New to us 2018 BMW x3 30i

W

wander2039

Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
4,801
Location
Kansas, USA
With the Focus breaking the inner tie rod and our oldest hopefully getting his license Friday we decided it was time for something newer. Wife always wanted a BMW so decided to splurge. Has 43k and every service record at the dealer we bought it from. Oil changes averaged around 8k, just had the plugs changed. It's had a couple sets of tires and alignment already, Helen must of been kinda rough on it. Has fairly decent Bridgestone Duelers same as our RV. Has it's bumps and bruises but in pretty good shape. It's clean but they literally left all the registration and insurance in there from the previous owners, and some lotion LOL. The original sticker is in there with the manual etc, that's an impressively thick owners manual!

Probably made a mistake in not getting any type of warranty.. Have you seen the shirts "I am warranty!".. guess that's me. Don't see anything about the coolant, trans or diffs(?) being changed. I'll try to get those changed by next spring. OLM seems to be around 9k but probably do 5k, that's all we'll do a year anyways. Not going with Pennzoil on this one but not sure what brand, I've ran it in everything for years and it seems like they eventually leak. Calls for 0w20 or 0w30.

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IMG_4216.webp
 
edyvw said:
Run LL01 oil! It is not grade, it is approval that matters. If you gonna stick with energy conserving oils, run LL17FE or LL01FE (I would run LL01FE in that case)
If it was my vehicle, I would run LL01 (NOT FE).
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That seems to be a big source of debate out there. Most say only run it if its under warranty and going by the OLM. I probably will though, maybe Castrol.
 
wander2039 said:
That seems to be a big source of debate out there. Most say only run it if its under warranty and going by the OLM. I probably will though, maybe Castrol.
Click to expand...
Run 5K intervals, and run LL01. I personally would run Castrol Edge 0W30. But, any LL01 will do. You can pick up in Wal Mart Mobil1 0W40 for $24-27 for 5qt. Castrol Edge 5W30 is good oil, same price, available in Wal mart. Castrol 0W30 is Amazon only, and bit more expensive ($48-50 for 6qt) but IMO, still best high-SAPS Euro oil that is readily available.
 
X3s are quite reliable and well made. We had an '05 for my wife. We bought it in '09 from a dealer that always bought vehicles coming off leases, so was in fantastic shape. We enjoyed owning it until 2019 and sold it at 230K miles because I was worried about future repairs - it was in great shape but the mileage was getting up there. Both my wife and I miss it a lot, I kid you not. Great vehicle, not as cheap as a Camry to own but still pretty economical.

We replaced that X3 with a 2015 X1 which we also bought from a dealer that bought just off leases vehicles in VA. It had 55K miles on it, and is at 120K miles now. Have only had 1 repair on it about 2 weeks ago which was around $750. Otherwise it's been perfect. We've always had great shops that we found through research as we've moved states a lot, and have developed some great relationships with the techs - a must when owning an off warranty BMWs imo. Below are a few (I hope) helpful things I wanted to mention, OP:

1) Get your trans fluids changed at decent intervals. We always did this with ours and never ad an issue with the transmissions. BMW's 'lifetime' fluids are not, of course. You probably already know this but I wanted to mention it.

2) I don't know how BMW makes the current pano roofs, but the one in our X failed. We had our tech close it and never got it fixed. Fixing it I think is like $3-5K. Our X1 has the same system so we very rarely use it as i don't want it to fail. It's a factory poor design aving to do with plastic guide rails I believe. Not sure if the 2018 model you have has the same issue, but maybe Google it?

3) X5s are I've heard, much less reliable the 3 and 1 series of the X vehicles. I would avoid those.

4) Do your research and find a good shop. And by 'good' I don't just mean competent mechanics, I mean people that understand you're trying to own the vehicle as economically as possible while keeping you on the road but not replacing everything under the sun. Can't overstate how important this is. There are some really awful shops out there. I found our current shop by asking on a BMW forum for suggestions. It's a great place. Nice, honest, high quality people. I found the shop before them (when we lived in the PNW) the same way. They were fantastic, too. In fact we're still touch with the mechanic as a friend now.

Lastly, enjoy your BMW. They drive fantastic imo, and are absolutely killer in snow or bad weather - amazing traction control. And they're also great for long trips, comfortable, fast, and nice. :)

IMG_8136.webp
 
My wife has had her 2020 X3 since June 2023 and she loves it. It seems like a very solid vehicle. I change the oil when it tells me to, which is every 10k miles. I'm currently running M1 0W40 in it with a Microgard oil filter. Enjoy yours!
 
