advice please. Thanks for your help.
[/quote]

cant speak on the x3 but i had that engine in an x5 and it did 16-18mpg everyday and around 25-27 on a run driven gently,

Re: New member advice needed!!

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:05 pm
by markk320
Thanks for the replies. Is the 3.0 litre engine a good engine?

Re: New member advice needed!!

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:47 pm
by shadrack
well theres less to go wrong on the petrol to the diesel, also the 3.0i is a proven unit been used for years, they do seem to use abit of oil but bmw say 1ltr in every 1k miles is fine. :xmaswink:

Re: New member advice needed!!

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:48 pm
by graemeX5
Hi my brother in laws ex girlfriend had a petrol 3.0 auto that he bought her and since they split she got fed up with the petrol cost I think low twenties at best and decided to trade it in and really she didn't get a lot for it as little demand I guess.

I can only agree with others that it won't be great round town but better on a run, and that is probably why a lot of people go the diesel route. It just depends on your useage and your wallet.

My X5 is a 4.4 petrol but as it's a weekend car and last year it did about 1500 miles so not worth having a diesel but if running everyday I would have a diesel one.

Re: New member advice needed!!

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:59 pm
by stevox5
Hi there

I have an X5 3.0i petrol

It does a steady 19mpg around town , better on a run as people have already said.

It's a very smooth engine and reliable in all the models it's fitted to.

They can use oil between services but not a major issue , also you need to ensure the cooling system is in good shape for reliability but quite bullet proof.

As long as it sounds sweet , warms up ok and does not overheat it should be fine , just keep it serviced.

I have done 30,000 miles in mine since I've owned the car and it's been superb , it's thirsty and not got the power of aV8 ( I would have the V8 if I were to change) but it's super smooth and not underpowered really.