BMW X3

brian_m

Folks,

looking for a a small enough suv on the second hand market for reasonable money.. viewing some rather good value in older BMW X3's with the 2.5 petrol engine compared with the 2.0d which I have heard are prone to a lot of problems.. I will not be doing big miles to warrant the possible savings of a diesel and that is before costly dpf, injectors, flywheel nonsense I have suffered with my last diesel car. I want a small suv/jeep that can handle country roads (where I do most of my driving) and not turn into a rattle box. Anyone have any experience of this engine in the X3 in terms of reliability? How the jeep drives on country roads...? (have also heard the sport version is quite harsh) Another vehicle on my radar is the petrol CR-V which gets good reviews but not as nice looking imo. Offroad capablities required would be to launch and retrieve a small enough boat and some driving on forest tracks, any input welcome, thanks

Stallingrad

At last a non diesel car request. That 2.5 is one of BMW's best ever engines and compared to some of their more recent efforts relatively trouble free. Unfortunately the older X3 are not rated highly for build quality so tread carefully. I would avoid Sport for country driving for sure.

brian_m

Stallingrad wrote: »

At last a non diesel car request. That 2.5 is one of BMW's best ever engines and compared to some of their more recent efforts relatively trouble free. Unfortunately the older X3 are not rated highly for build quality so tread carefully. I would avoid Sport for country driving for sure.

Great, I'll keep that in mind

Gordy6040

Have you looked at a subaru forester. The 2.0 turbo is a peach. I had one for a while and is the only car I ever missed.

brian_m

Gordy6040 wrote: »

Have you looked at a subaru forester. The 2.0 turbo is a peach. I had one for a while and is the only car I ever missed.

Had a subaru myself some years ago, absolutely loved it. Weakness in the bottom ends back in the years though , has this changed? Great cars alright but hard enough and expensive to get parts I believe..

Seweryn

brian_m wrote: »

Had a subaru myself some years ago, absolutely loved it. Weakness in the bottom ends back in the years though , has this changed? Great cars alright but hard enough and expensive to get parts I believe..

You could also have a look at a normally aspirated version of the Forester or preferably, an Outback.

Gordy6040

brian_m wrote: »

Had a subaru myself some years ago, absolutely loved it. Weakness in the bottom ends back in the years though , has this changed? Great cars alright but hard enough and expensive to get parts I believe..

I got mine new in 06. I never had to deal with anything past a service, which was cheaper than the laguna it replaced. Couldn't honestly say about parts replacement.

Gordy6040

The outback is a good call. Or am audi allroad. Big engine in audi though

fmcg_scribe

Stallingrad wrote: »

At last a non diesel car request. That 2.5 is one of BMW's best ever engines and compared to some of their more recent efforts relatively trouble free. Unfortunately the older X3 are not rated highly for build quality so tread carefully. I would avoid Sport for country driving for sure.

First generation X3 was not built by BMW - the work was contracted to Magna Steyr in Austria. Apparently, BMW was surprised that it sold in such large numbers. For many prospective buyers, the cheap plastic mouldings on the exterior were a deal breaker. The key things to note are that the first generation X3 was nearly as big as the first generation X5 but it lacked the X5's ground clearance and build quality, so it was even more of a "gravel and grass" "soft roader" than the X5.

There are plenty of reviews of the first generation X3 on sites like YouTube, not least Clarkson's infamous review of the car on Top Gear where he really put the boot into the car and highlighted its shortcomings.

For reviews of the car when it was in production, for readers' reviews, and for recalls and reliability information, visit sites like What Car and Honest John.

The second generation X3 is a much better car by all accounts and its built by BMW alongside the X5 and X6 in the US. However, that segment of car market is now much more competitive, not least the Range Rover Evoque.

If your heart is set on an X3, fair enough; however, as has been suggested by other posters in this thread, there are other other cars that you should consider.

JC01

brian_m wrote: »

Had a subaru myself some years ago, absolutely loved it. Weakness in the bottom ends back in the years though , has this changed? Great cars alright but hard enough and expensive to get parts I believe..

They don't have the chocolate bottom ends a lot of people think. This stigma came from the fact that there a fairly specialised engine that requires higher than average maintainance that a lot of them didnt get. That coupled with the fact that the Impreza was a performance car and got driven as such, gave all boxers a bad name.

goochy

never been a fan of the x3 but lambe & o connor have a nice 05 3.0 x3 for sale - colour coded bumpers , cream leather and high spec at least it counters the visual flaws of x3 . think I would sooner go for an early Volvo xc90 or toureg myself

brian_m

I think I will just go test drive a few and see what i think.. I watched Clarksons review there, can see his point if people really bought these with off road intentions but I don't think that is the case, they will opt for an X5 or Landcruiser.. if it had a Land Rover badge it would be the bess kness I bet. I am worried though that one could be too harsh on back roads which is one of the main reasons for thinking of one in the first place. I will also try and locate a forester or outback with a decent service history and drive them also, thanks for the replies.

Anyone got any experience on the petrol CR-V?

brian_m

goochy wrote: »

never been a fan of the x3 but lambe & o connor have a nice 05 3.0 x3 for sale - colour coded bumpers , cream leather and high spec at least it counters the visual flaws of x3 . think I would sooner go for an early Volvo xc90 or toureg myself

Ill check that out but sounds like it could be a sport model if its got all the colour coding, thanks

BeepBeep67

I've an 07 MSport 2.0D that I imported from the UK when 6 mths old as ex BMW mgt stock. Honestly haven't had any issues with it, touching 100k miles now and I've tried to come up with several excuses to change it, but it's bullet proof and still going strong.