Used Review: 2003 BMW X5

Posted on February 27, 2015

We have now owned our X5 for over three years. I thought it was about time to do a little review especially as I was thinking about adding up all the various bills that have accrued in an effort to see just how much its cost over that time.

Our vintage 2003 3.0i Sport may be two a penny around the streets of Melbourne but lets not forget this was a car with a retail price of $85k in base form so with the optional extras some poor soul probably paid circa $90k. So whats it like to own and run a premium priced German vehicle 10 years after it rolled off the production line.

Driving

Ever since it first arrived the X5 has always been known for its dynamic abilities. I remember in the late 90’s driving a Land Rover Discovery and it was a pretty scary experience when trying to drive anywhere in a spirited fashion, but the X5 was always thought of being the first 4wd that really did handle half reasonably.

Our three litre sport came with the optional 19 inch (up from 17inch) alloy wheels with some beefy 285/50’s on the back and 225/50’s on the front, plus sports suspension. On the road its quite a revelation. Yes, its a big heavy car and you can feel it. Its never going to be light and swift of foot but when you ask it to move she lifts up her skirt and goes. Grip is impressive and once the weight has settled attacking some bends is actually quite good fun. Steering is the typical BMW fair, weighty with some decent feel given the type of car it is. All X5’s came with standard fit electronic stability control which flickers on occasionally when pressing on, its good to know its there.

On the highway the towering driving position is comfortable, the optional leather clad sport pack seats are good to both look at and sit in. Electric adjustment of seat and steering column (with programable presets) makes finding your perfect driving position easy. Its a nice place to be while cruising along the freeway or even simply sitting in the city traffic. On poor surfaces the sports suspension is quite noticeable through the seats though especially in the back, this really is no limousine to those in the rear.

Unfortunately over here in Australia they do like what i call “stupid” gearboxes. So we have a five speed ‘sports’ automatic which to be honest is rubbish. Okay its not that bad for an auto but seriously a manual is the way to go. The autos can be problematic, are more complicated and expensive to maintain and the manual shift mode is dozy and slow so never really gets used.

As for offroad capabilities, well its full time 4wd with a near 50/50 split but with those 50 profile tyres and no locking differentials I’m not sure I’d go too far away from bitumen. We have hit the dirt occasionally and I’ve almost got stuck in an admittedly very wet field with wheels spinning everywhere. I’m pretty sure that with some 17 inch wheels and offroad tyres set on a low psi it would go surprisingly well as long as the going doesn’t get too muddy or require to much wheel articulation. Standard fit Decent Stability Control (DSC) is nicked off Land Rover while under BMW ownership if the downhills become steep.

Styling/Interior

The first generations of the X5 were a huge success , the first two generations sold 1.3 million units, and when it first came out I remember mates called it a drug dealer car with its huge wheels, down facing exhausts and muscly stance. Even after ten plus years I still think the original styling holds up well and looking at gen 2, 3 and 4 versions they are very much evolutions of the original in my eyes.

Inside the sport pack gains black headlining, combining that with black leather and silver inserts ours is a nice place to spend time. Standard fit includes aforementioned electric seats, steering column, windows and mirrors a tilt slide glass sunroof, dual climate control, 60/40 split fold rear seat with three headrests, cruise control and a distinctly average sounds system with steering wheel controls that we have upgraded to allow plugging in a phone/ipod.

The fit and finish is first rate not a squeak or rattle after 10 years. The heavy doors close with a reassuring thunk, the surfaces are all nice to touch and of good quality with the exception of the door pulls that seem to wear badly on gen 1 X5’s and the silver inserts which can scratch easily and are pretty plasticy to the touch. The leather is of good quality although the sports seats can wear on the drivers side, so too can the steering wheel leather.

Practicality

As a big car the interior is not that big. Legroom in the front is fine and unless a front seat passenger is exceeding tall then rear seat passengers won’t complain for legs, shoulder or head space although the rather slab like seat base isn’t exactly luxurious. All X5s have a split tail-gate, which is great so much more practical that a standard hatch. The rear seats split 60/40. The boot is a decent size though to be honest not as big as you may expect. With the rear seats down theres almost 2 meters of semi-flat surface to put stuff.

