An idiots adventure in buying and owning a 4.8is

[biggeek]

Hello

I brought an x5 4.8is a few months back against everybody I knows and even my better judgement....The dealer seemed a bit dodgy but he is second hand car salesman and the issue seemed cometic...ha!

By the way, It's the car I mentioned in the following thread
http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/https://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1

Anyway so far I have had the following problems

Sunroof rear stuck open.

I have got it closed but I probably shredded the manual slot you put the allen key in. I obviously didn't read the bit where it states that you can only close the front sunroof that way :-[.

I still need to do the permanent fix for that so expect some fun from that  ::). I checked the function 5 or 6 times before buying and once a week since owning but now it's broken I can see why. The ramp at the back of the guide has deteriorated quite badly so it was just a matter of time.

lower control arm ball joints

my x started to do a great impression of a squeaky old pram a few weeks ago.I did a bit of googling and thought I had pinpointed it to a ball joint took it to a local mechanic because I don't know what I am doing. The mechanic confirmed it was lower control arm ball joint. I then decided to get a MOT done because I didn't know what else could be wrong because the faking £260 I paid dreeka for a user car inspection was absolutly faking worthlesss :rant: :rant: :rant:
anyway 3 failures and 3 advisories

both lower control arms and passengers droplink had worn rubber.

Advisories were wipers,cv boot and oil leak. Got to keep an eye on the oil level and get the front cover off..I notice the car is always smoking not thick white oil smelling smoke just a wispy smoke but this happens even when the car is up to temp.  :hmmm: more investigation needed.

so I brought lemforder replacement parts and set about replacing them after reading the bentley bible and tis and consulting many a youtube video. I thought I had enough knowledge to get the job done. Wrong what I assumed was 2 hour job took me about 7 hours over 2 days. Most of that time was spent pleading with the nuts to come off...I got them off on the drivers side and was in quite a bit of agony but I did it  :victory:

However I made the deteriorated boot worse by tighten the ball joint nut right up against it...no other way .The boot had to go but I wanted it to last as long as possible. a small amount of grease leaks out if you press it in the right place now  :'( so this is on my todo list for the next few weeks . Next day I started on the driver side I decided to you use some penetrating spray which I already had( Idiot! right..why didn't i use that before) AND my corded impact wrench all nuts came of in a matter of seconds  :blink: no pain no screaming no contorting myself...aaaarrrghh idiot. I should have used that in the first place anyway everything went smooth. I did notice that the air bag deflated when I removed the height sensor on the drivers side but not on the passengers side anyway swapped everything tighten everything to torque...once I researched how to do this with the wheels off. Great All done not bad for a complete idiot who has only jacked up a car 3 time in his life.....then  SLS inactive error( :'(  :'(  :'( ouch 2 out of 3 expensive E53 issue) I am not sure why this lit up but I am sure it something to do with my stupidity.

Other issues and observations

The passenger side  mirror does a ed-209 death rattle when i opens and close.. Ordered a replacement motor and will tackle this one day.

my dvd player doesn't work...never really checked because the tv turner was analogue and I am going to rip it all out for a touch screen unit anyway but my car has DSP unfortunately :puke:.

The upgraded maps DVD just sent my satnav on the fritZ and I have noticed the head unit resetting itself ...radio stays on though.

I thought tape was old in 2004!

disconnected phone button..but the bmw scanner flew in to save the day  .. great piece of kit but I need a gt1 to do ride height adjustments

The rear bumper has dropped slightly so I will have to remove that and see what is going on...rusted clips and a slight knock when I was "testing" how good the pdc was  :-[

The head lights twitch up and down,  I guess this is to do with the adaptive xenon but why do that when I am just sitting on the driveway.

The car gives off a little cough when idling like it has just stumbled . I got an inspection 2 kit so hopefully new air filter and sparks may help this but I will also look to replace the belts...that bloody shroud over the fans is annoying.   
 
When I turn the steering wheel the dash board gets brighter...

I checked the battery (halfords) which reads 12.something and 14.something when I started
but I was by myself so I could not do a full test.I will probably get a bosch s5 to be safe.

