Any (German) car experts in here? BMW X5 issues (sell or fix?)

Flywin Lannister

Flywin Lannister

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I own a ‘08 BMW X5 (Space Gray with matte black rims, black grill) since May 2019.

Love how it drives especially on road trips, but it has had lots of issues already:
  • Replaced spark plugs + coil because the engine was misfiring
  • Had to get a new right wheel bearing
  • Coolant tank was leaking
  • Main coolant tube broke while I was driving
  • Air conditioning didn’t work, had to fix it
Some new issues have popped up:
  • When I start the car, sometimes there’s smoke coming from under the hood, I am pretty sure the engine has an oil leak
  • The smoke comes into the car sometimes when I have the heating on
  • The handbrake button broke off
  • Then the handbrake was stuck and I had to manually release it, now the car only parks on the parking break
  • The brakes need to be replaced
  • The all-seasons (expensive ones) need to be replaced
The car is almost at 125,000 miles also.

Two questions:

1. Is it the smoke from under the hood, that also comes in through the vents in the car, coming from an oil leak? I checked and parked my car and the next day there was no oil on the street, but that doesn’t mean there’s no leak.

2. Is it worth fixing a car like this, or best to just sell it - even for cheap?

Ideally next year I want to get a newer car, like the 2018 BMW X5 and buy it from the dealer so I have warranty, but I can also buy for instance a simple, safe, reliable car (2017 Jetta), it’d be boring af, but it would be a possible in-between. I don’t really want to downgrade as far as driving experience.

All tips/thoughts welcome, thanks!
 
NoMorePie

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Endless. Money pit!

Get a Toyota!

IllinformedHauntingCornsnake-size_restricted.gif
 
Jean Jacket

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Burning oil during startup that goes away...could be bad valve guide seals. Which might require removal of the valve covers and about 5 shop hours to replace, or valve cover gasket is bad and oil is leaking onto the exhaust manifold. If you smell oil and see blue smoke in the interior, it is most likely the valve cover (s).

I would just trade or sell that car. If you have to start making sacrifices to maintain a BMW it's already too late.
 
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ORDER_66 said:
I simply don't understand how these german car companies stay in business with such cars that breakdown so much!!!:scust:
Click to expand...

They are actually very reliable. The problem is that people don't understand how to change their oil and do preventative maintenance before shyt goes wrong.

Also, Americans dog the shyt out of their cars.
 
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Flywin Lannister said:
I own a ‘08 BMW X5 (Space Gray with matte black rims, black grill) since May 2019.

Love how it drives especially on road trips, but it has had lots of issues already:
  • Replaced spark plugs + coil because the engine was misfiring
  • Had to get a new right wheel bearing
  • Coolant tank was leaking
  • Main coolant tube broke while I was driving
  • Air conditioning didn’t work, had to fix it
Some new issues have popped up:
  • When I start the car, sometimes there’s smoke coming from under the hood, I am pretty sure the engine has an oil leak
  • The smoke comes into the car sometimes when I have the heating on
  • The handbrake button broke off
  • Then the handbrake was stuck and I had to manually release it, now the car only parks on the parking break
  • The brakes need to be replaced
  • The all-seasons (expensive ones) need to be replaced
The car is almost at 125,000 miles also.

Two questions:

1. Is it the smoke from under the hood, that also comes in through the vents in the car, coming from an oil leak? I checked and parked my car and the next day there was no oil on the street, but that doesn’t mean there’s no leak.

2. Is it worth fixing a car like this, or best to just sell it - even for cheap?

Ideally next year I want to get a newer car, like the 2018 BMW X5 and buy it from the dealer so I have warranty, but I can also buy for instance a simple, safe, reliable car (2017 Jetta), it’d be boring af, but it would be a possible in-between. I don’t really want to downgrade as far as driving experience.

All tips/thoughts welcome, thanks!
Click to expand...

Also, look into aftermarket warranties.

Drive what you want man. Gotta pay to play. Just factor in $$ for preventative maintenance and join a forum and get the Alldata account for your car. Get a code reader, a socket set (Hex for European) and a set of hand tools. You can do 80% of your own repairs. Don't get taken to the bank.
 
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Flywin Lannister said:
I own a ‘08 BMW X5 (Space Gray with matte black rims, black grill) since May 2019.

Love how it drives especially on road trips, but it has had lots of issues already:
  • Replaced spark plugs + coil because the engine was misfiring
  • Had to get a new right wheel bearing
  • Coolant tank was leaking
  • Main coolant tube broke while I was driving
  • Air conditioning didn’t work, had to fix it
Some new issues have popped up:
  • When I start the car, sometimes there’s smoke coming from under the hood, I am pretty sure the engine has an oil leak
  • The smoke comes into the car sometimes when I have the heating on
  • The handbrake button broke off
  • Then the handbrake was stuck and I had to manually release it, now the car only parks on the parking break
  • The brakes need to be replaced
  • The all-seasons (expensive ones) need to be replaced
The car is almost at 125,000 miles also.

Two questions:

1. Is it the smoke from under the hood, that also comes in through the vents in the car, coming from an oil leak? I checked and parked my car and the next day there was no oil on the street, but that doesn’t mean there’s no leak.

2. Is it worth fixing a car like this, or best to just sell it - even for cheap?

Ideally next year I want to get a newer car, like the 2018 BMW X5 and buy it from the dealer so I have warranty, but I can also buy for instance a simple, safe, reliable car (2017 Jetta), it’d be boring af, but it would be a possible in-between. I don’t really want to downgrade as far as driving experience.

All tips/thoughts welcome, thanks!
Click to expand...

Well is it cheaper to fix all those issues vs taking on a new car note?

The longer you have a German car the more issues it will have dude to bmw and benz using plastics on critical parts... If you got a nice mechanics tool set and can work on the car I’d say it’s worth it to keep and just fix up the issues..
 
ORDER_66

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Embrehyo said:
They are actually very reliable. The problem is that people don't understand how to change their oil and do preventative maintenance before shyt goes wrong.

Also, Americans dog the shyt out of their cars.
Click to expand...

Nah that's not what I heard breh...:dahell:
 
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