These look like very nice SUV's. That one looks great. White might stick out dirt more but that's not a big concern. Enjoy the ride.
 
Cheetah-kins said:
X3s are quite reliable and well made. We had an '05 for my wife. We bought it in '09 from a dealer that always bought vehicles coming off leases, so was in fantastic shape. We enjoyed owning it until 2019 and sold it at 230K miles because I was worried about future repairs - it was in great shape but the mileage was getting up there. Both my wife and I miss it a lot, I kid you not. Great vehicle, not as cheap as a Camry to own but still pretty economical.

We replaced that X3 with a 2015 X1 which we also bought from a dealer that bought just off leases vehicles in VA. It had 55K miles on it, and is at 120K miles now. Have only had 1 repair on it about 2 weeks ago which was around $750. Otherwise it's been perfect. We've always had great shops that we found through research as we've moved states a lot, and have developed some great relationships with the techs - a must when owning an off warranty BMWs imo. Below are a few (I hope) helpful things I wanted to mention, OP:

1) Get your trans fluids changed at decent intervals. We always did this with ours and never ad an issue with the transmissions. BMW's 'lifetime' fluids are not, of course. You probably already know this but I wanted to mention it.

2) I don't know how BMW makes the current pano roofs, but the one in our X failed. We had our tech close it and never got it fixed. Fixing it I think is like $3-5K. Our X1 has the same system so we very rarely use it as i don't want it to fail. It's a factory poor design aving to do with plastic guide rails I believe. Not sure if the 2018 model you have has the same issue, but maybe Google it?

3) X5s are I've heard, much less reliable the 3 and 1 series of the X vehicles. I would avoid those.

4) Do your research and find a good shop. And by 'good' I don't just mean competent mechanics, I mean people that understand you're trying to own the vehicle as economically as possible while keeping you on the road but not replacing everything under the sun. Can't overstate how important this is. There are some really awful shops out there. I found our current shop by asking on a BMW forum for suggestions. It's a great place. Nice, honest, high quality people. I found the shop before them (when we lived in the PNW) the same way. They were fantastic, too. In fact we're still touch with the mechanic as a friend now.

Lastly, enjoy your BMW. They drive fantastic imo, and are absolutely killer in snow or bad weather - amazing traction control. And they're also great for long trips, comfortable, fast, and nice. :)

View attachment 244399
Click to expand...
My wife had a 2004 that she sold at 200k miles- she misses it as well.
X3 Ext.webp
 
Cheetah-kins said:
X3s are quite reliable and well made. We had an '05 for my wife. We bought it in '09 from a dealer that always bought vehicles coming off leases, so was in fantastic shape. We enjoyed owning it until 2019 and sold it at 230K miles because I was worried about future repairs - it was in great shape but the mileage was getting up there. Both my wife and I miss it a lot, I kid you not. Great vehicle, not as cheap as a Camry to own but still pretty economical.

We replaced that X3 with a 2015 X1 which we also bought from a dealer that bought just off leases vehicles in VA. It had 55K miles on it, and is at 120K miles now. Have only had 1 repair on it about 2 weeks ago which was around $750. Otherwise it's been perfect. We've always had great shops that we found through research as we've moved states a lot, and have developed some great relationships with the techs - a must when owning an off warranty BMWs imo. Below are a few (I hope) helpful things I wanted to mention, OP:

1) Get your trans fluids changed at decent intervals. We always did this with ours and never ad an issue with the transmissions. BMW's 'lifetime' fluids are not, of course. You probably already know this but I wanted to mention it.

2) I don't know how BMW makes the current pano roofs, but the one in our X failed. We had our tech close it and never got it fixed. Fixing it I think is like $3-5K. Our X1 has the same system so we very rarely use it as i don't want it to fail. It's a factory poor design aving to do with plastic guide rails I believe. Not sure if the 2018 model you have has the same issue, but maybe Google it?

3) X5s are I've heard, much less reliable the 3 and 1 series of the X vehicles. I would avoid those.

4) Do your research and find a good shop. And by 'good' I don't just mean competent mechanics, I mean people that understand you're trying to own the vehicle as economically as possible while keeping you on the road but not replacing everything under the sun. Can't overstate how important this is. There are some really awful shops out there. I found our current shop by asking on a BMW forum for suggestions. It's a great place. Nice, honest, high quality people. I found the shop before them (when we lived in the PNW) the same way. They were fantastic, too. In fact we're still touch with the mechanic as a friend now.

