x5 M40d MSport 2011+ - On the Lookout

[PencilPot]

Hi All

Firstly what a great forum so much great information

I’m currently seriously considering buying an x5 40d MSport. After reading a fair bit on here it does seem that the 8 speed box is worth having. I have tested the car and have a 330 Msport currently so I don’t mind the ride too much.

My question is I have read so much on here that I have started to worry myself about the reliability. Would you say it is not worth owning an older x5 without some form of warranty in place as a lot of repairs can be so expensive e.g. transmission failure

Realistically I’m looking to spend 16K maybe a bit more for the right one. But they most likely will involve the car having travelled 80k in miles.

Have many owners on here been lucky and had few issues or is this something I really need to consider.

I have tried to make a fair few buying notes things to look at etc.

But any advice or guidance is appreciated

My Likes are

40d Msport due to the body coloured bumpers, oval exhausts and wider arches
The 8 speed box
The pano roof looks great - But should I avoid this due to issues? Or are they ok for some on here that have them?
7 Seats would be a bonus
Im aiming for around a 2011 plate or slightly newer, Is it worth getting a 2012 plate because of extra standard functionality?


Any advice greatly received , Thanks in Advance 

[graemeX5]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It's probably worth having a read of the buyers guide in the e70 section as it will help you decide what spec you should go for, as retro fitting is costly and complicated due to the abundance of electronic modules.

A car from the BMW dealership as an approved used car will have a better warranty usually 12 months and you can sometimes get this up to 2 years, but generally the cars are good spec but are dearer than a non franchised dealer or private sales would be.

You can get a warranty and it's definite worth considering and building into your budget as then can cost a bit to fix. Not to scare you but a forum member spent a lot over money over 5k which was the exception and got rid. A good car is great a bad one is costly.

Find a good car with full history maintenance being done and confirmation that any recalls have been done. There is a post about the front propshaft iirc in the e70 section.

Remember to check all the electrics and yes the pano roof can still cause probs less so on the e70 so far. Check if any water leaks in footwells as door membranes could have been damaged or not revealed, check tyres as if an M Sport car the staggered set up the outer fronts wear and the inner rears and they should be same make and run flats are fitted as standard.

It's worth having a look in the for sale section as some owners have cars for sale. Also if you do find a car if you post aa link the other members can give you their opinion /advice on what they spot about the car.

Graeme

[graemeX5]

Here's the link for the front prop-shaft make sure it's been checked by BMW.

http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... 288.0.html

Graeme

[graemeX5]

Hi here's a car for sale in the Buy and sale section

http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... 444.0.html

Graeme

[AdamsX5]

[quote="PencilPot"]
Hi All

Firstly what a great forum so much great information

I’m currently seriously considering buying an x5 40d MSport. After reading a fair bit on here it does seem that the 8 speed box is worth having. I have tested the car and have a 330 Msport currently so I don’t mind the ride too much.

My question is I have read so much on here that I have started to worry myself about the reliability. Would you say it is not worth owning an older x5 without some form of warranty in place as a lot of repairs can be so expensive e.g. transmission failure

Realistically I’m looking to spend 16K maybe a bit more for the right one. But they most likely will involve the car having travelled 80k in miles.

Have many owners on here been lucky and had few issues or is this something I really need to consider.

I have tried to make a fair few buying notes things to look at etc.

But any advice or guidance is appreciated

My Likes are

40d Msport due to the body coloured bumpers, oval exhausts and wider arches
The 8 speed box
The pano roof looks great - But should I avoid this due to issues? Or are they ok for some on here that have them?
7 Seats would be a bonus
Im aiming for around a 2011 plate or slightly newer, Is it worth getting a 2012 plate because of extra standard functionality?


Any advice greatly received , Thanks in Advance 
[/quote]
I was in your shoes 2 weeks ago. Found my car after driving a few. I would say deffo get warranty.
Bmw is best but then you need to buy a car with less than 60k miles to be affordable.
AUC cars are at least 2-3k more than non franchise. Personally I would buy and I have .... a good example with FSH 2-3 owners max , and put a warranty direct cover on. I costs £800 for 70-80k miles car and with 20% parts contribution with capped labour rate of £72/hr. Bmw warranty will be £1500-2000.
Play about with the quotes on the website.
I have one on my F10 and touch wood never claimed but it’s there. Just need to take car to vat reg garage for servicing not Bmw .

Choose right spec. Pano roof is nice and I’ve seen both and would not be without it. Just don’t play with it too much. I plan to leave cover open for light and not use it much. For me folding mirrors is important as I park in supermarket car park for work and there are idiots about.
Sat nav is a must and heated seats for me too.
Xenons are standard at that age. Get comfort seats if you can but I couldn’t find any with them.
You should find many at that price.


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[PencilPot]

Hi

Thank you both for your responses.

I have been reading loads too and appreciate your advice.

With regards to warranty, i suppose I’m wondering would many people buy a 2010+ car and not take out anything at all, or is that really asking for trouble?

What would the ratio likely to be, What would the average owners repair costs likely  be i suppose?.

As I’m comfortable knowing that some things may happen. Although I’m not sure if i can afford to pay 16K for a car £1K per annum for Warranty every year and still cover "wear and tear" issues as they arrise that may not be covered, as well as insurance.

