Bmw x3

bouncydog1

Looking to buy an X3 of up to 5 years old. Do approx 10k p.a. including c4k motorway/european driving. Anyone have any comments on running costs, pitfalls, recommendations to purchase used etc? Local BMW dealers rarely get them in and the price is always very high compared to availability on places like Auto-trader. Thanks.

facade

The x series are well known for stripping the teeth on a plastic gear in the transfer box actuator. This puts the 4wd abs & brake lights on. There is usually a clicking sound from under the car just after the ignition is turned off, as the worn teeth jump.

BMW usually want to fit a complete transmission, but the fix is to buy a new plastic gear for £30 and fit it (not from BMW, there is an aftermarket part as the problem is so common) - fairly easy as only the actuator has to come off. There is a poor man's version of the fix which is to rotate the original gear 180 degrees and double its life, but you can only do this once.

worried_jim

Loads of good information here-

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/bmw/x3-f25-2010/

Strider590

bouncydog1 wrote: »

Looking to buy an X3 of up to 5 years old. Do approx 10k p.a. including c4k motorway/european driving. Anyone have any comments on running costs, pitfalls, recommendations to purchase used etc? Local BMW dealers rarely get them in and the price is always very high compared to availability on places like Auto-trader. Thanks.

Sounds like some BS going on there, they get in almost as many as they sell, because most BMW owners buy on finance and trade in after 3 years.
So either they're not very popular, don't sell and they are just trying to drive the used prices up by claiming they're quite rare, OR they're telling you this because they'd rather sell you a new car.

Car salesmen are bad enough as it is, but salesmen selling trendy or status symbol cars are ruthless sociopaths, don't trust anything they tell you.

daveyjp

Set your search wider. Within just 37 miles of me I have over 120 to choose from.

However I do agree they are eyewateringly expensive for what they are. £20k for a 6 year old version is taking the P. A proper 4x4 with greater versatility and reliability will be far far less.

forgotmyname

Pitfalls, when it goes wrong and it seems they do that far too often the bills will be eye watering.

If your not buying an approved used one from a franchise, make sure you have an extra 50% of the purchase value in the bank to cover breakdowns.

If it doesnt your happy if it does you can afford to fix it. Until you see the bank account dwindling and think why...

Buying private go for the bigger engined models, they depreciate hugely so more car for your money.

MX5huggy

Had an early 3 litre petrol one in the family, awesome car. Drove to Hockenhime (SP) and the alps numorus times. Any BMW dealer can pull almost any approved used BMW from anywhere in the country.

bouncydog1

Thanks everyone - very helpful.

MataNui

Your local dealer may not get many in because they were not particularly popular. They are useless offroad and not much better on the tarmac. They are nothing like the X5 (which is a pretty decent SUV). The build quality and materials are really cheap and nasty and if it wasnt for the badge you would swear its actually some god awful cheap asian crap.

For what they are they are insanely overpriced (which probably explains why they were so unpopular). Dont believe everything about BMW running costs though. They are in general pretty reliable cars and while main dealers will take you to the cleaners over anything, servicing costs at independent specialists (or even a general garage as BMWs are pretty easy for any garage to work on) are not that much more than the average Ford or French stuff.

lexington013

Timing chains know to be an issue on the diesel model. The earlier X3s (I have one) have the timing chain at the front of the engine and are more robust. The later models (2006 onwards have had lots of issues with failed timing chains).