The ticking time bomb known as webasto AUX heater also scared me for a while too but thanks to the folks here I think I am safe  :-[

There are plenty other mishaps lost oil caps, dropped fusses, scratch from seat belt ARRRRRRGHH this one hurts  :rant:, no locking wheel nut...broken replacement wheel nuts...My girlfriend's "I told you not to buy it" face she admitted it was nice right before it started breaking down now but now we at "the don't talk to me about that car" stage already  ::)

I will report back ass various assortment of thing break off...or are broken off my a nameless party in future

[Horizon]

Sadly, this is not a one off story. There have been a few disillusioned X5 owners come and go, in the relative short time I have been on this site.
You had a pre purchase inspection, that's more than I have ever done. Car dealers/ salesmen will tell you a bag of lies to get a few quid on a car. Most used cars are passed on because they are troublesome, and a conscience free way is to sell at auction or part ex with a dealer.
A dealer will tell you no ones buying 4x4's anymore, or no one wants big engined petrol cars anymore !!
Then charge the next person top dollar, and tell them the opposite.
I'm sorry your x5 ownership has been all negative. We all are susceptible to buying a lemon, its only luck if we end up with a good one.

[AW8]

As you will know it is possible to iron out & fix issues albeit at financial cost. There are cost savings if you do stuff yourself.......my only advice is to be honest to self re your abilities, tools experience time & patience.

If it were me in your shoes I would conduct some honest  with self maths in terms of parts and labour required...........The references to oil leaking and poor running need correct evaluation as you have already identified- this would form part of my maths.

I would write down cost of purchase, (perhaps relative to any p/x deal if done), cost of what you have spent and add cost of what else you will have to spend..............You have to decide whether it is sensible or not to carry on or say goodbye...........assuming the supplying trader wont help you &/or civil action in your favor not likely.

Thanks for sharing & Good Luck

PS I suspect the door mirror is the microswitch not the motor though I could be wrong

[Rusty]

I feel sorry for you mate.  Well done on trying to sort it all yourself though and keep us updated


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[biggeek]

Oh there a lot of commisration  :'(

To tell you the turth I still think it's a lovely car and I look forward to restoring back to a good status

Oh forgot to add that the exahust is a bit rusty too

I did get very angry and upset that so many things that I "checked" had gone wrong but then I took a deep breath and remember that I brought the car as a hobby. I seem to be constantly looking at a computer screen so restoring this beast back to it's former glory would be a great acheivment...great and expensive achievment.

I knew these car are far from reliable by reading this forms...so I expected everything that has gone wrong to go wrong but not in such a short space of time.

fixing this car is my equivlant to playing golf and now it just a matter of time before I have a broken set of clubs or heading to the master in 2-3 years

[shadrack]

[quote="biggeek"]
Oh there a lot of commisration  :'(

To tell you the turth I still think it's a lovely car and I look forward to restoring back to a good status

Oh forgot to add that the exahust is a bit rusty too

I did get very angry and upset that so many things that I "checked" had gone wrong but then I took a deep breath and remember that I brought the car as a hobby. I seem to be constantly looking at a computer screen so restoring this beast back to it's former glory would be a great acheivment...great and expensive achievment.

I knew these car are far from reliable by reading this forms...so I expected everything that has gone wrong to go wrong but not in such a short space of time.

fixing this car is my equivlant to playing golf and now it just a matter of time before I have a broken set of clubs or heading to the master in 2-3 years
[/quote]

just stick at it mate, if tinkering is a hobby all the parts can be obtained for very good prices, and labour is the big charge so your teaching yourself new skills and saving money, a little tip is though cheap tools are shite and often people struggle rounding nuts etc etc, get a good socket set with 6 sided sockets, and a decent spanner set.

[Rusty]

I agree with shadrack re tools.

Some things you can get away with but the right tools and good ones too will save you a huge amount of sore knuckles, time and effort.
I can't afford SnapOn but I get the best I can afford and it pays dividends. 

Good luck with the restoration


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