Considering 2013 X5M Purchase from TX

[laselvasurf]

I have been shopping for an X5M for quite some time, some of you may remember my previous thread about the northern CA 2012 X5M with 140K that I test drove. I ended up passing on that vehicle, mostly because of the cautions from the members here of purchasing such a high miles vehicle with no service records.

That said, I've found another X5M that seems to be just what I'm looking for and in my price range. It's a 2013 fully loaded except the rear entertainment package with 92k for $24,500. It looks to be in good shape and is under warranty until 4/2019, so there is a little time to work things out if it does require anything. Before I commit to purchasing it, I thought I'd ask a few questions here.

1) Does anyone had any recommendations on a shop in Houston TX that could do a PPI? Or, if anyone is in the area, I'd be happy to send some $$ your way to take a look at the vehicle for me.

2) I'm hoping to be able to fly out and drive the vehicle back home, but at this point my work schedule is a bit tight. Does anyone have any auto shippers they would recommend? Or know of any alternative ways of transporting a vehicle?

3) Is anyone here looking to sell a similar vehicle in the same price range?

Thanks in advance to any help/info you can provide!

[quick]

These seems to be awesome vehicles but they demand maintenance (from the previous as well as the current owners). The price you are paying might be bit on the lower side but make sure it gets a comprehensive PPI.

I am about to purchase a 2012 with 40K miles myself as well but I am paying close to $32,000 and the PPI came back great besides few minor wear tear items.

Don't forget to factor in at-least $1500-$2000 for regular and possible neglected maintenance items like, brake fluid, power steering, transmission, coolant and differential fluid changes.

Tires and brake jobs are expensive too

Hope to see you soon here on the forum.

[greddy91]

As an owner of a 2010 with 83k that has just gone under the knife for a full motor rebuild with forged internals I'll tell you the cheapest you're going to get into a motor for is around $12k and that's a swap of a pull from another X.

That said, the S63 has some weaknesses in VANOS, Valve Guides, and every collection of hoses on the topside of the motor. Splitting of a single hose can cause the vehicle to be undriveable.

Thus, saying some maintenance is required is underselling it a bit. You either need to be willing to spend some time hovering under a hood or be prepared to pay the cost of what an Exotic car's maintenance would be.

Sooner or later there is a ridiculous dollar sign demand in front of you. As long as you're prepared for that, saving pennies up front is okay. If you're not, then you need to plan for the upfront cost of a long term and deeply extended warranty.

You WILL pay to have a fun full sized SUV with this model.

2010 purchased here for $27k two years ago, now with $45k invested... Here's to the next problem to solve for!

[M5_1of400]

Originally Posted by laselvasurf

I have been shopping for an X5M for quite some time, some of you may remember my previous thread about the northern CA 2012 X5M with 140K that I test drove. I ended up passing on that vehicle, mostly because of the cautions from the members here of purchasing such a high miles vehicle with no service records.

That said, I've found another X5M that seems to be just what I'm looking for and in my price range. It's a 2013 fully loaded except the rear entertainment package with 92k for $24,500. It looks to be in good shape and is under warranty until 4/2019, so there is a little time to work things out if it does require anything. Before I commit to purchasing it, I thought I'd ask a few questions here.

1) Does anyone had any recommendations on a shop in Houston TX that could do a PPI? Or, if anyone is in the area, I'd be happy to send some $$ your way to take a look at the vehicle for me.

2) I'm hoping to be able to fly out and drive the vehicle back home, but at this point my work schedule is a bit tight. Does anyone have any auto shippers they would recommend? Or know of any alternative ways of transporting a vehicle?

3) Is anyone here looking to sell a similar vehicle in the same price range?

Thanks in advance to any help/info you can provide!

Euro Logik in Katy TX is a really good shop and I know they recently rebuilt a X5M engine. Really good guys and they have plenty of experience.

[coolmayank]

Originally Posted by greddy91

As an owner of a 2010 with 83k that has just gone under the knife for a full motor rebuild with forged internals I'll tell you the cheapest you're going to get into a motor for is around $12k and that's a swap of a pull from another X.

