2 year ownership review of a 2011 X5M

[JeST]

Long time BMW M bandwagon owner. I've owned an e30 M3, e46 M3, e30 MTech 1 s50, e92 m3, e90 335d etc. Definitely not new to BMW's so when the time came for an SUV i made the obvious choice and had my sights on an e70 x5m.

I purchased my x5m from a dealer who, by all reviews, shouldve been completely avoided but at the time (winter '14-15) they had the most x5m's in the tri-state (Luxury Autohaus NJ).

Within the first month I had my first issue. Battery Discharge light kept coming up on my idrive, but would go off once I drove the car a bit. Went back to the dealer and they could not pull codes and at that point basically told me they couldn't do anything for me as I bought the car as-is. Oh did i mention i declined the extended warranty when they sold me the car? I was riding my "this is not my first BMW high horse".

Since the light would go away after a decent trip I paid it no mind when it did come up. Drove it for another month and thats when owning an x5m, out of warranty, became my nightmare. The car threw its first CEL/Engine Malfunction code. After a quick search on the boards it was clear it was due to faulty injectors. Took it to a shop I frequent to have the injectors replaced and low and behold, they looked like they were being lubricated with engine oil. After I got the call the injectors were replaced I picked the car up, jumped on the highway and fuck me. Same code and same stuttering. Who knew injectors needed to be CODED to the car... Called a good friend whos a shop foreman at a local dealer and he said he could read the codes with a scope and code the car for me, off hours.

After that $3500 repair I started looking into aftermarket warranty companies. And like most of us here I wanted to modify it. You would think I wouldve took that last incident as a sign and left the damn thing alone but noooo. Purchased H&R springs (2" drop), high flow cat downpipes, VF Engineering Hex stage 2 tune, and a used Akra Ti exhaust. I absolutely loved the exhaust note. The turbo's whistled like a blower even with the slightest throttle.

Little did I know I had a failing passenger rear shock and the 2" drop expedited the complete failure of it. Driving the car was nothing short of taking a boat out in a storm. Once I found out one OEM shock would cost me $790 I said fuck it and went aftermarket. In came KW V3's.

*Total cost of repairs and modifications ~$9k* First few months of ownership

After a month of looking around I purchased the extended warranty from CarChex. Opted for their titanium plan with electronics coverage. Perfect timing too as the car had a power steering pump failure (was told it would be a $3k repair). I bought the plan for $3500 and a $100 deductible (per visit). CarChex now charges $6k and a $300 deductible for the same plan. I've had others tell me they couldn't even get a quote anymore for their M's. My first visit to BMW service had already paid for the plan. The total bill came out to $4k (power steering pump & rear parking camera).

Over the course of the next year and a half I've gone back to the dealer for service so often the loaner desk girl and I were on a first name bases. She even knew I needed an SUV for my kids, shoutout to Patty at Park Ave.

If I gave a paragraph to all of my following repairs this post would read like a novel. So instead I'll just say I totalled my cost as of last month (traded the x5m in) and in just repair trips to the dealer im at $19,000 in repairs. Thats not a typo. Its been NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in warranty repair work.

Cliff Notes:

$19k in repairs within 2 years. Will never buy a "newer" BMW outside of warranty again. Patty at Park Ave BMW is awesome.

[jandref321]

Damn! My warranty expires next year and this is scary. How much of it was just labor though? My last trip to the dealer was for a leaking injector, but they found corrosion on a turbo coolant hose and said that those hoses need to be replaced for $1400...It's $50 of hose and $8 hose clamps! They helped me out and covered under warranty, but was super awkward when I first said that I'd just do it at home.

[Jazzyj13]

Larry is pretty good over there. Park Ave is a good shop.

[JeST]

Originally Posted by jandref321

Damn! My warranty expires next year and this is scary. How much of it was just labor though? My last trip to the dealer was for a leaking injector, but they found corrosion on a turbo coolant hose and said that those hoses need to be replaced for $1400...It's $50 of hose and $8 hose clamps! They helped me out and covered under warranty, but was super awkward when I first said that I'd just do it at home.

I stopped asking after the power steering pump failure. I think the pump itself was over $1k. Nothing in the engine bay is straight forward. Even the 8mm nuts holding the injectors have torque specs. When I found out the injectors needed to be coded as well as the suspension I quickly realized this was not a "DIY" kind of car.

[JeST]

Originally Posted by Jazzyj13

Larry is pretty good over there. Park Ave is a good shop.

Majority of the mechanics there were my old coworkers at Prestige. All good guys working on some fucked up new cars.

