XBimmers | BMW X3 Forum - View Single Post

Wgosma · 06-12-2019, 10:27 AM

My guess is the 5-Series car is going to be a nicer ride than the X3; depends on what you're looking for however.

I've been driving BMW's for 15+ years; I do a lot of my own work on my cars. Every Bimmer I've owned was purchased used/from private seller. I drove the older E39 5-Series cars (1998, 2000 model year) for over 10 years, I owned 3 of them (not at same time) in total. All were manual transmission w/normally aspirated I-6 motors. Drove two of them to over 200K miles. BMW inline 6 motors, almost every model are near bullet-proof, I never encountered any motor issues, aside from leaking valve cover and oil filter housing gaskets, the older cars also had some cooling system issues due partly to the plastic parts used in the system. Overall solid build quality, never any major component failures, very little 'broke' on the car, mostly small stuff like door handle and the like.

Regards that X3; I bought a 2012 X3 2.8i from original owner a year a ago, nice car. I avoided the 4 cylinder turbo motor - 2011 to 2012 model years the X3's were fitted with either normally aspirated or turbo (3.5L) inline 6; after that BMW dropped the n/a I-6 and went to turbo 4 - this engine (N20/N26) is used in the X3 and many of the sedans including the popular 3-Series. The early engines (pre 2015) exhibited issues with timing chain stretching and failure of the plastic chain guides; some of the failures did major damage to the motor necessitating full replacement. BMW did not do recall, they redesigned the chain guides and added extended warranty only. Failures were more common in the X3 compared to the sedans, heavier vehicle. There are attorneys gathering info regards potential class action lawsuit on this issue. Google BMW N20 timing chain failure for info. I'd stay way from any BMW 4 banger turbo that was built prior to 2015.

You can verify if that X3 you're looking at has the N52 I-6 motor (like my car) by using VIN decoder here https://decoder.bvzine.com/ or put last 7 of VIN into this site: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/select.

In my overall experience as long as one is diligent and attends to preventative maintenance these cars are solid/manageable and won't break your wallet. I DIY, and if you are so inclined you'll save money on repairs.

Whatever BMW is in your sights, get a mechanic to do a pre-purchase inspection from a qualified independent BMW/Euro car mechanic - that $150 spent is worth it's weight in gold when it comes to buying used.

Good luck/Bill

06-12-2019, 10:27 AM	#2
Wgosma Lieutenant Colonel 806 Rep 1,906 Posts Drives: 2012 F25 X3 28i (N52) Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Northern Nevada iTrader: (0)	My guess is the 5-Series car is going to be a nicer ride than the X3; depends on what you're looking for however. I've been driving BMW's for 15+ years; I do a lot of my own work on my cars. Every Bimmer I've owned was purchased used/from private seller. I drove the older E39 5-Series cars (1998, 2000 model year) for over 10 years, I owned 3 of them (not at same time) in total. All were manual transmission w/normally aspirated I-6 motors. Drove two of them to over 200K miles. BMW inline 6 motors, almost every model are near bullet-proof, I never encountered any motor issues, aside from leaking valve cover and oil filter housing gaskets, the older cars also had some cooling system issues due partly to the plastic parts used in the system. Overall solid build quality, never any major component failures, very little 'broke' on the car, mostly small stuff like door handle and the like. Regards that X3; I bought a 2012 X3 2.8i from original owner a year a ago, nice car. I avoided the 4 cylinder turbo motor - 2011 to 2012 model years the X3's were fitted with either normally aspirated or turbo (3.5L) inline 6; after that BMW dropped the n/a I-6 and went to turbo 4 - this engine (N20/N26) is used in the X3 and many of the sedans including the popular 3-Series. The early engines (pre 2015) exhibited issues with timing chain stretching and failure of the plastic chain guides; some of the failures did major damage to the motor necessitating full replacement. BMW did not do recall, they redesigned the chain guides and added extended warranty only. Failures were more common in the X3 compared to the sedans, heavier vehicle. There are attorneys gathering info regards potential class action lawsuit on this issue. Google BMW N20 timing chain failure for info. I'd stay way from any BMW 4 banger turbo that was built prior to 2015. You can verify if that X3 you're looking at has the N52 I-6 motor (like my car) by using VIN decoder here https://decoder.bvzine.com/ or put last 7 of VIN into this site: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/select. In my overall experience as long as one is diligent and attends to preventative maintenance these cars are solid/manageable and won't break your wallet. I DIY, and if you are so inclined you'll save money on repairs. Whatever BMW is in your sights, get a mechanic to do a pre-purchase inspection from a qualified independent BMW/Euro car mechanic - that $150 spent is worth it's weight in gold when it comes to buying used. Good luck/Bill Last edited by Wgosma; 06-12-2019 at 10:58 AM..
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