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SUVs BMW X3 & X5 BMW X3
3133 messages, Last post on Aug 13, 2008 at 12:23 PM
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Hello All: I currently drive a 2001 Subaru Forester, and with 130K on the clock I'm thinking of replacing it. I had pretty much decided to get a 09 Forester, but have always loved my boss's BMW 5 series, and wanted to see if a used X3 might make more sense. I went to a local lot, and looked at 3 X3's, all 2004's, with between 30-50K on the odos. On all three, the interior was shockingly worn. Examples: The plastic trim around the cupholders were bubbling. The pebble plastic dash was unevenly sun faded, trim pieces where starting to de-laminate, and the seats showed way more wear than I would expect for a car with My el-cheapo car (the Forester) has probably the world's cheapest looking trim, and yet it's all in fine shape after 130K and 7 years, and I really don't baby this car at all. To compare, I looked at similarly aged 3 and 5 series sedans, and found the interiors in better shape. Do you think I saw 3 bad examples (out of 3), or is this a known issue with the X3. Has the interior of the car been upgraded since 2004, and if so when. I was kind of bummed, as I always thought premium car would wear well. Of course it's possible that I was seeing three bad examples, but it was a little surprised that they all looked as worn as these.
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I have a 2004 X3 with the fake leather interior. I do not have the laminated wood so my car has held up fairly well. It almost has 70K on it. Right before 50K I had the driver seat cover replaced because there were tiny, almost razor-like slits that formed on the edge of the seat. Replaced under warranty and not had a repeat issue since. My interior is tan. The dash hasn't faded but my car is garaged day and night when not in use. I have a Blue Heeler that has walked on the seats too and they have wiped clean. The interior, while certainly bare-bones and not fancy, has held up fine. Once I'm no longer a dog owner, I'll get leather in my next BMW 1 series or X6.
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Replying to: alaskan_otter (Mar 12, 2008 4:18 pm) That's been my experience as well. My 2004 X3 has 60K on the clock and leather. |
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Replying to: gouldn (Mar 12, 2008 10:34 am) Hence, I don't know what to say about your experience? I'm hoping it was merely 3 bad examples, and some rather unfortunate luck for you. Were they all found at the same dealer? Were they Certified (CPO) vehicles? I'm not an expert, but I expect BMW dealers to replace delaminated or bubbling trim pieces when they certify a vehicle. (Roadburner: Would you agree?) In response to your other question, the interior of the X3 did not receive any real upgrade until 2007. Incidentally, last year I experienced some very minor bubbling on the trim around one of my cupholders, but this problem occurred in my 3-series coupe. Fortunately, the BMW dealer replaced the cupholder assembly for free under warranty. I definitely haven't noticed any similar issue with our X3. Since we weren't the original owners of either vehicle, I can't say whether this is a YMMV sort of issue, or if these wear issues are due to uncareful handling.
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Replying to: cotmc (Mar 13, 2008 1:13 pm) Yes, although the quality of CPO BMWs does vary from dealer to dealer. |
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The new X3 is in the US (gotta love the order tracking feature on the BMW usa website. Got a trip planned for the Easter weekend, so we probably won't quite have the new X3 in our garage. Counting down the days tho. . . |
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After 60K miles my wife's 2004 X3 2.5 finally needed brakes. Funny thing; the outside RR pad had begun to score the rotor but the pad wear sensor on the inside RR pad hadn't worn through yet- we never got a brake lining warning light. We checked the front pads and rotors while we we at it and they were almost gone as well, so we went ahead and replaced the pads and rotors at all four corners. The X3 is the first BMW that I've ever owned that wore out the rear pads before the front ones. All my other Bimmers would go through two sets of front pads before you had to touch the rear pads. Kudos to Swope BMW in Louisville-in particular my Service Advisor Edwin-for taking the truck in at 10:00 AM(without an appointment) and having it washed and ready to go by 5:50 the same day. By the time we put another 60K on it my son will be driving it...  
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Replying to: roadburner (Mar 22, 2008 8:26 am) Any chance that your wife may have a habit of leaving the parking brake engaged while driving from time to time?
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Replying to: bodble2 (Mar 24, 2008 5:40 pm) The X3 gives the driver a continuous warning chime if you drive off with the parking brake handle lifted by just one notch. Even if that wasn't the case, BMWs have a separate parking brake assembly that uses shoes that act against a drum which is cast into the rear rotors- as can be seen here. I checked a couple of X3 boards that are much more technically oriented, and their members confirmed that the rear brakes DO tend to wear out before the fronts. My Service Advisor also stated that X3s are harder on the rear pads.
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Replying to: roadburner (Mar 25, 2008 9:25 am)  Do you know if that warning chime applies to all BMWs?
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