New owner, I think :s

[Durham4416]

I used to be a member on e46 zone when I had my 320cd msport and seen this site mentioned so thought I'd take a look now I'm thinking of buying an x5, iv looked at a few 4x4's, disco 3, pathfinders and also considered buying another navara but an x5 has turned up I like the look of and the price is right, couple of things though, it's a facelift model 3.0d sport with 92k miles and fsh, I drove to Cheshire a couple of weeks ago to test drive it and was put off as the auto box didn't feel very smooth at all, anyway I mentioned this to the guy and left it at that, anyway it came back up for sale last week so I rang the owner, he said somebody else had test drove it and 'gearbox fault' came up on the dash so be has had it plugged into a computer and the fault that came back was that it needed the latest software download and if that didnt cure it he would have the oil changed as advised,anyway he has rang me today to say the latest software has cured it and it drives like new? He has the printout of the fault code apparentley should I be worried or am I just being paranoid? Any advice much appreciated as I'm going to go and collect it this weekend hopefully.

[Sanj]

Welcome to the forum.

So is this a given that you're collecting the car?

At that mileage they can be a worry with the gearbox. An ATF change would certainly help (see if you can have that done). I've never heard of a software change pinging up on the car.

If he agrees to the ATF change, ask them to check the oil - burnt, filings, etc.

HTHs

[Durham4416]

It's not a 100% I'm buying but it's a good price, what would worst case scenario be, a rebuilt gearbox? Any idea how much? I did ring a local BMW independent and they quoted me £380 plus vat to change the gearbox oil but you hear stories that they fail after being messed with :s any more advice appreciated, cheers

[Horizon]

Hi and welcome.
I paid 175 quid for a gearbox service, that was including the pan filter. I think the trouble with Indies is that they are not gearbox specialists. I took mine to an automatic gearbox specialist, he was in the process of rebuilding several BMW and Merc boxes, both 5 speed and 6 speed.
He asked me if I had a 5 or 6 speed box. I have the facelift 6 speed, he said the 5 speed pre facelift boxes were more troublesome. There are thousands of X5"s out there for sale 2005 ones are going for around  8.5 K. If you are unsure about one WALK AWAY.!
There is nothing that PINGS up that it needs an oil change, as BMW say they are " Sealed for Life " and dont require a service. Life means till they die !
I think people will tell you anything to sell you a car. A gearbox rebuild from a specialist will cost you 2.5 K
Buyer Beware

[Durham4416]

It didn't say on the dash it needed a gearbox service, It said 'fault' apparently, it's a 53 facelift so it's one of the first and it's a quite a bit cheaper than £8.5k, don't know what to do now :s  I also thought life meant till they ran out of warranty with BMW, then they will gladly sell you a new gearbox after that time

[jevansio]

I would say the gearbox was the thing I wanted to be 100% when I bought mine, I would not buy a car if I had a niggly feeling about part of it, unless the price was accordling low.  There must be loads of perfectly fine X5's about.  Also agree with Horizon, people will tell you anything to sell a car

[Horizon]

Its the 5 speed ZF  pre facelift box then. Some members have had "The Dreaded Lurch " with these boxes, its a rough changedown when coming to a stop, some have to slip the car into neutral to overcome this when stopping. Some have tried a software upgrade to lessen the effect, I even read on Xoutpost that some have fitted a transmission oil cooler to overcome the problem, as it gets worse when its hot ( so doesnt show on a short test drive either )
Owning an X5 can be a hole in the wallet. Dont get me wrong, I have loved mine, but its never cost  me anything so far, except preventative maintenance.

[Don Coffey]

[quote="Horizon"]
Its the 5 speed ZF  pre facelift box then.
[/quote]

Surely it's the six speed post facelift.  Two of the big differences with the per and post facelift cars, were six speed gearbox and increased power.

