XSeries-forum

Well . after all the love and money ive put into the beasty , she decides to repay me , with a suspected BHG.
what a bitch

so , instead of repairing her , im looking at another ,
would you nice people have a look at these 2 and give me your honest opinions.
and how they would compare to the 4.4.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... &logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... &logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... &logcode=p

are the 4.6 and 4.8's a more reliable?. engine and gearbox?.......

the insurance difference is pennies tbh, and i cant see the fuel being so much different.

cheers

Steve

All three cars look OK but the proof is in the pudding, without inspecting and trying them difficult to say.
I am on my 2nd X5 the first was a 2002 4.4 with LPG we brought it to pull the horse trailer after selling the lorry.
I used it through the first winter for shooting/dog transport second winter while on a shoot (2 years ago) a whacking great tree got blown over and the X and a Navara were parked in just the wrong spot. I replaced it with an 2003 X5 4.6is. After 13k and 2 years driving I have had to have the rear diff replaced early this year it was done under warranty.
In every day driving and traffic and pulling the trailer I would say very little noticeable difference between the two, tread on the gas (without the horses behind) and although the 4.4 was quick the 4.6 just feels far more urgent 4.8's I have no knowledge of but guess it will feel similar to the 4.6.
Apart from a failed FSR and replacing the suspension bushes the 4.4 was very reliable, 13k into the 4.6 and apart from the diff all it has needed is a Service (inspection 2) I have noticed some rust on the rear brake pipes so will get those changed as a precaution. The 4.6 has averaged 18.7mpg over the 13k covered including towing and some proper motorway use. Having owned several V8's I budgeted for 15 so I am happy with that.

As you have owned an X you know from experience to make sure absolutely everything works as it should if it doesn't keep looking, there are lots out there be patient would be my advice.
hope the ramble make's sense and helps a little.
Dave

My tuppence (and I have a 4.8iS so biased)
1. I would go for a 4.8 if you can. There are benefits in having a facelift in that some of the earlier niggles have been ironed out.
2. Mine has been reliable other than the air suspension which at this age is likely to be an issue. Rubber deteriorates over time. I ( or more accurately Raj on this forum) replaced with coilovers about 4 years ago and very happy. I've found the engine and gearbox to be bombproof.
3. Fuel consumption is not bad. Rarely drop below 20 even going 80-100 cruise with a roof box on the continent. I had a diesel before and the like-for-like was 22 versus 27 so closer than you might think real world.
4. What out for the road tax increase for later cars (2005-6?). Worth £250 a year.
5. I intended to keep mine until 2014 (10 years old) and planning on buying an F15 50i. Still loving it though particularly the engine and think I'll wait for the F15 facelift

I like the look of the 4.8 myself , but maybe too higher mileage??.
I know my x5 at present has 145k miles on it , and    apart from silly things, its been reliable,
I know , going round town im getting 15 to 17 mpg on the 4.4 and I kind of drive like an old fart

just to update , I called garage earlier , asked if they had managed to look at it ,  ( as I hadn't booked it in , just dumped in on their doorstep)
he said he has had a quick look ,  but had to do a few tests, and will call back later today.
I said , as long as the phrase BHG isn't mentioned in these new tests , , he just said , let me do the tests, he was very vague.....
so im STILL no wiser
, I hate not knowing whats  happening

Isn't motor hub one of those places never to buy a car from? Sure I read some bad stories when I saw another x5 for sale and read some reviews, the 4.6 with 130k on it has been for sale for months so you might get away with a cheeky bid!

Just had a look - motor hub used to be keighley trade centre - has a lot of bad reviews for pushy bad attitudes and auction junk dressed up with good looking prices

thanks for the heads up

Hi it may be worth reading the E53 buyers guide which is very informative and helped m.

I wanted a 4.8 but looked at about 10 or 12 and none of them were great. Even looked at 3,0d on 06 plates at 17500  back 3 years ago and nothing was worth the money.

I did get lose to a 4.8 but if had too many faults. In the end ended up with. A 4.4 facelift was good to drive and need a few bit but at the price I paid they could be done and since the it's been reliable. Now being a little project my car looks like a 4.8 with the bumpers arches and 4.8 wheels although it now has 22" AC Schnitzers on instead of the 4.8 wheels.

Performance yes it is not as much but and goes pretty well and seems to turns heads as its kept clean.

Whatever you choose I would buy on condition of the car and when you find the right one you will know it as there were a lot of cars made.

Hope that helps

4.4 face lift is the right way to go...But, on the other hand, if you want to spend £4k on e53 you better buy 3 series...

4.8 all the way, I have loved mine since I bought it around 5 years ago and covered over 100K miles in her....... Issues I have had have all been covered by warranty, the SLS being the biggest nuisance.  I had the BT module and satnav replaced under warranty as well. 
Petrol usage on long commutes is around 22-24mpg, so am really not unhappy with that

Hope mine goes a while longer yet, she is 10 years old now and I am not particularly keen on any of the newer versions of X series I have seen.

Well. just to update you guys. ..............
went to garage today , just to find out what the hell was going on, as they had, had it since monday, and im inpatient
michael , said jokingly scrap it .  im 99% certain its a bhg, but cant test it as my  tester is leaking , so i was in the exact same boat as i was at the beginning of the week,
he said him and the "lads" had the car running inside the garage for nearly a hour and in that time it didnt overheat, (temp guage rise above 1/2), they took car out for 5 minutes, bang temp went up
i asked him for the engine rebuild place they use to get a price for  the bhg repaired, out of curiosity. took, the temperature sensor off the car to test and came home,.........
i got a quote of  roughly 2k for the bhg fixing,
this included, labor,  skimming ,  all gaskets,  now as they were having to skim the heads they would have to put a new timing chan on , the price also included the chain guides, which i didnt think was bad?.
any who,. talking to that fella, gave me  a glimmer of hope . he said ,  the hgaskets on these cars are very robust, and dont go unless  provoked,.  eg, serious overheating , which mine hasnt  according to him on
he did say he had 2 bmw's in over the "heat wave" with suspected BHG's that turned out to be fans not giving enough cooling.

how i explained it
he told me to. before commiting to a bhg repair, buy a thermoviscous fan coupling and try that.
how he described the running of the fan it made very clear sence,.
if the car is at idle there is no load , fan spins freely,  put load on car  fan should get grabbed by engine and match the speed of the motor, IF the  clutch doesnt to this, the fan wont  give enough "air" thus engine overheats. seems plausable to me that. as it only overheats under load, there still isnt any error codes, garage says, electronically its sound,
ive got a fan coming and a new temp sensor monday hopefully, will let you know what comes of that.

That sounds perfectly plausible.  I thought the electric aux fan was also supposed to kick in though if the engine temp passes a preset point?

quick update kiddies,
my thermo viscous fan coupling is nackered
new one ordered, should be here mon or Tuesday


will let you know, when it arrives and is fitted

just to update .
fitted my new fan clutch, drove for  a few miles , no overheating .

I got my car back :):)