Hello all, I am trying to decide on a new (to us) vehicle for my wife to drive. I am deciding between the E53 X5 or a E60 5 series. My question is what kind of issues are you seeing with the X5 from a reliability standpoint. I own a euro import repair shop so I'm not worried about maintenance or repairs per se. The only time I see the cars are when they are broken. What are they like to live with day to day? Fuel Economy? I want the newest E53 I can afford and will probably go for the six cylinder. I am familiar with BMW quirks, having owned a couple, and working on them daily. My E36 325i is getting too old for family daily use. She just hit 286K last night and that 2-3 gear flare is getting worse. Gotta make a decision. Any thoughts?
The e53 are not to bad especially if you get the 3.0L. Yes they aren't the most efficient SAV out there by any means but they are great in all weather conditions. Plus you have already seen how long a BMW slant 6 cylinder can run. The most common issues I see with this vehicle is valve cover gaskets, oil filter housing gaskets, cooling system issues, front axle boots, thrust arm bushings, rusting brake lines under the drivers side kick panel. But those are just some common issue, I will recommend to stay away from the 4.4L they are having issues with those having oil consumption from valve stem seal failures.
Thanks for the reply charlson. I'll keep those points in mind. Also looking into a 745. Do you know if they revised the valve stem seals in later years? Are the replacement stems better than the originals? I have timing tools and tear into the older E38's all the time so I'm not scared of going into one.
I don't belive there are any revised parts for these valve stem seals yet. And so far it has been happening on all the N62 line and doesn't matter of production. The older M62 engine does not have the valve stem seal problem. Hey by all means if you wanna tackle this project yourself thats great. If you do it and need help feel free to ask any questions you want.