Lastly, enjoy your BMW. They drive fantastic imo, and are absolutely killer in snow or bad weather - amazing traction control. And they're also great for long trips, comfortable, fast, and nice. :)

View attachment 244399
Click to expand...
Hopefully we have the same luck. Really in comparison we haven't had the greatest luck with either the Escape, Focus or the RV over the years. Interesting enough I know of two places, one works on all foreign cars the other just BMW's. I don't know anyone personally but I've rode by them for 15 years going to work and their always packed. I'd stop by the BMW shop first since it's only 3 blocks from work.

We probably won't use the sunroof that much, our Escape's has only used maybe 50 times in 18 years. But I'll keep that in mind. I agree on the lifetime fluids and planning on changing most soon. I've kept alot of weak drivetrains alive with my OCD's. The question would be what I can do myself.

She switched to days this year so we were discussing what she'd do in bad weather. Typically when she'd work nights the roads would be cleaned off. Going to try fluid filming the wheel wells at least before winter, or rust on German cars not as big of a issue?
 
edyvw said:
B48 has that plastic oil filter housing. I would stick to MANN, Mahle or Hengst unless you are going with OE oil filter. There were instances where filter media would get stuck.
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Those were the ones I looked at, Mahle. Well because they sound German 😅
 
Ecstuning.com sells oil change kits like this one for your X3. They also sell the 0W20 & 0W30 L-M oil if you wanted to go that route. I buy stuff from them regularly and have had a good experience.

Also if your 2018 is like my wife's 2020, you will need a 27mm socket to remove the oil filter housing cap.

X3 oil change kit.webp
 
Oh, one other tip that someone here gave me when we got our X3, use ONLY BMW windshield washer fluid. Apparently if you use anything else, nasty things can happen inside the reservoir and stop the system from working. I buy the BMW concentrate and mix it with distilled water.
 
As far as maintenance goes, on my X1 I change the oil annually, coolant every 3-4 years, and TC and ATF every 60k-80k miles. On my E83 X3 I never changed the differential oil and at 200k miles they were still quiet and had no issues.
 
wander2039 said:
Hopefully we have the same luck. Really in comparison we haven't had the greatest luck with either the Escape, Focus or the RV over the years. Interesting enough I know of two places, one works on all foreign cars the other just BMW's. I don't know anyone personally but I've rode by them for 15 years going to work and their always packed. I'd stop by the BMW shop first since it's only 3 blocks from work.

We probably won't use the sunroof that much, our Escape's has only used maybe 50 times in 18 years. But I'll keep that in mind. I agree on the lifetime fluids and planning on changing most soon. I've kept alot of weak drivetrains alive with my OCD's. The question would be what I can do myself.

She switched to days this year so we were discussing what she'd do in bad weather. Typically when she'd work nights the roads would be cleaned off. Going to try fluid filming the wheel wells at least before winter, or rust on German cars not as big of a issue?
Click to expand...
A couple things: the shop you mentioned that is always packed with cars sounds like a very good possibility to me. Sounds like our shop in Greensboro - Carr Industries. When we drop off my wife's X1 there it always looks like they service every BMW in town, lol. A good thing, imo. Do some reviews and/or stop in and talk to them and see what you think.
tw, I would always choose a specific to the vehicle shop over a general repair shop. A place that works on only BMWs will have done whatever you need likely many times vs a general shop will probably have to use a guide on one of those shop sites they pay for. Doesn't mean they can't do a competent job, but since it will cost the same to you either way, might as well use the place that works exclusively on your brand, imo

Yes, I always felt my wife was very safe in her X3 (and now X1) in bad weather like snow or harsh storms. BMW has definitely done their research on traction control and safety. We drove through 6" of snow one day, with tons of slush, and with 4 of us in the X3 and I was seriously blown away by how well it drove. Any bit of slippage and it would immediately recover. Amazing to me vehicles can do that.

Lastly one important detail I forgot to mention is that we always garage my wife's vehicle and keep mine under a cover at all times it's not being driven.. I cannot overstate how important this to the longevity of any vehicle. Not just to keep rain or snow off of them, but also sunlight which destroys everything slowly. Also stops leaves and plant matter that would normally get in the air intakes for the cabin. As well as (imo) saving a lot of repair costs brought about from the being exposed to the weather 24/7. We pay $100 extra a month for our garage and always have, but I believe it's worth it because its saved us so much money on both vehicles. I would never store vehicle outside in the elements.

Anyway enjoy your new vehicle. :)
 
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