How much money into your X5?

[3ZTT]

I'm looking for a new vehicle. For a while I've been looking for a B5 S4 because I want to be able to take it up to the mountains for snowboarding. But what about an X5? The repairs on the S4 and maintenance can be pretty costly, but I haven't heard the best about the X5 reliability either. Can I get some responses about the costs of owning these cars, as well as the fun factor in an X5, considering while this vehicle isnt in the mountains, it will be in so cal.

[Tequila9]

my advice,
look at the X3 3.0 with the 6 speed manual and if u prefer the sport package. Their better than the X5 in my opinion and handle better than them.

[3ZTT]

too pricy/not very attractive

[CaptHandsome]

Hows a brand new X3 gonna be much more than used X5? In any event, get the 4.4 X5, automatic is nice for driving in the mountains if you're not good at driving stick.

[e30-ix kid]

x5 is a much nicer looking vehicle imo, why not get ahold of an x5 3.0 and with the 5 speed and get the look you want. thats what id do because i hate automatics that much, plus youd get slightly better gas milage out of the 3L compared to one of the 8 cyls, and if your not gonna be towing things it makes sense, ya know?

[EricZ]

Supposedly X5s are bad in terms of reliability, but my friend has a 4.4 that he's put about 70K miles on with no problems. For fun factor though, I'm with Tequila9, get an X3 6-speed, or if you're set on X5 then go for 4.6 or 4.8 IS.

[MD318is]

go drive one. ours has been quite reliable.

[3ZTT]

haha, yes a 4.8is is right up my price alley

[S3_CLS]

I'd say get the X5. I've got an X5 4.4 sport. ITS AWESOME! It's got plenty of power and the gas is definetly not a problem. The sport package is a must. You cant go wrong when you get bigger wheels and tires, and a better suspension. As far as reliability, not an issue; if you can try to find a CPO. When there certified to 100K you really don't have to worry about anything except for regular maintnence. Mine now has 55K and besides tires, gas, and oil, no other maintnence has been done. At first I wasn't crazy about getting the auto, everything I've ever owned has been a stick, but the steptronic is surprisingly impressive. Fun Factor a conservative 8; The 4.6 would be 9 and 4.8 a 10. My X5 outhandles most cars on the road, never mind suv's or trucks. I was lucky enough to find 4.4 that came from the factory with an unlimited top speed. Speaking from experience , this thing really moves. You won't be sorry you passed on the S4. But all this is only my opinion, so like MD318is said, go drive one and decide for yourself. Only one question, What did you plan on spending?

[CaptHandsome]

Agreed. X5 is the way to go, but go for a test drive first. And as far as reliability, its BMW. Nuff said.

[hammerfang]

i'd say the x5 over the x3 (which in my opinion feels cheap), if u get a CPO x5 try to get an 02 or newer, the 00 and 01s don't have the best reliabiltiy, the later the better. as far as how they drive i can't say that there r any suvs that drive better (i'v driven pretty much everything except the cayenne and tourag) and they also drive better then 95% of the cars on the road. the v-8 x-5s really haul ass, but even the 3.0 has decent power, the sport package is cool but i wouldn't go crazy trying to find one, the manual x5(only with the 3.0) r pretty rare and from my experience driving them its not worth it, as good as the x5 drives don't forget its a truck, ur not gonna be going to track days with it and the its gonna be harder to find one and sell it. my advice is find an 02 or newer cpo x5 auto (3.0 or 4.4 depends on ur budget) and worry about getting one wiht lower mileage and the right color combo before worrying about the sport package. good luck in what ever u decide to do.

[3ZTT]

24 is my max

[hammerfang]

damn man i dunno how good of a car u could get for 24k, have u ever thought of a new toyota 4runner or used lexus rx, those trucks r damn good and way more reliable then the x5, plus the 4runner is pretty nasty off-road

[S3_CLS]

Well, to be totaly honest with you, I bought my 02' X5 4.4 sport for $37,000 in FEB 05 at Flemmington BMW in NJ. Keep in mind this was a CPO and had almost every available option with only 25K miles. I think you will be hard pressed to find a reliable X5 with ok mileage, for the price you want to spend. That said, for less than $25k I would say that a B5 S4 would be a good buy.

[3ZTT]

I need my speed and my snowboarding. It makes for an unlucky combination.