That said, the S63 has some weaknesses in VANOS, Valve Guides, and every collection of hoses on the topside of the motor. Splitting of a single hose can cause the vehicle to be undriveable.

Thus, saying some maintenance is required is underselling it a bit. You either need to be willing to spend some time hovering under a hood or be prepared to pay the cost of what an Exotic car's maintenance would be.

Sooner or later there is a ridiculous dollar sign demand in front of you. As long as you're prepared for that, saving pennies up front is okay. If you're not, then you need to plan for the upfront cost of a long term and deeply extended warranty.

You WILL pay to have a fun full sized SUV with this model.

2010 purchased here for $27k two years ago, now with $45k invested... Here's to the next problem to solve for!

Why you were required a motor rebuilt

[laselvasurf]

Originally Posted by greddy91

As an owner of a 2010 with 83k that has just gone under the knife for a full motor rebuild with forged internals I'll tell you the cheapest you're going to get into a motor for is around $12k and that's a swap of a pull from another X.

That said, the S63 has some weaknesses in VANOS, Valve Guides, and every collection of hoses on the topside of the motor. Splitting of a single hose can cause the vehicle to be undriveable.

Thus, saying some maintenance is required is underselling it a bit. You either need to be willing to spend some time hovering under a hood or be prepared to pay the cost of what an Exotic car's maintenance would be.

Sooner or later there is a ridiculous dollar sign demand in front of you. As long as you're prepared for that, saving pennies up front is okay. If you're not, then you need to plan for the upfront cost of a long term and deeply extended warranty.

You WILL pay to have a fun full sized SUV with this model.

2010 purchased here for $27k two years ago, now with $45k invested... Here's to the next problem to solve for!

Thanks for the heads up! I know these can be expensive vehicles to maintain. I currently own a 2011 X5 35D and a 02 M3 and have owned 5+ V8 BMWs before these(E38, E39). From my experience it is equal parts luck and maintenance history. I've had vehicles that were bulletproof all the way up past 200k and I've owned ones that required thousands in maintenance at 50k. The issue I see is that short of buying a warranty(which is nearly impossible now), there is no guarantee that buying a low mileage vehicle will equal less repair costs. Short of an engine rebuild I'm fairly capable and enjoy working on BMWs, so I'm hoping to mitigate some of the operating costs by doing the maintenance myself.

All that said, what happened that's requiring you to do a full rebuild on your S63?

Originally Posted by DieselDemonDM

Euro Logik in Katy TX is a really good shop and I know they recently rebuilt a X5M engine. Really good guys and they have plenty of experience.

Thank you! I'll check with the seller and see if they are close.

[do_0b]

Originally Posted by laselvasurf

All that said, what happened that's requiring you to do a full rebuild on your S63?

timing chain is one of them

[greddy91]

Originally Posted by coolmayank

Why you were required a motor rebuilt

Originally Posted by laselvasurf

All that said, what happened that's requiring you to do a full rebuild on your S63?

Bent a rod running the E30 map with the JB4...

After cracking her open the valve guides were thrashed, all four VANOS cylinders were trashed, and found significant scoring on several of the cylinder walls.

Prior to any of this it had previously been noted that all the gaskets on the bottom end of the motor to tranny/transfer case were leaking.

I was driving a time bomb... the JB4 just allowed me to double the speed of the timer.

Forged rods and pistons in, oil squirters deleted, head and valves cleaned up nicely, new VANOSs, index 12 injector upgrade, and new gaskets and seals from top to bottom...

I figure I'll have paid $15k for another 80k miles of fun times.

[Honda]

There is not a single thread right now on X5M without reliability issues. If I am ever in the market for X5, it won't be the X5M for sure. Even if you are buying the car for fun and they say "you pay to play" it shouldn't be applied to the reliability of the car. Where is the fun exactly when I am driving a car and wondering when I will see the next Check engine light

[do_0b]

Originally Posted by Honda

There is not a single thread right now on X5M without reliability issues. If I am ever in the market for X5, it won't be the X5M for sure. Even if you are buying the car for fun and they say "you pay to play" it shouldn't be applied to the reliability of the car. Where is the fun exactly when I am driving a car and wondering when I will see the next Check engine light

its true...i agree to a certain point. some buyers take a risk but again as pointed out potential buyers should be ready to do their own work under the hood, have extended warranty or just have deep pockets lol. OR get the newer gen that have fewer issues to begin with...

