version imo.

with only 4 miles on it. The only issue I had thus far was covered under warranty - AC condenser. There are some high ticket maintenance cost coming up. But the car is paid off, so I'm just putting the payment into savings to cover those. Great car - don't want to get rid of it b/c frankly, there's nothing out there in my budget that I would want more currently. ** Edited by VTENGR at 2/8/2024, 11:28:09 AM

It had a few problems but was a great car to drive and own…while under the initial five-year warranty. After that, it became a money pit and I sold it in 2019. Take the cost of any normal car repair and add a zero to the end. A great example is that towards the end, the center display on the console stopped working. This is important because it controls literally everything (HVAC, entertainment, nav). BMW wanted $4,500 to fix it. My wife (hokieonceremoved) went online and found some computer geeks in Texas who would fix it the affected controller for $400. She took apart the dashboard, got the part fixed, and put it all back together, saving us $4,100. BMW X5s are built in South Carolina and mine was frequently being recalled for something. About the same time I purchased my X5, we got my wife a used 2007 Z4 built in Germany. That car never had a single issue the 12 years we owned it and we would have brought it to France if the cost to make it road legal here wasn’t so expensive. TLDR: don’t buy an X5.

... because it's likely to be a piece of crap. I used to love German cars, had a VW Passat and a Benz (never had an Audi). Then I had a BMW and loved it, for about a month. Then I realized the thing was way overengineered, with tolerances that are way too fine -- requiring constant attention and outright disassembly for maintenance. And topped off by an invasive "adaptive" computer system that was a walking cluster of bugs. Dammit! I loved my completely analog steel-brick 1990 Benz, but it eventually aged out. No more BMWs forever, not after that experience. And in later days my daughter bought what seemed to be a very nice VW Jetta that suddenly turned out to be a total loss, once again because of invasive computer systems. NO MORE GERMAN ENGINEERING. Japanese only, maybe even the right USA product on occasion. Sooooo. an X5. Never had one. But... it was probably bought by a rich guy once upon a time, and not driven. Hmmmm..... To me that means he found it a whole lot more trouble than it was worth and chucked it. It's a 2014, so maybe the car has been chucked MORE THAN ONCE, by folks who reconsidered BMW's level of stupidity (and their own). Don't be victim number 3.

push wastewater treatment process equipment from Germany because the price is less. The over engineering comment is spot on. I already got one 1.5 million dollar piece of crap headworks system from the last plant upgrade that has not worked in over a year. Got into specs and it requires a constant pressure wash system to clean the rotating screen at 110 psi and 50 gpm. If I am blasting away solid with that kind of pressure and flow what the hell is the headworks actually doing other than acting as a conveyor. This plant is out in the middle of nowhere with no public water and the maximum well yield to supply everything is 40 gpm. Engineer put in vertical turbine pumps at effluent clear well. Another poor application, which constantly got gummed up and cost me 5k just to disassemble pull it with a crane. I had come up with my own plan, which was to install a 7.5 HP irrigation pump with sleeve and gravel jacket for 30K. Point being German want to make stuff complicated and do not consider repair. I call the headworks my Panzer Tank. Because you can look back to WW2 and the poor reliability of the German tanks such as the Panther and Tiger; constant mechanical failures meant that German tank divisions were rarely able to field a full complement of tanks and were often diminished below 50% combat readiness.

...solid durability for "whiz-bang" technology. I think the transition started when they started using plastic components in the coolant system. And that extended far beyond the plastic composite radiators. Every time I think about buying a newer German auto, I just have to remember how they are made. And if you think German autos are bad, they're still far ahead of English and Italian autos...lol Bottom line: if you want the least ownership frustration, buy Japanese automobiles. If you like BMWs, Mercedes or Audis, buy Lexus, Acura, or Infinity instead. Disclaimer: I think Porsche is still considered a "buy," except for their massive screw up with IMS bearings. How could they let that continue for a decade? They should have reengineered a better bearing as soon as they started failing. Aftermarket companies came out with improved bearings fairly quickly, so why didn't Porsche jump on it? Feel they had the solution from the start, but waited until 2008 to implement it? Inexcusable!

You basically repeated what he told me: fine automobiles not engineered for durability or longevity. You need a LOT of money to maintain them.

his Lexus SUV.....

2015. Loaded. 113,000 miles. Will run for 300,000. Love it.

Than you ever would have thought.

mechanical issues we've had. If you use a BMW dealer for maintenance, then yeah, service rates will be on par with other "luxury" brands.