[Poppyboy]

There's a big difference between X5M out of warranty and all others. For example, I'm on my 4th year with a 3.5i with no expense other than routine maintenance.

[Bobby_Drake]

Originally Posted by JeST

Long time BMW M bandwagon owner. I've owned an e30 M3, e46 M3, e30 MTech 1 s50, e92 m3, e90 335d etc. Definitely not new to BMW's so when the time came for an SUV i made the obvious choice and had my sights on an e70 x5m.

I purchased my x5m from a dealer who, by all reviews, shouldve been completely avoided but at the time (winter '14-15) they had the most x5m's in the tri-state (Luxury Autohaus NJ).

Within the first month I had my first issue. Battery Discharge light kept coming up on my idrive, but would go off once I drove the car a bit. Went back to the dealer and they could not pull codes and at that point basically told me they couldn't do anything for me as I bought the car as-is. Oh did i mention i declined the extended warranty when they sold me the car? I was riding my "this is not my first BMW high horse".

Since the light would go away after a decent trip I paid it no mind when it did come up. Drove it for another month and thats when owning an x5m, out of warranty, became my nightmare. The car threw its first CEL/Engine Malfunction code. After a quick search on the boards it was clear it was due to faulty injectors. Took it to a shop I frequent to have the injectors replaced and low and behold, they looked like they were being lubricated with engine oil. After I got the call the injectors were replaced I picked the car up, jumped on the highway and fuck me. Same code and same stuttering. Who knew injectors needed to be CODED to the car... Called a good friend whos a shop foreman at a local dealer and he said he could read the codes with a scope and code the car for me, off hours.

After that $3500 repair I started looking into aftermarket warranty companies. And like most of us here I wanted to modify it. You would think I wouldve took that last incident as a sign and left the damn thing alone but noooo. Purchased H&R springs (2" drop), high flow cat downpipes, VF Engineering Hex stage 2 tune, and a used Akra Ti exhaust. I absolutely loved the exhaust note. The turbo's whistled like a blower even with the slightest throttle.

Little did I know I had a failing passenger rear shock and the 2" drop expedited the complete failure of it. Driving the car was nothing short of taking a boat out in a storm. Once I found out one OEM shock would cost me $790 I said fuck it and went aftermarket. In came KW V3's.

*Total cost of repairs and modifications ~$9k* First few months of ownership

After a month of looking around I purchased the extended warranty from CarChex. Opted for their titanium plan with electronics coverage. Perfect timing too as the car had a power steering pump failure (was told it would be a $3k repair). I bought the plan for $3500 and a $100 deductible (per visit). CarChex now charges $6k and a $300 deductible for the same plan. I've had others tell me they couldn't even get a quote anymore for their M's. My first visit to BMW service had already paid for the plan. The total bill came out to $4k (power steering pump & rear parking camera).

Over the course of the next year and a half I've gone back to the dealer for service so often the loaner desk girl and I were on a first name bases. She even knew I needed an SUV for my kids, shoutout to Patty at Park Ave.

If I gave a paragraph to all of my following repairs this post would read like a novel. So instead I'll just say I totalled my cost as of last month (traded the x5m in) and in just repair trips to the dealer im at $19,000 in repairs. Thats not a typo. Its been NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in warranty repair work.

Cliff Notes:

$19k in repairs within 2 years. Will never buy a "newer" BMW outside of warranty again. Patty at Park Ave BMW is awesome.

Thanks for the heads up. I was considering an E70 X5M as wifey and I are welcoming a new baby. Will look elsewhere. I was also concerned about reliability and repairs in this model.

[jandref321]

Originally Posted by Bobby_Drake

Thanks for the heads up. I was considering an E70 X5M as wifey and I are welcoming a new baby. Will look elsewhere. I was also concerned about reliability and repairs in this model.

I started typing a response like "but it's an M car, and better with reliability than the 50i" but then I remembered that I've had my X5M for 7.5 months and had approx $7.5k in warranty work lol. Definitely only buy under warranty.

It is an awesome truck though and reliability is better than the 50i. I think the common things are injectors go bad every 20-30k miles, and the vacuum lines/coolant lines around the V go bad often from the heat. I've had the HPFP, injectors, turbo coolant lines, spark plugs, and vanos solenoids replaced. Most people on here tune so they have more problems than people running stock.

[Bobby_Drake]

Originally Posted by jandref321

I started typing a response like "but it's an M car, and better with reliability than the 50i" but then I remembered that I've had my X5M for 7.5 months and had approx $7.5k in warranty work lol. Definitely only buy under warranty.