A bonus of owing an older premium car is that at least you get safety equipment thats you would expect in any new car. Anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control and ten, yes ten airbags means everyone should walk away not mater what type of accident you might have.

Running Costs

As a premium car you might expect running cost to be more than your average runabout but using specialist mechanics and possibly buying your own parts can reduce costs. Oil filters are $20, cam cover gasket $70, spark plugs $10 each and with a chain driven cam theres no belt to change. Then again 285 tyres are never going to be cheap. Unsurprisingly fuel costs are steep averaging around 13-14 litres per 100 km or around 20 miles per gallon, on the highway this might improve to maybe 11 l/100km. Insurance has almost halved in the last year but initially was almost $1000 a year.
All these things are fairly immaterial as its a second hand car and all sorts of things can go wrong, right? This is why its important to be vigilant when purchasing any used vehicle. My rule of thumb on buying second hand cars is as follows:
  • As low a mileage as you can get
  • One or possibly two owners maximum
  • Full service history with log books and preferably actual receipts for work done.
  • Buy private and see where/how the owner lives.

All this works if you are master of your destiny. Our purchase however was mainly driven by the exterior colour and the requirement for black/silver interior. Due to this pretty much all the above was ignored which means I now totally recommend all the above points plus the following when purchasing any BMW.

Full and regular oil changes. BMW engines tend to start clogging up when the oil is old. An easy way to check this is to look at the inside of the oil filler cap/inside the cam cover or by taking off a breather hose and looking inside. Failure to change oil leads to a build up crud which leads to poor running and blocked oil pressure control valve which leads to a build of crankcase pressure which in turn leads to oil leaks and is generally bad for the engine. So check for oil leaks too.

The first eighteen months of ownership was really a story of continual trips to mechanics to ‘fix’ problems resulting from poor previous servicing and only relatively recently have all the resultant oil leaks been fixed. A check back over the receipts reveals the following story:

10/11 Purchased $24000 with 168000kms
11/11 $280 Oil/Filter
06/12 $1200 6x Ignition coils*, Spark Plugs, Fan Belt Tensioner
10/12 $250 Cam Cover Gasket*
11/12 $1000 Oil Pressure Control Valve and Hoses*
12/12 $680 Oil/Filter, Inlet Manifold Solinoid
07/12 $1136 Oil/Filter, PAS Hose, Diff Oil, Transmission Filter/Oil Change
11/13 $220 Window Regulator
11/13 $152 Carbon cabin filter, 2x Rear hatch struts
12/13 $895 Fuel Pump, Fuel Filter
01/14 $560 2x Kumho 285/45 19 tyres
03/14 $690 Wheel alignment, O2 Sensor
09/14 $280 Oil Filter, Cam Cover Gasket*
11/14 $450 Oil Filter Housing Gasket*

I would say that all the * notations are either a direct result of, or partially attributed to poor previous servicing. I replaced the cam cover gasket the last time and was horrified to see the amount of crud that had accumulated on the inside, I literally had to jetwash the inside to get rid of all the crap. I’m actually amazed the car goes as well as it does considering what the inside of the rest of the engine must look like.

As for other upcoming items. A catalytic converter has started breaking down and will need to be replaced, front suspension arms are worn, rear suspension arms are worn, on a cold morning the transmission prefers manual mode when first moving off and reverse is slips in and out of gear if harsh acceleration is requested (such as going up a steep hill). The a/c needs re-gassing.

So the total bill for current work undertaken is $7800 with a further circa $3500 to be undertaken in order to pass a roadworthy. And then theres depreciation. We purchased the car for $24000 and now three and a half years later and with over 200k on the clock with a roadworthy we would realistically get around $12000 if sold privately.

Conclusion

Its fair to say most people on the lookout for a second hand vehicle are probably not looking to pay $7500 a year in depreciation and running costs. The initial purchase price could have acquired a far newer ‘city’ based SUV such as a Nissan Dualis which over a similar period may have lost around $8k-10k and cost maybe a $2k in servicing. That said an X5 is much nicer to drive, much nicer to look at, and a much nicer place to sit in. Is that all worth over twice the cost? Well I guess thats for the reader to judge.