# BMW x5, reliable car? **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Automotive\ **Created:** [September 29, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926 "2010-09-29T10:43:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/1 "2010-09-29T10:43:19Z")
Can someone “school me” on these? Not really serious about purchasing at the moment, but eventually I need to buy a new vehicle. I need something that can tow the boat(up to 5k pounds) and also have the woman happy. She refuses to drive anything that is too big and drives like a big sloppy truck. So the X5 is sporty, powerful, tow friendly, and woman friendly. Will it leave me stranded often? ---
**Author:** ![MPD47](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mpd47/32/7383_2.png) [@MPD47](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/MPD47)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:08am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/2 "2010-09-29T11:08:05Z")
Which generation? ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:15am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/3 "2010-09-29T11:15:31Z")
e53, 1999-2006 ---
**Author:** ![MPD47](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mpd47/32/7383_2.png) [@MPD47](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/MPD47)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:19am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/4 "2010-09-29T11:19:26Z")
Same cooling system “issues” as the 540’s, end tanks tend to fail, valley pan leaks from time to time, small oil leaks (like any german car). Easy enough to drive. Not anything absurd maintenance wise. Go look on bf.c for anything I may have forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:21am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/5 "2010-09-29T11:21:13Z")
thanks, have any comments for the stuff mentioned here? [http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~kpfleger/auto/X5\_problems.html](http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~kpfleger/auto/X5_problems.html) This article basically states that these things are riddled with issues. Should I listen to that or is it BS? Is it more of just minor crap, or is the wifey gonna be stuck without a car every other month? article was written in 2002, should I take that mean these issues are mostly with the older ones? Last update: March, 2002 (except for July, 2006 addition of AM radio solution). ---
**Author:** ![MPD47](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mpd47/32/7383_2.png) [@MPD47](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/MPD47)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:22am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/6 "2010-09-29T11:22:37Z")
That list looks like they took every complaint out of the service advisers computer for the existence of the model and printed it onto a web page. ---
**Author:** ![theblue](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/theblue/32/5074_2.png) [@theblue](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/theblue)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/7 "2010-09-29T11:29:42Z")
bottom line is that yes it will be worse in cost and problems than a typical American truck, but it won’t be the end of the world bad. If you doing your own work and buying parts online you’ll be ok, if not just expect to pay more. ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/8 "2010-09-29T11:34:59Z")
yeah, I guess I would expect that I would definitely be doing any work myself. Which brings me to my next question. Are they a PITA to work on? Will I need to purchase special tools or will the typical mechanic set get most jobs done? ---
**Author:** ![66impalass](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/66impalass/32/7429_2.png) [@66impalass](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/66impalass)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/9 "2010-09-29T11:41:33Z")
Be careful about the trans, it will fail ---
**Author:** ![MPD47](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mpd47/32/7383_2.png) [@MPD47](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/MPD47)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/10 "2010-09-29T11:42:01Z")
The only special tools you need are if you’re doing head/cam service. And even those are fairly cheap or you can make yourself. Thom’s right, the auto trans WILL fail at some point. Typically ~100,000 miles. ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/11 "2010-09-29T13:07:44Z")
well that sucks. Probably will only make matters worse if I’m towing. I’ll probably buy something in the 60-80k mile range too. darn ---
**Author:** ![jt76](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jt76/32/5100_2.png) [@jt76](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/jt76)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/12 "2010-09-29T13:12:31Z")
my dad had an 05’ aside from a couple oil drips it was a great truck, he recently switched to a 5 series. the X3 on the other hand :tif: ---
**Author:** ![bracketracer](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/bracketracer/32/15592_2.png) [@bracketracer](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bracketracer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/13 "2010-09-29T13:26:49Z")
They’re pretty solid, IMO. I would go 03-06, personally. Common things I see: air/oil separators on 6’s and 8’s, and as Mike mentioned, coolant leaks on the M62’s. Window regulators Radio/Nav/MMI’s are expensive to replace. The rest is typical German stuff. Somewhat pricey to fix, but mostly a good truck. ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/14 "2010-09-29T13:30:40Z")
So, how worried should I be about the transmissions? ---
**Author:** ![cougarspeed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/cougarspeed/32/7468_2.png) [@cougarspeed](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/cougarspeed)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/bmw-x5-reliable-car/160926/15 "2010-09-29T13:50:22Z")
A friend of mine is selling one right now…with a blown trans.