It is an awesome truck though and reliability is better than the 50i. I think the common things are injectors go bad every 20-30k miles, and the vacuum lines/coolant lines around the V go bad often from the heat. I've had the HPFP, injectors, turbo coolant lines, spark plugs, and vanos solenoids replaced. Most people on here tune so they have more problems than people running stock.

Agree that more problems are seen with tuned engine, but even stock, BMW is notorious for engine issues outside warranty. I'm pleased with my '14 M6 GC, but I'm also cognizant of BMW's reliability or lack thereof outside warranty. Definitely do not want to own 2 M cars outside warranty. Coming off a 2002 Inifniti G20 without any engine issues with 170,000 miles and my Dad's 1999 Nissan Pathfinder with 250,000 miles and still going, I am looking to go back to Japanese cars for an SUV.

[m5james]

$19k @ stealerships prices is like $4k and a weekend here and there of my time. I've had my own list of issues, some the same but nowhere near what you've paid. Also a long time BMW owner and I wouldn't call the X5M much worse than my past or current ones that I maintain to this day.

Past:
E34 M5, E39 M5, 2 E53 X5 4.4
Present: E36 328ci (mom's old car), E46 330ci (mom's new car) and E61 535xiT (GF's car) along with my 2010 X5M

For comparison of someone who knows how to turn their own wrenches and owns a laptop:

Injectors: $1100, about 8hrs including coding
Turbo coolant pump: $80, about 3hrs
Vacuum pump: $300, paid a buddy to do it this time
LPFP feed line: $50, replaced it simply because my buddy said it's been updated through BMW to have a better and replaceable sensor that'll give less false codes
H&R springs: $150, about 2hrs of my time in total (had to adjust the rear a few times to get it sitting the way I liked after the fronts settled)
Hoses common to charge pipes: $20, about 2hrs since a stock one was torn
Vacuum lines: $5, a few hours to make it look pretty and deleted the lines running to the muffler flaps
Drivetrain fluids replaced: $1500, once again paid a buddy to do this

Points for having a flare for the dramatic, but it sounds like the shop you were taking it to was clueless and/or running you over the coals since they've learned over time with 5+ cars what they can get away with. EVERY time I hear someone talk about taking their car to the dealership, I just cringe. It's like saying you buy toilet seats from the government...prepare for the rapage.

This post just proves why I'll NEVER goto one as they play guessing games at $120+ an hour and often still don't get it right. Learn to do it yourself or find an indy if you must, folks.

[m5james]

Originally Posted by jandref321

Damn! My warranty expires next year and this is scary. How much of it was just labor though? My last trip to the dealer was for a leaking injector, but they found corrosion on a turbo coolant hose and said that those hoses need to be replaced for $1400...It's $50 of hose and $8 hose clamps! They helped me out and covered under warranty, but was super awkward when I first said that I'd just do it at home.

They didn't help you out, they took a chance on trying to charge you, they lost and figured they'd get paid another way. These dealerships, no matter how buddy buddy someone may be with their SA, are there to make money first.

[m5james]

Originally Posted by JeST

I stopped asking after the power steering pump failure. I think the pump itself was over $1k. Nothing in the engine bay is straight forward. Even the 8mm nuts holding the injectors have torque specs. When I found out the injectors needed to be coded as well as the suspension I quickly realized this was not a "DIY" kind of car.

Every screw in the car likely has a torque spec, but yes, especially the ones in the engine bay. Coding the injectors is common knowledge in the DIY world because the 1, 3 & 5 series guys have been dealing with this for years before the X5M came out since it uses the same injectors. It's very DIY and doesn't take much longer than swapping plugs if read up on beforehand.

[JeST]

Originally Posted by m5james

$19k @ stealerships prices is like $4k and a weekend here and there of my time.

Points for having a flare for the dramatic, but it sounds like the shop you were taking it to was clueless and/or running you over the coals since they've learned over time with 5+ cars what they can get away with. EVERY time I hear someone talk about taking their car to the dealership, I just cringe. It's like saying you buy toilet seats from the government...prepare for the rapage.

This post just proves why I'll NEVER goto one as they play guessing games at $120+ an hour and often still don't get it right. Learn to do it yourself or find an indy if you must, folks.

