BMW X5M

[FranklinJL]

Bought a 2011 X5M at a local auction fairly cheap, went over the car, all I found was a valve cover leak that looks easy to fix....it's got 61,000 miles...anything else I should be looking for? Did some sprints up to 100mph and man, it's fast. How does it hold up as a daily driver? This is going to be my wifes new to me kid/grocery/grandparent hauler

Didn't plan on buying the car, but no one topped my 21,000 dollar bid

 

[crazyoildude]

BMW in general are nice cars to lease within warranty because they get real expensive to fix pretty fast. I hope you have luck with it.. Most are pretty safe vehicle also

 

[DWH]

Just did the valve cover gasket on a 545i, TWICE! Valve covers can warp so be aware you may want to replace those as well. When I replaced mine passenger side still leaked and exhaust cam position sensors failed to work. The warped cover caused leakage and too much of a gap for the CPS. It is a nice driving car when I am not working on it. After we put new valve covers on all was ok.

 

[FranklinJL]

Originally Posted By: DWH
Just did the valve cover gasket on a 545i, TWICE! Valve covers can warp so be aware you may want to replace those as well. When I replaced mine passenger side still leaked and exhaust cam position sensors failed to work. The warped cover caused leakage and too much of a gap for the CPS. It is a nice driving car when I am not working on it. After we put new valve covers on all was ok.


Thanks for the tips...I hope they are not warped. Do you have a good source for parts? AZ junkyards don't get many M motors

 

[daves87rs]

Nice!

 

[DWH]

I use the following as well doing an internet search of the part number.

Rock Auto

• www.bmaparts.com/
• http://www.rmeuropean.com/
• http://www.autohausaz.com/

 

[Gasbuggy]

Wrong forum to ask, you'll likely just get generic BMW replies. Maybe you'll get lucky and dealer tech will reply.

 

[OVERKILL]

I used bavauto as well as a semi-local dealer for parts for my M5. Prices were reasonable and they (bavauto) have some great tech videos as well.

If you can find a copy of TIS on the Internet, it will give you access to the same repair instructions the dealers use. It is a fantastic resource. Also, I would invest in something like AutoEnginuity with the BMW package, as a generic code reader is borderline useless on a bimmer. We had a bad experience using non-OEM valve cover gaskets on my sister's 330i. It continued to weep and ended up getting swapped out for the OEM one. We used the OEM BMW one on my wife's 328i and it was perfect. The price difference was very little.

Also, if you need to look up a part #, go to realoem.com

 

[BrocLuno]

As to safety, I'll relate an incident I witnessed. A trucker (prolly texting) ran a read light in a Kenworth semi with a refer box. He was prolly going 30 with fully locked brakes when he impacted the back passenger quarter of a BMW X5 legally crossing the intersection. A mom with two kids in the back seat.

The impact wiped all the plastic front-end off the Kenworth and mangled the front radiator support enough that coolant was going everywhere. Fender cut a tire, etc. He was "steered" into the roadside ditch, not going anywhere. Except he almost rolled the whole rig in the ditch.

The Beemer was spun around about 270* and knocked down the road a piece. The mom got out and was in a panic to see if the kids were OK ... They were in child seats and were OK as far as I could tell.

She opened both rear doors to check on the kids, one at a time. Then she opened the tailgate to get out her briefcase and camera to start documenting the scene. The Beemer lost the rear bumper cover and had a lot of wrinkled sheet metal here and there, but it looked to be fully derivable minus the trail lights ...

Since I was sitting stopped in the #1 lane and the truck went past me to hit her, I was a primary witness. So I hung around looked at it all before I gave a statement to the CHP (required to respond in commercial truck accidents). The truck was going to get towed and the Beemer could have motored home. Very impressed

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
The truck was going to get towed and the Beemer could have motored home. Very impressed

! I'd say.

 

[Y_K]

X5 is pretty decent and relatively easy to work on. You can easily run it for 200k miles with no major headaches

 

[FranklinJL]

Thanks guys, buddy that has an M5 helped me fix that valve cover leak...got the parts from a local stealership.....

Loaded her up with some 10w60, gave the keys to my wife and told her I'm selling her Honda Pilot....

I really like it, it's like a fast soccer mom kid hauler that handles great, I don't know why people are scared of them. At auctions, they always go for almost nothing. I seen a 2005 M3 with 91,000 miles go for 11,000....crazy

 

[Hokiefyd]

They don't have the best reliability record. A friend of mine used to have a 2000 X5 with the 4.4L. He was always fixing something on it. I posted about the oil problems it had after it overheated in this thread some years ago. We also rebuilt his transfer case in this thread.

He traded it on an Audi A4 with the 3.2L and had a terrible time with the high pressure fuel system on it. More on that, plus the driveline noises it had, in this thread.

He used to insist on only German cars. After the Bimmer and the Audi, he's settled on a pair of Volvos. His wife has a 2013 XC60 that seems to be running well, and he recently bought a 10 year old convertible one (whatever their C class convertible is called).

Don't misinterpret my post; I don't think any of these are bad cars. But, they have a reputation, and that's why they sell for so little in the used market with any kind of age on them.

 

[Jetronic]

Be careful so you don't get caught speeding with that "monster".

 

[Lolvoguy]

C70 i believe

considering their limited production numbers (compared to a 3 series vert), i'd be very reluctant to purchase one out of warranty.