[quick]

Originally Posted by Honda

There is not a single thread right now on X5M without reliability issues. If I am ever in the market for X5, it won't be the X5M for sure. Even if you are buying the car for fun and they say "you pay to play" it shouldn't be applied to the reliability of the car. Where is the fun exactly when I am driving a car and wondering when I will see the next Check engine light

Regardless of warranty, you have to pay for a nice car whether it's 2019 X5M or 2012 X5M..

I am picking up mine tomorrow and thought i had secured an extended warranty but it didn't come thru.

If I want to drive a car as nice as X5M, it either has to be 2019 > $99,000 and drive it for 4 years and sell it for $62,000 (-$37,000) or buy a low mileage 2012 with 40K miles for $33,000 and have another $8000 in repairs to a total of $41,000 and sell after 4 years for $25,000 (-$16,000)

So there you have it... simple as that.

Key to buying a trouble free car is to buy a well maintained/looked after used car which might not be the cheapest on the market.

You either pay upfront and drive a nice car or pay less upfront and drive a compromised car, choice is yours.

[Honda]

Originally Posted by quick

Regardless of warranty, you have to pay for a nice car whether it's 2019 X5M or 2012 X5M..

I am picking up mine tomorrow and thought i had secured an extended warranty but it didn't come thru.

If I want to drive a car as nice as X5M, it either has to be 2019 > $99,000 and drive it for 4 years and sell it for $62,000 (-$37,000) or buy a low mileage 2012 with 40K miles for $33,000 and have another $8000 in repairs to a total of $41,000 and sell after 4 years for $25,000 (-$16,000)

So there you have it... simple as that.

Key to buying a trouble free car is to buy a well maintained/looked after used car which might not be the cheapest on the market.

You either pay upfront and drive a nice car or pay less upfront and drive a compromised car, choice is yours.

I agree with you on getting extended warranty on the car for a used 2012 BMW X5M. But that's not my point.

Please have a look at first few pages of BMW E70 section and you will see every single of them is talking or about potential problems or issues owner have seen with car. I won't like that I was considering getting a BMW X5M but after reading all these stories and issues I completely changed my mind and I wont own this car no matter what. Even with extended warranty, do you realize how long the car might be in ship per year or month if extreme happens?

Don't get me wrong, I love BMWs and M in general. I currently own e90 M3 and it has been most reliable BMW I have ever owned (knock on wood). Yes it has 1 or 2 quirks but I replaced/fixe them and that's about it. I don't have to worry every time I drive the car if check engine light will come or engine blow up. It is unfortunate to see X5M not as reliable as my M3.

[laselvasurf]

I completely understand that a 555HP M SUV made by BMW will not be the most financially logical purchase possible. That said... I'm buying the X5M to replace a vehicle I bought over 3 years ago that was the most financially logical vehicle at the time, and it happens to be extremely boring to drive. I've been a BMW enthusiast my whole adult life, I've worked on every BMW I've owned and I intend to do so with this X5M. I'm at a point in my life that I'm realizing that I work way too hard to spend at least 1+ hour of each day in a car I can't stand to drive. I also plan on using the X5M for business... I'm a cinematographer and I shoot a lot of car commercials, which requires using a capable vehicle to pace other vehicles. My long term plan is to use the X5M with a camera crane mounted on it(motorcrane.com). I've hired a lot of similar vehicles for commercials over the years and the performance of the Porsche Cayennes that most cameras vehicles are built on is lacking. I'm hoping to put together a higher performance camera car package based on the X5M.

[quick]

Originally Posted by Honda

I agree with you on getting extended warranty on the car for a used 2012 BMW X5M. But that's not my point.

Please have a look at first few pages of BMW E70 section and you will see every single of them is talking or about potential problems or issues owner have seen with car. I won't like that I was considering getting a BMW X5M but after reading all these stories and issues I completely changed my mind and I wont own this car no matter what. Even with extended warranty, do you realize how long the car might be in ship per year or month if extreme happens?