The 2 mechanics that worked on my car was the man who trained me years ago, when I worked as a mechanic and the shop foreman. Pretty sure they have better knowledge of all things BMW than yourself, but hey, who knows. You could be gods gift to the x5m. I dont find enjoyment nor do I have the time to wrench on problematic issues with the x5m. I have a 2 year old and a newborn (probably like everyone else here who wants/looking into an SUV). The point of this post wasnt to hurt your feelings. It was to talk about my own personal experience with the car

Originally Posted by m5james

Every screw in the car likely has a torque spec, but yes, especially the ones in the engine bay. Coding the injectors is common knowledge in the DIY world because the 1, 3 & 5 series guys have been dealing with this for years before the X5M came out since it uses the same injectors. It's very DIY and doesn't take much longer than swapping plugs if read up on beforehand.

I guess our definitions of "common" differ. Agree to disagree

[m5james]

If you've got experience turning wrenches, clearly more than I since I'm self taught, then I'm not sure why you'd pay someone to do something you could do yourself. You have kids...I didn't know you were the exception to the rule when it came to wrenching lol. My kids know my name even though I've worked and still do work on my own cars. My feelings are by no means hurt, if anything I feel bad for what you've paid out...my point was to contrast yours in that whatever you paid is an extreme case coupled with grossly overpaying a stealership vs what you could have done yourself. If anyone is hurt, I'm guessing it's you since I pointed this out...nevertheless that wasn't my intention. I don't find enjoyment in paying a shop 2x what I make hourly, but maybe you do...sounds like money better spent on your family.

A simple Google search about said injectors, which you claimed you did also via reading the boards, would have noted the "common" knowledge fact that they need to be coded. How you read up on them needing to be replaced but missed that commonly mentioned fact in just about every thread on the subject that I also read about before doing them is beyond me. How a shop had the knowledge to replace them but not know that is beyond me as well.

Hopefully you have better luck with your future vehicles and stop going to dealerships.

[JeST]

I guess you missed the part where I said I purchased a 3rd party warranty and they paid for my dealer visits? Having a loaner car and knowing the person who's working on the car helps. I mean I even broke down how much I paid for it and how much it goes for now... I digress.

Fixing a car, which constantly broke, is not something I want to do. Repairing shit is not something any of us want to do. The e7x M models are prone to repairs. Cost of parts is not cheap, even if you are inclined to repair it yourself.

You mentioned your kids know your name. Awesome. I'm glad youre around for your kids. Mine are still shitting themselves. So yea... I kinda need to be around when I'm not working. We're a forum of enthusiasts. Wrenching on shit due to repairs made me less than enthused. Myself and the 3 other x5m owners I'm friends with share the same, or similar, break down issues.

PS. If you missed it again, I had a 3rd party warranty repair everything.

[m5james]

I didn't miss that at all, I even read the thread multiple times as I was replying in kind. I even saw the part where you've paid more for the warranty than I've paid for parts. My reply was simply a breakdown from a DIY perspective. I've got multiple BMW's, sometimes to my own demise, so I don't need a loaner.

Even with my repairs in the roughyl same 2 year period, I wouldn't call it constantly or even unreliable. I've driven it from Seattle to Hollywood to Vegas and back to Seattle two years in a row for Bimmerfest. I wouldn't call that unreliable, but to each their own. BMW's are prone to repairs, there are wity acronyms all over, but I don't keep buying them not knowing this fact.

Yeah, instead one is killing it in college and the other two are leaving shit all over the house lol. My GF helps though. Enthusiast on these boards and others help resolve the common issues with these vehicles and countless other vehicles as well. NO car out there is completely issueless, but on the chance it's out there, whoever driving it is dead inside because I'm sure it's boring as fuck!

P.S. - again, my point is that paying the dealership, directly or through warranties, it isn't new news that stealerships have and continue to be the most expensive places EVER vs DIY. You've pointed out what it cost for someone else to do the work, I've pointed out similar repairs doing it myself...that is all.

[JeST]

I hear ya. It's just as an average diy'er I just rather not deal with reading codes and troubleshooting. If the car was more of a weekend only or "showcar" i'd treat it as such but unfortunately I used it as a daily driver (NYC traffic).

My m3 is a track toy (1200 miles driven in one year). That car i dont mind troubleshooting, since I dont drive it daily.

[jandref321]

Originally Posted by m5james

They didn't help you out, they took a chance on trying to charge you, they lost and figured they'd get paid another way. These dealerships, no matter how buddy buddy someone may be with their SA, are there to make money first.

I think you're wound too tight. Too much time spent working on X5M and arguing about X5M and not enough time spent writing journal on X5M. I keep hitting refresh, but nothing happens lol...the suspense is building.

