E70 common faults/ buyers guide

[StokeJon]

I'm not being lazy but I can't find a thread for advice in what to look out for when checking over an E70 to buy. Would someone mind posting a link for me.
Long story but I got home from work the other day to find my wife had exchanged her car for a 2007 X5! Private deal, no checks or inspections done, without consulting me, because I would spend too long researching the purchase and searching for a good one!
Thankfully Hpi check looks OK.
:cry1:

[CondorX5]

Looks like the deal is done so its a bit late now.......... . Wife obviously fed up with procrastination! 

There is a sticky above detailing a members experience with an E70 and there is a comprehensive E53 sticky, which applies to all the models really.  Meant to add as well, the 2007 model is the very early prefacelift so is different in some aspects to the post 2010 models and also has very high road tax /VED -£500 per year.

[Horizon]

[quote="StokeJon"]
I'm not being lazy but I can't find a thread for advice in what to look out for when checking over an E70 to buy. Would someone mind posting a link for me.
Long story but I got home from work the other day to find my wife had exchanged her car for a 2007 X5! Private deal, no checks or inspections done, without consulting me, because I would spend too long researching the purchase and searching for a good one!
Thankfully Hpi check looks OK.
:cry1:
[/quote]
All 2007 X5's are £500 tax

[StokeJon]

Thanks for the replies.
Yes, is a bit late now. Unfortunately I didn't even get the opportunity for procrastination, I didnt even know we were looking to replace her car!
I'll have a look at the e53 sticky, thanks. Already read the x70 purchase story, wasn't a lot of help for what I'm interested in, common expensive faults etc.
What's the uneven tyre wear/ staggered wheel issue I need to look out for? It has 20" 11j et40 , 315/35 dunlop runflats on the back, 20" 10j et37, 275/40 Dunlop run flats on the front. Rears have good tread depth. OSF is on the limit, worn more on the outside, which i can see from the .gov website was an advisory in the last mot. NSF is half worn. All are star marked.
Any others things you'd be looking for if you were in my predicament?

[CondorX5]

You absolutely need to keep with the star marked tyres on an E70 - pricey I know!  Although the transfer box issues are usually noted as being with the later E70s, these cars are very prone to problems if the tyre wear is very uneven or worn and much better on say the back - change all 4 together is probably a good idea, sounds like that needs doing soon.  Have a Hunter alignment done to reset the toein - the outside wear is very well documented and BMW seem to think its normal, but this can be reduced by reducing the toe in.

Hope its a genuine one!

[Graeme]

Hello,

My E70 was manufactured in August 2007 and first registered in April 2008. It had been a management car when I got it in November 2008.  It's now covered 136600 miles.

First, tyres.  Mine has 19" wheels, 255x50x19 on the front and 285 x45 x19 on the rear. It has air suspension and adaptive drive.  I've run * marked run flats by Conti, Bridgestone and Goodyear and non-runflat Vredestein Wintrac extremes.  (I don't have a spare - no room in a 7 seater - so I carry a couple of cans of Holts Tyreweld and a pump).  Zealous cornering of this heavy car , especially around roundabouts wears the outside of the nsf tyre. Out-of-alignment tracking on the rear exacerbates the tendency to wear the inside of the rears. Get both front and rear tracking checked and adjusted  at a tyre dealership where they have a machine that measures front and rear. Both should be done together and set up so the car runs true and does not "crab" down the road.  Rears also wear more on the centres if the car covers many miles unladen.  The rears also wear faster than the fronts if the car does long motorway distances. Expect 20-30000 depending on how you drive.  Bridgestones lasted longest. Crucially, only fit tyres in full sets, and of the same make and type,  so tread depth is more or less the same all round to avoid possible transfer box problems.

Secondly, the light units on the tailgate have seals that perish. Once water gets in and ruins the LED lighting they have to be replaced. New ones have an improved gasket. Units cost me just over £100 each. Go to a BMW accident repair centre direct, not the main dealer.  Their labour charges are lower.  Over the years I've also had to replace three bulbs for the Angel Eye day running lights. About £14 each. from Halfords.  Mine has Xenon headlights  that I've not had to touch.

Thirdly, parking sensors die at intervals. BMW ones cost about £100.  I've not tried cheap ones from Ebay. I've just changed the third last month.  I use an auto electrician who charges much less than the main dealer.  He's also recharged the air con twice.

Fourthly, batteries last about 100000. Frequent short journeys will not allow the battery to recharge fully as there are many computer-controlled systems that draw juice for about 15 minutes after switching off.  If you lose the clock and other settings eg radio presets when switching on it's a sign the battery is on the way out. Fitting a new one is not straight forward - they have to be coded to the car.  On no account disconnect the old battery and replace it yourself. Strangely I got the best deal last year at the BMW main dealership - £136 fitted, coded,  and the old battery back!

Fifthly, I had to have a new rear air suspension bag on the ns.  It's an easy job, so labour not too bad,  and I had my local independent mechanic do it with a replacement from Europarts.

Sixthly - service parts.  I get my indy to change the filters with BMW replacement parts.  He uses the proper fully synthetic oil too. It's an annual event as I don't cover the BMW service interval of about 19000 miles  each year now. He's fitted BMW replacement brake discs and pads. His labour costs are much lower than the main dealership.  Brake pad life depends on driving.  Mine last about 60000 miles - since I got it I've had all discs replaced at 75000 and I'm just on my third set of pads front and rear - but I live in an area where it's open roads and not stop-start motoring.  Touch wood, nothing else ha gone wrong.