Don

[Don Coffey]

[quote="Horizon"]
Hi and welcome.
I paid 175 quid for a gearbox service, that was including the pan filter. I think the trouble with Indies is that they are not gearbox specialists.
[/quote]

They may not specialise in gearboxes but doesn't mean they don't have experience. The indie I use (out side warranty) can rebuild gearboxes, but will always give you options and has the contacts to get some good deals.  That said, he's a funny bugger to work with and you have to take home with a pinch os salt!

Don

[X5Sport]

Hello and Welcome..

The only gearbox error that I've ever seen was 'Trans Failsafe Prog' which puts the box into emergency mode.  That can be caused by a battery issue, but if the Indy has found errors on the log those need looking at carefully.  It's unlikely a gearbox would 'know' about new software.

It all sounds a bit 'iffy' and at around £2,500 for a warrantied repair (£7k for a box from BMW) I would find another one personally.  Plenty out there.

Mine needed a complete repair and £175 just gets you the oil and filters.  Clutch repair kits are £250, torque converter and oil pump the same, plus 17 hours of labour (by a ZF Specialist) to remove, rebuild, test, re-install and road test.......plus VAT if course..

Facelifted are all 6-speed 218bhp, so if 5-speed then it's a pre- version.  You can usually also tell by the clear lamp units - no orange indicator filter and projector headlights, but the gearbox is a giveaway.  Pre-Facelifted also have a different 4WD system as the 'Xdrive' came with the facelift too.

Hope you find what you're wanting.....

Richard

[Don Coffey]

Hi Durham, welcome to the site and hopefully if you find the right car you will enjoy sharing you experiences with us on here.

As for the car, as the price is obviously low for the year, mileage there's a couple of ways to look at this.  One, the saving will cover the cost of rebuild.  Two, the guy has been upfront and showed you the fault print out as opposed to just waffling to you.  Before you walk away, see if there are any indies in the area of the car and ask the seller to allow you to get them to inspect. That said, if you are having doubts, there are more fish in the sea.

Good fishing,

Don

[Durham4416]

It's definiey a facelift, the guy works for a car supermarket and it came in as part x, he sells the odd part x, good feedback on eBay although I seen this car on autotrader, I can have it for £6600, it's on autotrader now at £7690 (he put the price up £1000 last week) the garage it's been to is one he uses through work, they said they will flash the latest software on the gearbox as that's what is required according to the fault codes and if that didn't cure it they Would change the oil and filters in the box, he rang yesterday to say they have flashed the latest software and it has cured it, I was going to take the car before the work was done so i rang a couple of BMW specialists iv used before and they said its a common issue to put the latest software on the gearbox ecu? I know the car sounds cheap but I'm looking at it and thinking, do I spend £8500 on one with similar mileage (who knows if it might need a gearbox) or do I buy this one, have a couple of grand leftover and if the gearbox does fail then iv got the pennies to sort it, another thing was he said he would write on the receipt that if anything major goes wrong with the engine or box he would give me a full refund, whether it not that would be worth the paper it's written on I doubt? Cheers for the advice is far.

[X5Sport]

You could ask them to take it to a BMW Dealer and have the fault codes fully read out and you get a printout.  It only takes15 minutes.

Of course that assumes the seller hasn't cleared the list.  Not an easy call and I can see why you're interested in it...

If everything else is OK and the Seller agrees and states in writing to give you a full refund that's better than not.  Push for a proper warranty (not a £500 one repair only type one) to give you better protection.

Good Luck with getting the car as it seems you want this one....and check absolutely every function/button works before handing over the readies - that includes windows, nav, climate, Bluetooth, radio.......preaching to the choir I'm sure..... :-[

Richard

[Durham4416]

Iv had 27 cars in the last 7 years but this will be the most iv spent on a car, budget is £8500, I don't know if I'm 100% in which case not sure it's worth the risk, don't know what to buy lol!

[Reusch]

As x5sport has said check everything works unlike I did heater not blowing and radio working only thru left hand speakers it's not major and costly but annoying but that's nothing compared to a gearbox fault.