I agree they are there to make money. I've tried, in vain, to become buddy buddy with multiple SAs between my two E70s just to make things easier for warranty work. I finally have a good SA and happy to not have the mods plastered all over my service paperwork and denial of warranty work. I think it's important to have a good working relationship with the dealership, and this usually means being willing to spend some money there. It paid off just this weekend, when I bought some oil filters and the guy discounted everything since he knew me...still more than buying online, but comparable with shipping to Hawaii. Less stress and hassle is all it is.
My first BMW was an E46 M3 that I spent hours and hours working on...this was okay because I was single and my time was worth less than cost of repairs, employment wise. Nowadays, I'm right at the balance point where my time is worth more than cost of repairs, and wrenching may not be worth the stress of my wife telling me to hurry up in garage so I can spend time with her and the dogs. I don't think I'll ever buy another BMW out of warranty just because it's nice being able to drop it off and grab a loaner. I'll still spend my time modding though

[Thecastle]

I'll add my inputs, so people who find this thread won't think the sky is falling as is so often the perception folks find on the forums. Usually the only posts we see are when things go bad, so I want to add a counter point.

So, I have a 2011 X5 M with currently ~43K miles. Purchased used and this is my 3rd BMW. I wrench my own cars, and I did buy an extended warranty for the car. So I'll mention for those who are nervous BMW did the right thing and extended the warranty on injectors for 10 yrs/ 120K miles from in service date, also they have done an injector "recall" on this car or customer care...

Anyway I have had 0 problems with my X5 M. I've been using it to tow a trailer and as my company work truck. its performed beautifully. I have used my extended warranty 0 times. I couldn't be happier with the car, and I would not select a 50i ever over this car given its high operating temps (a diesel maybe). I did replace the turbo coolant lines replaced as part of the pre-purchase agreement, it cost $200 at an indy, though it is a diy realm. The only thing I've run into is some folks wanting to up-charge becasue of the M badge (window tint guys). The car is a wonder to drive and I highly recommend it, and it has been more reliable than my 335d.

I do nothing special to maintain the vehicle other than coolant flushes/transmission oil changes that aren't recommended service. I also throw a battery charger on 1x a month to keep the battery topped. Increased discharge warning means the battery needs to be replaced. I have no modifications to the car, its 100% stock, other than a trailer hitch. Its a fantastic car, I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a loaded x5, I couldn't buy an X5 without the active seats, air suspension (must for towing) and adaptive drive (makes it handle so much better).

I will mention for anyone else reading, never lower a car on stock shocks, they will blow and wear out fast. Match your shocks/springs, anyone who has been around cars a while knows they are matched to each other. Also tuning is great, but anytime you run your car out of spec their is some potential for problems, and these cars have a history of eating batteries. Also the original poster doesn't list how much he spent on mods and how much damage was caused/related to the chosen mods separate from actual failures. Moral of the story modding can be fun, but its easy to mod a car to crap (aka lowering it on stock shocks). Also he doesn't mention injectors have been an issue on all bmw v8's and BMW extended the warranty.... So they are covered if the redesigned injectors don't solve the issue.

[JeST]

Originally Posted by Thecastle

Also the original poster doesn't list how much he spent on mods and how much damage was caused/related to the chosen mods separate from actual failures. Moral of the story modding can be fun, but its easy to mod a car to crap (aka lowering it on stock shocks). Also he doesn't mention injectors have been an issue on all bmw v8's and BMW extended the warranty.... So they are covered if the redesigned injectors don't solve the issue.

I'll start off by saying, you're absolutely right. People with issues definitely do make more noise than those without (as in your case). I did state the H&R 2" drop causing a fatiguing shock to fail faster than normal. Also said each shock would cost Over $700 per shock.

I didn't correlate the other items that went bad (power steering pump, rear park camera, coolant expansion tank, brittle plastic vacuum hoses, wastegate ... missing some other things) because they went out before I did modifications.

Of course the high flow cat downpipes and tune added to the strain but the high flow cats were ceramic coated and i retained the stock heat shields. Temps weren't significantly lower, but they were definitely noticeably lower.

I can see how someone reading this might see it as a disgruntled owner but I really did love the damn thing. Hence why I modified it. Just wish the design of the mechanical aspects were given more though. And the "M tax" for fucks sake. BMW absolutely hiked the shit out of it for this car.

[Naz24]

Why is it that everytime i read a thread about someone having major problems with their cars also have tuned their cars.

I'm not saying its related, but this is more than a coincidence.

[greddy91]

Originally Posted by m5james

LPFP feed line: $50, replaced it simply because my buddy said it's been updated through BMW to have a better and replaceable sensor that'll give less false codes

Do you have any reference to what part number you used or what year and model it came from?

Thanks!

GH