Don't get me wrong, I love BMWs and M in general. I currently own e90 M3 and it has been most reliable BMW I have ever owned (knock on wood). Yes it has 1 or 2 quirks but I replaced/fixe them and that's about it. I don't have to worry every time I drive the car if check engine light will come or engine blow up. It is unfortunate to see X5M not as reliable as my M3.

Most of them have been modified one way or the other too...

[Autobacs]

Originally Posted by laselvasurf

I have been shopping for an X5M for quite some time, some of you may remember my previous thread about the northern CA 2012 X5M with 140K that I test drove. I ended up passing on that vehicle, mostly because of the cautions from the members here of purchasing such a high miles vehicle with no service records.

That said, I've found another X5M that seems to be just what I'm looking for and in my price range. It's a 2013 fully loaded except the rear entertainment package with 92k for $24,500. It looks to be in good shape and is under warranty until 4/2019, so there is a little time to work things out if it does require anything. Before I commit to purchasing it, I thought I'd ask a few questions here.

1) Does anyone had any recommendations on a shop in Houston TX that could do a PPI? Or, if anyone is in the area, I'd be happy to send some $$ your way to take a look at the vehicle for me.

2) I'm hoping to be able to fly out and drive the vehicle back home, but at this point my work schedule is a bit tight. Does anyone have any auto shippers they would recommend? Or know of any alternative ways of transporting a vehicle?

3) Is anyone here looking to sell a similar vehicle in the same price range?

Thanks in advance to any help/info you can provide!

Based on research, Little shop of Motors is a highly rated BMW independent shop in Houston. I had them do a PPI on an 2012 X5M that I ended up not getting based on the inspection.

[laselvasurf]

Originally Posted by Autobacs

Based on research, Little shop of Motors is a highly rated BMW independent shop in Houston. I had them do a PPI on an 2012 X5M that I ended up not getting based on the inspection.

Thank you!

[smass]

Out of curiosity, what happened to the X5 M you were considering in Jacksonville?

[laselvasurf]

Originally Posted by smassey321

Out of curiosity, what happened to the X5 M you were considering in Jacksonville?

I ended up backing out of that deal for a few reasons. The seller was a bit inconsistent and it seemed like it was a bother to get information from him. Because I'd have to either buy the car sight unseen or commit to flying across the country, I didn't want to agree to a deal when the seller had a hard time with basic requests and just wasn't consistent. Since I backed out he's raised the price by $2K and re-listed it on car gurus. It definitely seems to be a nice car, but in the end it's not worth the risk of me flying out there and then him bailing or failing to meet me. So far, the seller of the X5M in Houston has been awesome and definitely made me feel more comfortable taking the risk of flying out there.

[greddy91]

Originally Posted by quick

Most of them have been modified one way or the other too...

Most of them HAVE to be modified... This platform is pretty full of engineering inadequacies.

It honestly looks like designed obsolescence to me, but I wasn't in the room to verify that.

In watches you call these things "complications" basically adding features to make the assembly more complex... BMWs seem to be complication laden... except...

Then you look at the 1M. That's a pretty pure recipe.

[9vapors]

Originally Posted by greddy91

Most of them HAVE to be modified... This platform is pretty full of engineering inadequacies.

It honestly looks like designed obsolescence to me, but I wasn't in the room to verify that.

In watches you call these things "complications" basically adding features to make the assembly more complex... BMWs seem to be complication laden... except...

Then you look at the 1M. That's a pretty pure recipe.

Agreed, if you see one with a tune and downpipes, it doesn't mean it's beat on necessarily. I did it all for gas savings, less heat and of course the power and smoothness.

[quick]

Originally Posted by 9vapors

Agreed, if you see one with a tune and downpipes, it doesn't mean it's beat on necessarily. I did it all for gas savings, less heat and of course the power and smoothness.

extra HP/TQ will definitely put extra stress on the system hence more chances of breaking stuff.

No harm in modding it as long as one is willing to take the chance.