XSeries-forum

New to site and hoping to get answers..I am Notts based and have had my fully loaded 2006 X5 3.0d S for 8 years and love it; BUT I have been plagued over the last year with all sorts of faults, break downs and ongoing niggly problems, despite FSH and lots of TLC. Let me list them and then I would love to hear comments and positive answers since I am almost ready to give up the ghost: let's start with a gripe about electrical connections; constant "check tail light" msg despite new holders so have to twist off and replace to re connect contacts // a top Bollox battery lasts about 2-3 years as changed 3 times now, so car likes to eat lots of juice //radio display rolls like a bandit and disappears although maintains sound, coming back on when it feels like it// Left channel on amp failed but a Company in Sheffield upgraded this for £100; fab service from these guys// transmission problem cost me around £600.00 for a plastic gear selector replacement//rear tyres out of shape so failed MOT....twice, despite 4 wheel alignments being done each tyre change...hate 20 inch sport wheels with the wide tyres as just cost a bomb every year (12K travelled/yr)//Aircon compressor failed and replaced £600.00// now the dual fan at front inoperable so awaiting new from Germany, prob gonna be best part of £500.00 and I always have my air con on all year round hit and cold so not like it's neglected. I appear to have the last of the E53,with an array of face lifted bits prior to model change so parts via reg don't always match mine// an air bag memory fault consistently appears, mostly from steering and occasional passenger seat, which having just renewed all connections,  will hopefully be cured, annoying that the light is a memory fault each time and doesn't therefore go off resulting in me having to keep getting it rigged up to the computer at my friendly garage...watch this space// TV is inoperable prob as analogue but it can search for digital channels, which yields non//phone prep repaired a while ago but got told not to connect my smart phone via blue tooth as it apparently will knacker it up again//
So you will appreciate that this once £46K at new motor now prob worth £6K today is beginning to be costly to maintain despite 104K only on the clock and absolutely immaculate condition...I have not got a bank reserve on tap to keep shelling out from and so I am wondering what is going to be next?????? Shall it stay or shall it go??

Hi Rob
And welcome to the forum and sorry to hear your experience and I understand how it feels having to keep paying out.

I had the same on a brabus smart brakes blinded on couldn't use car, exhaust failed new one £981 inc vat from mercedes, got a hand built one for £480, then Ecu kept cutting the car out replaced unit at £500 but would not link to car due to water ingress and Mercedes wanted £137 per hour to fix but didn't say how long to fix it so traded car in.

Not all X5 have lots of problems, but all will experience some, at some point, and having a car for 8 years as you elude to you have had your fair share, and the batteries do take a hammering. I replaced mine with the Bosch S5 and it had a car of over 800 amps, and this solved the issues for me and the forum has lots of posts on electrical gremlins as a result of won batteries which disappear when replaced.

I know when I bought my car the garage went through it and £1500 later all was sorted and that solved a lot of the probs including the rear light unit which seem to play up and can corrode, and replacement breaks track rod end etc etc

The Tyres wear on the rear and bushes can be at fault and is worth checking even if costly to do. As you say the TV is analogue but you can get a conversion, but I replaced my unit with a new kenwood head unit.

Yes they are nice cars and nice to drive but they can be expensive to fix especially if like me you have to pay a garage most of the time, the local BMW garage is over£140 per hour where as my Indy was £75 per hour, so guess who got the business on my E53. Unfortunately not the scams on the E70 as under a warranty, but my choice to get the newer car.

But if you get problems it's always worth a search or a post on the forum as someone has probably come across the issue and either knows how to fix it or may help to save some money on where is the Best Buy.

Graeme

Hi Rob and welcome

I gave up reading your massive block of text - try to split it into a few paragraphs, that will help readers a lot!

The gist of  the massive block of text seems to be all the well-known issues that can and do occur with E53s, given that the car is over 10 years old now, it is hardly surprising - lots of other makes don't even make it to 10 years! I kept my E53 under extended BMw warranty for that reason, and it paid off bigtime. I would never own one of these without purchasing an AUC from BMW and then keeping the warranty up. There are loads of threads on here for the issues I saw briefly before the giant text block dazzled my eyes completely - have a read.

The TV in a 2006 car should be hybrid so should pick up digital channels but not unheard of for the tv module to go faulty. 

Hope you get the faults sorted to your satisfaction.  I upgraded, like Graeme, to an E70, even though we kept the E53 as a second car.

thanks guys for your reply and yes it was a bit of a long winded rant...sorry readers; being new to the Forum I had first started sifting through the threads, but as there are so many I banked that it would get broken down for me... in essence just expected more longevity taking into account the care and attention I have given; lesson learned. I will take on board comments and am looking forward to being a part of the forum as I am so grateful for all the readers who take the time to help out when in need...hopefully I may too contribute one day. Thanks again for the advice.

Hi Rob

Fully agree with the other guys, the car is getting on a bit but I love mine to death even though I am running out of body parts to sell off to maintain her. She's cost me £1k this week in bits n bobs including a service and a full set of tyres.

In the three years I have had it it's had a gearbox rebuild, 3 sets of tyres (my aggressive driving style probably doesn't help), servicing, new battery (went for a Yuasa one, not Bosch) and numerous sets of LED angel eyes. Obviously MOTs

On top of that I have spent money (my choice) on upgrading the stereo, new stainless exhaust, remap and respray of a door and wheels.

Check your rear lights for water ingress, I had the lamp error too but luckily a quick clean up of the contacts fixed it but it sounds like it didn't in your case.

To answer the question ref keeping it or not, that's a tough one. You could be buying someone else's piece of crap and then have to spend money on it too, unless you buy new I suppose.

Depends on really if you love the car or not

hi
    I solved my battery problem with a new starter motor , it was constantly flat .
  Regarding tyres go smaller wheels the extra weight of the wheels seems to wear the tyres  faster .
  I have the same problem with constant bills my car is 12 years old and every year needs costly maintenance , mine has just turned 90,000 miles , do you change ? unless you buy new you could end up buying someone elses trouble or buy from dealer and pay over the odds .
  good luck
      sid10

[quote="sid10"]
hi
    I solved my battery problem with a new starter motor , it was constantly flat .
  Regarding tyres go smaller wheels the extra weight of the wheels seems to wear the tyres  faster .
  I have the same problem with constant bills my car is 12 years old and every year needs costly maintenance , mine has just turned 90,000 miles , do you change ? unless you buy new you could end up buying someone elses trouble or buy from dealer and pay over the odds .
  good luck
      sid10
[/quote]

YEs there is a particular starter (around 2004 Morelli I think but X%Sport will come and along and advised) that eats batteries. Plus you can get a diff one but if you buy one wth a 3/4/5 year warranty you can get it replaced. Totally agree about buying someone else's problems - it can be a minefield. i once had the luxury of a brand new Golf Gti 150bhp Turbo Diesel (nothing is as reliable in life's a Golf as the ad used to say) - I had £9500 of repairs inside the first two years albeit under warranty then got shot of it. Dread to think what someone picked up ......