Would skipping warranty be a silly choice for an average x5 er

Also one other small point. I have seen a lot about the wheels all matching with regards to wear, and irregular wear on the sides as you mantion above. Will this be the same on all M sport suspension types or is there only really one suspension type provided in the MSport Model?

Would there be a better suspension upgrade or version that would likely cause less issue here. Or is it a case of just be aware of this regardless.

Sorry if these seem silly questions.  :wall:

Everyone seems to really rate these cars and they are great to drive so i don’t want my caution to cloud my judgement.

Thanks Again :beer2:

[AdamsX5]

[quote="PencilPot"]
Hi

Thank you both for your responses.

I have been reading loads too and appreciate your advice.

With regards to warranty, i suppose I’m wondering would many people buy a 2010+ car and not take out anything at all, or is that really asking for trouble?

What would the ratio likely to be, What would the average owners repair costs likely  be i suppose?.

As I’m comfortable knowing that some things may happen. Although I’m not sure if i can afford to pay 16K for a car £1K per annum for Warranty every year and still cover "wear and tear" issues as they arrise that may not be covered, as well as insurance.

Would skipping warranty be a silly choice for an average x5 er

Also one other small point. I have seen a lot about the wheels all matching with regards to wear, and irregular wear on the sides as you mantion above. Will this be the same on all M sport suspension types or is there only really one suspension type provided in the MSport Model?

Would there be a better suspension upgrade or version that would likely cause less issue here. Or is it a case of just be aware of this regardless.

Sorry if these seem silly questions.  :wall:

Everyone seems to really rate these cars and they are great to drive so i don’t want my caution to cloud my judgement.

Thanks Again :beer2:
[/quote]
I was thinking same but decided on warranty direct they cover wear and tear from 90 days on.
I can think where your coming from. I paid 3k on warranty with my F10 and only claimed for EGr valve .!


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[PencilPot]

Yeah its an intresting one,  :-[ It would be nice to know what a few other owners think about Warranty, with regards to taking it out or not?.

Or how reliable/cost effective they have found their own x5 ownership. 

[AdamsX5]

[quote="PencilPot"]
Yeah its an intresting one,  :-[ It would be nice to know what a few other owners think about Warranty, with regards to taking it out or not?.

Or how reliable/cost effective they have found their own x5 ownership. 
[/quote]
If you go to warranty direct you will see reliability index for E70. Seems worse than most BMW’s
My F10 was super reliable .
I wouldn’t risk it personally with E70.


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[PencilPot]

What would your expected annual running costs be roughly?  Considering the main point below

warranty repairs
Repairs outside of warranty
Tyres
Serviceing (Self)
Garage
Insurance

I suppose im trying to understand if i spend 16K on the car is it likely I will be paying 3K+ per year too?

Any advice and thoughts welcome

[CondorX5]

Unless you are really lucky, you are never going to run an X5 cheaply / on Fiesta money.  i think people tend to forget that these cars cost around £50K new and were frequently sold with maintenance / service packages to company execs or well-heeled buyers. 

A few years down the line, the car is older and likely to need even more attention in time, but sells relatively cheaply at £16k - but with the same fairly high ownership costs as it always had from new.  You will always have a few naysayers pop up and tell you how their X5 cost pennies to run, but realistically it really doesn’t, even if you manage to do a lot of servicing yourself.  If you plan on having a decent warranty, self servicing will I think be a problem as well. 

Running costs will also be influenced a lot by mileage given the price of fuel and the big variation in insurance costs depending on your address and age /other factors.

[Jayx5]

I'm going to be doing about 5k miles a year in mine (it's done 105k ) so I'm gonna put some money away each month and hope for the best and my best mate is a mechanic so makes things a bit easier.

[CondorX5]

As an aside, and in response to the auestions raised about warranties on these cars - my 4.8is, which I have owned since 2009, has been on an AUC extended warranty all that time and has paid for itself over and over - without it the car would have ended up scrapped, as the issues were simply too expensive to keep sorting out.  BMW AUC warranty is still the best out there, Warranty Direct do not come close.  The 4.8 has done 135000 miles now and does very little mileage anymore, so I will probanly stop it after the next service - just want to check that nothng imminently expensive is about to happen bedore I do stop it!
The complete self levellling suspension, alternator, pano roof, airsprings, gearbox leak, door handle carriers, replacement of expensive inbuilt satnav system three times, replacement audio system, and  much much more were all covered in full, no excess payable.  £1000s worth.  Means the car still runs perfectly and still a pleasure to drive - without the cover I would have got rid and it would quite likely have ended up bodged and possibly at a breakers.  The XEs have very complex systems which cost a fortune when there is a fault.

[AdamsX5]

I’ve taken out warranty direct so hoping for best
Bmw would have been 2k yearly as it just over 60k miles.
Insurance is group 46 so paying £1100 now
Tyres not bought yet.
Servicing plan to do non Bmw so should be ok.
So yes 3k per year is about right.


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[PencilPot]

Thank you so much for your experiences and thoughts, this is exactly the kind of infomation i was wanting

I do expect cost on such a car as mentioned i just wondered what other peoples experiences were. Thanks guys! Some of your points clearly show a car that can get an Approved Used warrenty on is also vital.

From a cost perspective im looking at buying (i thought ideally) but maybe leasing makes more sense if i can get a good deal (although you wont have anything to show for it after 2 years) but the maintanence cost wont be a worry at all


Thanks again all, great information  :thumbup: