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1) Will the 3.0 adequately tow a 2000 lb. tent trailer. I'm mostly concerned about maintaining a reasonable speed up the "grapevine" without overheating? The low torque number of the 3.0 concerns me.
2) How is the overall drivability in snow / ice?
3) Would the stock 5-speed be better with regards to both questions 1 and 2?
We are interested in responses from anyone with experience with the X5 under the aforementioned conditions, especially those living in the mountains of So. Cal or Colorado.
Also, I noticed that the tailgate doesn't fully latch unless it is slammed shut. If I don't slam it shut (very hard) when driving away I get the message in the display that the tailgate is open. Has anyone else had this problem?
I have one more. Has anyone figured out what logic this car uses to memorize the climate control settings? Sometimes I notice that the climate control settings are the same as when I last drove the car. But sometimes, the climate control settings revert to a setting that I used days prior. The settings that seem to be memorized are the temperature setting, fan speed, and airflow locations.
Thanks.
Also, has anyone had the problem of the tailgate relatching after you shut the drivers door? To be more specific, I press the button on the dash to open the tailgate. I hear it unlatch and then get out of the car. When I shut the car door, I hear the tailgate latch. So when I walk to the tailgate it is not open anymore. This happens every time in my X5. I can still open the tailgate by using my remote control to unlatch it again.
I have no clue regarding the tailgate.
My X5/3.0i has 1200 miles, the light is on. The technician has to order the module that control the airbag. After the new module replacement,the light goes off. The service tech take it out for test drive. After few mile drive, the airbag light turn on again. Service tech has no ideal.He advise me to wait while he contact the BMW head quater about this problem.
I don't feel safe to drive around with the airbag malfunction.
I don't expect this problem happen with 50,000 dollars SAV with only few hundred miles.
Does any one know where can I write a conplain
to ?
Thanks
I thought of your note when that happened.
If anything, it will cause an INCREASE in pressure in the cabin. OPENING a door, with all windows and doors closed, would cause a vacuum. I suspect that the security system computer is recognizing the door close as an intrusion or the increase in pressure in the cabin, by closing the door, causes enough disturbance that the security system locks all doors. The sensitivity of the this sensor is too sensitive. This sounds like a Very Sensitive Issue. Ha Ha Anyway its a BMW X5 bug and BMW has gotta fix it.
We picked up our X5 3.0i(Jet Black/sandle, premium & climate package, CD in dash) on Feb. 8,2001 at 6 miles.
Today, it's been driven 1090 miles and it's flawless. Very impressive and satisfied.
We were having quite a hard time making a decision between X5 and MDX.
But we are very happy we choose X5.
The only thing that bothers my wife is drawing too much attention on the street when we are driving around. She hopes this will get better as X5 is getting common.
What problems should I keep my eyes open for?
Nick
x5owners.com@netlaw.co.uk
I too have the tailgate release/closing automatically problem. It re-latches if I shut any door before I get back to the tailgate. Not a great design, but doesn't bug me too much since the key also has a latch release and I alternatively can just unlock all the doors so the tailgate is open but not unlatched.
I have some rattling - minor, but enough to irritate me - somewhere on the driver's side of the dash/door when driving. Anyone else have this problem? It's very difficult to determine exactly where the rattling is coming from.
I recently dinged my car on a pointed planter so there is now a little area of chipped-off paint and an indentation in the lower part of my driver-side door. Any suggestions on the best way to hide/fix it? It's fairly minor, but again, enough to bug me.
In response to holliann, I have seen the beige, and it does look like gold. Not a big fan, although I think another person was right to point out that color preference is so personal that you probably should not listen to anyone here without seeing the car color first. Other than silver and black, the third most popular color (at least by my observation) seems to be white, which is not bad.
Does it get worse at altitude 4500? 5000? I live near the Rockies.
I think I'd take a great big pass on the 5 and wait until the Saab AWD SUV comes out equipped with turbocharging that works at altitude and is fit out on a car/SUV whose manufacturer has consistently turned out some of the best foul-weather vehicles on the Planet.
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
I seem to recall that they started the 01s really early.
Robert
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
This happened to me 3 times so I decided to post it here. I wonder if anyone else experience this:
Three times so far, no air was blowed from the center console air-grills ("air to the upper body" grills...) This happened when I first start the car in the morning. No air was blowed so I turned the engine off waited and turned it on again and the air started to blow again...
I am debating on bringing the car to the dealer and have them check it or not. Because they will probably will tear this brand new care apart to find out what happened.
Worse than that, this only happened to me 3 times in a month. Once the air blows again after 50 times of trying it just worked fine. So, the A/C will probably just work fine when I am at the dealer...
May be this has something to do with the A/C program. Maybe it waits first to cool the air then blow it. I don't know...
I think that there are "electronic flaps" inside these air-grills... When I start the car these flaps automatically opens and the air blows thru them.... Is there a possibility that for some reason they can not open?
Thank you.
I ordered a new X5 4.4 in January and received it late Feb. Everything was great! I could not love my new car more until the winter thaw began.
I live in Virginia and so getting up into the 50's and 60's is not unusual for March. Well, as the temperature changed so did the tailgate. It seemed like on the warmer days the plastic would begin to rub, squeak and rattle. I thought it must be my imagination since I just paid over $50,000 for a "SAC". Well, sure enough, it was not my imagination it was a problem.
Unfortunately, I live about 2 hours away from my Richmond dealer so I had to make an appointment with the service dept. As luck would have it, the day I take my X5 to the dealer the problem was not very evident. So, with not knowing exactly what the problem was the service tech took apart the tailgate, put in some foam rubber and made some adjustments. I drove away that day without the squeak and rattle.
Three days later the squeak was back! This time the problem arose when the hemps were cooler. What ever the service guy did just reversed the problem.
Soon after that last trip to the dealer I got a company car and only drive the X5 on the weekends. This made me more slack about getting something done about it.
Just this past weekend my husband and I were in Richmond and dropped the X5 off for the day. Once again they dismantled the tailgate and put more stuffing in it. Once again, we drove away in a quiet car. Two hours later, as we were pulling into our gravel lane... you guessed it... it was back!
Now I am at my wit's end! Please let me know if anyone else has this annoying problem! I am about to go crazy!
Yes, it will get worse as the altitude in which you are driving increases.
Maybe someone can elaborate, but there is an approximation of about 10hp per 1000ft or something like that -- but I am just trying to recollect what I read in an article a long time ago.
Dave? Maybe you can shed more light on the subject.
Narrowed down selection to 3.0 X5. Base package.
Does anyone have a trailer hitch on theirs for carrying bikes.
I'm curious if the rear suspension can support 4 mountain bikes (approx 200 pounds including the rack, 2 adult passengers (300 pounds) and luggage (set. 150 pounds).
Specifically will the suspension sink so low that the X5 will catch air in the front.
In Canada, the self-leveling suspension is part of a very expensive option package which I'd like to avoid if possible.
Thanks
I opted for SP on my 530i. My wife chose the standard setup for her X5.
Jack
BMW explains that "due to a temporary production fault of a supplier, deficient parts were supplied and installed in new 5, 6 and 7 Series and X5 models with V8 or V12 cylinder petrol engines." Vehicles included in the recall were built between May 12 and July 6.
I have a 2003 X5 3.0. It's been a year and I have about 18000 miles on it. I have recently discovered a squeaking noise when I accelerate between 20-40mph and slowly deaccelerate from 40mph back to say, 10 or 12mph. The noise sounds like those old cars that have not been serviced for a while and make sharp squeaking noises when braking. The only difference is that mine does that when I accelerate.
I have taken it to the dealer 3 times. First they thought it was the tensioner and replaced it. Second time, they replaced the Vanos (Variable Cam Control), but it still has not solved the problem. Does anybody else have this problem or have heard of anything like this? I'd appreciate any suggestions or advice.
Thanks.
I was told it is because the transmission fluid is cold and thick and BMW has seen this before in the 3 series cars.
BMW has a software update for the transmission and they complied with this in my vehicle. It did'nt help!!
Probably will need a new transmission? Has anyone seen this before.
Thanks
I'm looking for advice on how to get a CD player installed for a reasonable price. Do I have to purchase and get it installed from a BMW dealer? or can I buy it from stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc and have them install?
I appreciate all your suggestions.
Thanks,
Yazi
Did anyone else had similar experience? Any 'advice' from experts will help me make the decision.
And that is when you select defrost/defog/demist mode you will always get lots of HOT airflow to the interior surface of the windshield. There is also a remote possibility, EXTREMELY remote considering this is most likely a wintertime only event, that this airflow will also be somewhat dehumidified via the cooling capability of the A/C.
On a cold or coolish day ALL modern day automatic climate control systems will initially begin operating in "heating" mode, footwell and windshield interior surface airflow ONLY.
Then as the passenger cabin warms, approaches, rises, your temperature setpoint, the system will switch to "cooling" mode. Initially to combined footwell/windshield and dash outlets, and then as the cabin temperature nears or reaches your temperature setpoint, to dash and windshield outlets only.
It will do this, switch to cooling mode, on the COLDEST, DARKEST night in the depths of winter provided the cabin atmosphere is within a reasonable limit of your setpoint.
Feel a bit coolish do you?
If the radiant effects of the surrounding landscape is on the cool or cold side, as it typically would be during the winter and especially at night, then the human body will be extremely discomforted by the cooling effects of cool, 75F, and dry airflow directed to your face and upper body.
The only thing I have found that works is to manually select footwell airflow only if I want the system to remain in heating mode on a cold day or when the radiant effects on my body are negative, COLD.
Now, one would think that the system as described above would be perfect for summertime, mostly cooling, use.
You would be wrong.
The more the A/C is used, the colder the system airflow needs to be to maintain your temperature comfort level, the more the interior surface of the windshield will become CHILLED.
That's right, the european designs automatically route a great deal of the system's cooling airflow directly to the interior surface of the windshield on the hottest day of summer.
There are two problems with this, a lot of your A/C's cooling capability is lost into the great beyond via the poor insulation qualities of the glass. And should the windshield glass get cool enough, and/or the outside humidity high enough, you might find yourself sudden blinded by a heavy film of condensation on the outside of your windshield.
Yes, it can happen quite suddenly, and at night it might take a few minutes to realize what has happened and act with the proper response, turn on the wipers.
So, when using the system primarily for cooling the cabin, be sure the windshield airflow dusts are fully closed, and if the system does not allow you to do that, then place some sort of baffle over these outlets such that your windshield will not be cooled to the local atmosphere's dewpoint.
Shorty after having the exterior surface of my windshield fog over completely and unexpectedly on a hot and humid June night in AL (2001 Porsche C4), I learned to close those ducts manually.
Later I added a switch within the glovebox so I can completely disable the A/C compressor if I don't need it for cooling. And absent knowing when and if it will be functional for dehumidification I never want it to be used for windshield defogging or condensation prevention.
I did notice on a VW Touareg forum that VW has a fix for the windshield cooling problem, I don't know if any other manufacturer does or not. I do know that Porsche refuses to even acknowledge it a problem even though I notified them of the VW fix which would probably also apply to the Cayenne..
thanks
What do you think?
What is the simple fix you spoke about?