Seventh, I've had three headlight washer covers pop off and get lost. New ones are about £27 but have to be painted. Fitting is quick but total cost of replacement at the BMW accident repair centre is still nearly £100 including VAT!

Finally, keep the drainage channels at each side of the bulkhead clear.  They fill up with dead leaves and block the rubber grommets.  It's a pain reaching in but I pull the grommets out, wash the debris away that I can't pick out away and replace the grommets.

Hope this helps,

Graeme

[Nat]

Hello,

I have had mine since April 13.

1st issue was front tyres done by 9000 miles. Tried to claim from BMW for that as car was new but had no luck. Think its terrible that a new car comes out with tracking that kills 2 tyres in 9000 miles. Anyway, now sorted but only because I went and did my homework as BMW dealership said tracking within tolerance which was a joke.

2 alloys replaced under warranty for corrosion and 4 centre caps too . The rears are now corroding from the centre outwards. Will be interesting if they honour it .

I'm on my third rear fog light..................they leak and last time replacing the seal was not enough . 1 day after a new seal the light itself died. No surprise as it was full of water.

New disks/pads all round @ 45 K . Used my local indi as BMW just took the piss.

Otherwise nothing has gone wrong/broken. Any issues that we have had have been dealer created.

All in all its been reliable and much better than the last E53 I had.

[pcdee]

Hey

I've had my E70 for 3 years now, it's a 2007.

First was the air bag which wasn't expensive through an indy

Second was the sunroof.....it's not been fixed and needs a new cassette.  To be fair I don't even use it. I just like the extra light.

Third was the electronic handbrake.  Main dealer job costing about £1200

I've had front discs and pads replaced.  Local indy sourced the parts.

I would play it safe a get the alignment checked first then every 6 months.  I have the staggered 20" setup and have gone through 2 sets of rear tyres in 2 years purely because the alignment was out.



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[StokeJon]

Thanks for the info folks. Its given me a few things to check over and get done.
The only receipt with the car is for a replacement battery done a few months ago (bosch 019, s4013, 95Ah) . I understand it should be registered and coded but have no idea whether this was done or not. Don't suppose this is a simple job for my OBD2 and a smartphone app by any chance??? And can i / should i do it now even though the battery is no longer new?

[X5Sport]

Carly App can recode the battery type.

[StokeJon]

[quote="X5Sport"]
Carly App can recode the battery type.
[/quote]
Thanks.
Looking at Carly app, to get the register battery function it seems you have to buy the pro version (£40) and then buy their battery register add-on. I think I'll either take it to a local indy to check if the correct battery is registered (from a bit of research I've done I believe this should be possible) or just see if it gets cooked!

[StokeJon]

[quote="CondorX5"]
You absolutely need to keep with the star marked tyres on an E70 - pricey I know!  Although the transfer box issues are usually noted as being with the later E70s, these cars are very prone to problems if the tyre wear is very uneven or worn and much better on say the back - change all 4 together is probably a good idea, sounds like that needs doing soon.  Have a Hunter alignment done to reset the toein - the outside wear is very well documented and BMW seem to think its normal, but this can be reduced by reducing the toe in.

Hope its a genuine one!
[/quote]

Don't suppose there are any worthwhile checks for damage to transfer box / diffs resulting from a car being run with unequally worn tyres? I haven't noticed any rumbling noises.

I imagine under-inflated tyres (or rather unequally inflated tyres) has an even greater potential for causing damage, if I understand the problem correctly in that its due to unequal wheel rolling diameter/circumference.
I'm sure there are a lot of drivers who pretty much never check tyre pressures.

[X5Sport]

Check for unusual shuddering at low speed on full lock.  If apparent then there is an issue.

Yes it seems to be due to the rolling diameter differences.  Under inflation would increase the width but not sure about circumference, and with RFT it doesn't make much difference.  The worst variances have been >30mm in circumference differences.

[Blacksheep]

[quote="Nat"]
Hello,

I have had mine since April 13.

1st issue was front tyres done by 9000 miles. Tried to claim from BMW for that as car was new but had no luck. Think its terrible that a new car comes out with tracking that kills 2 tyres in 9000 miles. Anyway, now sorted but only because I went and did my homework as BMW dealership said tracking within tolerance which was a joke.

2 alloys replaced under warranty for corrosion and 4 centre caps too . The rears are now corroding from the centre outwards. Will be interesting if they honour it .

I'm on my third rear fog light..................they leak and last time replacing the seal was not enough . 1 day after a new seal the light itself died. No surprise as it was full of water.

New disks/pads all round @ 45 K . Used my local indi as BMW just took the piss.

Otherwise nothing has gone wrong/broken. Any issues that we have had have been dealer created.

All in all its been reliable and much better than the last E53 I had.
[/quote]

Can you enlighten me on factory tracking issues and wheel corrosion please.
What period of warranty would a 2013 reg X5 come with and is there a problem with corroding alloys?

Mine have corrosion around the centre caps and only done 27000 miles.

[X5Sport]

Diamond cut alloys gave been a major source of irritation right from the start, and as you have found, suffer centre area corrosion.  BMW will replace under warranty but will check for any damage or runout errors.  If either are present then they tend to reject the claim.

Factory default tracking is often incorrect leading to uneven tyre wear.  Worth getting a full 4-wheel alignment check done especially if changing tyre sets.  Tyres are expensive enough without throwing life away!