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SUVs BMW X3 & X5 BMW X3
3287 messages, Last post on Nov 14, 2009 at 6:14 PM
You are in the BMW X3 & X5 Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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gushed about how much fun & reliable our '07 X3 has been for the past 2+ years & 37K+ miles. There is NO WAY an SUV should drive like this. The brakes are great, the seats are super supportive, the steering is very direct & communicative. Nudge the shifter to the left (SD) & drop the hammer and you can pretty much pass anyone you want to. The back seat is roomy, we LOVE the panorama roof (standard on out X3, but an option on my Dad's '07 X5 that had an MSRP of $57K). The real ceiling is great too. Never realized how good it is until I drove an Audi A4 Avant without it. The car could use more cargo space. The paint quality stinks (for lack of a better word), it is orange peel city. Blind spots are terrible and outward visibility is poor. Besides scheduled maintenance, our X3 has been in the shop for a check engine light (due to a carbon filter), one of the doors wouldn't unlock with the remote, & a brakelight burnt out.
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I feel bad you're not liking your X3 so much. The only person I've ever met that didn't like their X3 was an Audi salesman. Part of the ride harshness you may be feeling is because you're coming from a 5 series. It is extremely difficult to replicate the 5 series' balance of ride & handling given its size. My Mom had an '05 E60 530i that was the most trouble free & her favorite car EVER. When the lease was up, the 5ers were a lot more money to lease per month than what she was paying, so she decided she wanted a 3 series. She has no problems with her 328xi, but doesn't like her 3er AT ALL. |
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Replying to: nyccarguy (Sep 22, 2009 6:55 pm) What kind of gas mileage are you getting? I'm still around 10-12 in the city but 12 only if I'm paying attention and coasting at times. I may do a decent highway mostly drive soon so I'll see if I can get above the 20.8 I've hit max so far. I haven't seen a paint problem in BMWs in the past. It should last a long time. I found all cars in this range to have bad blind spots. This one really needs a standard back up camera or a blind spot sensor partly because it is so tall. Have you had a problem with your tailgate sticking? I unlock all the doors, press and hold the tailgate button on the key and the tailgate pops open about 1/2" and gets stuck there. It won't open, it won't close. I have to do the unlock again and then I can press the button in the tailgate to open. I haven't heard big problems with reliability. Then again, the oldest has been on the road 6 years or less so it is probably early days yet. I am beginning to think that whatever they did to answer the hard ride criticisms in years past has now led to a wobbly suspension that bounces around under the mildest of conditions. So far I haven't seen a big problem with potholes but smooth, flat streets are a big problem. I wonder what they did and did they go too far.
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Replying to: pp2009pp (Sep 22, 2009 9:22 pm) I've gotten 22 mpg on long straight highway trips. |
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Replying to: cotmc (Sep 21, 2009 10:58 am) + 1 for our '06 X3. We've had a couple of problems, which were quickly fixed under warranty, but overall the car has been very reliable. Our only regret is not having the premium sound system. The Logic 7 systems in my previous 3 series and current 5 series are noticaably better. We are interested in replacing it - with the new X3 fitted with the twin turbo I-6! Bruce
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Replying to: bruceomega (Sep 24, 2009 1:45 pm) I do not know how the ride compares to the 2009 as I have not been able to find anything that says what BMW fixed if anything from the original 2004 model. 
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Replying to: pp2009pp (Sep 24, 2009 1:56 pm) Not sure what you mean by this, as I never said it did. Our '06 X3 has the older engine with a 5 speed AT. We like that a lot, but I think we would like the more powerful engine and 6 speed AT introduced in the '07 model even more. If BMW offers the twin turbo in the new X3, then we would lust after that! My 535Xi has spoiled us. Bruce
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Replying to: bruceomega (Sep 26, 2009 7:58 am) http://www.allworldauto.com/tsbs/NHTSA__BMW_X3_technical_service_bulletin_286325- .html NHTSA Item Number: 10028464 Service Bulletin #: SIB-12-17-07 Replacement #: Vehicle/Equipment Make: BMW Vehicle/Eqipment Model: X3 Model Year: 2008 Mfg Component Code: 103000 POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION Date of Bulletin: 2008-06-01 Date Added: 2009-05-05 Summary: BMW VEHICLE: ENGINE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS. POOR THROTTLE RESPONSE; LACK OF POWER WHEN ACCELERATING; ENGINE MAY CRANK TOO LONG BEFORE STARTING; LOSS OF POWER AT IDLE OR WHEN SLOWING TO A STOP. E83 (X3) MODELS. *PE
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Replying to: pp2009pp (Sep 26, 2009 10:00 am) What model year is your X3? I had not been following the transmission issue for awhile as I thought that had been resolved. My conjecture on preferring the engine - transmission in the current X3 over our '06 model was based on having previously owned an '06 330Xi, which I thought had the same engine and 6 speed AT as the current X3, and before that we owned an '01 330Xi, which I believe had the same engine & 5 speed AT transmission as our '06 X3. I never had any trouble with the transmission in my '06 330Xi, and I much preferred it's performance over the '01 iteration. I wonder why the transmission worked so well in the sedan but not in the SAV. Bruce
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Replying to: bruceomega (Sep 29, 2009 11:46 am) The acceleration is jerky. It starts and stops and then finds a gear. It sometimes cannot move forward for awhile. Sometimes it has trouble finding R. Intermittent problems all. I do not know if you have the same transmission in your 330xi. Do you have an excessively strong engine brake? I have to accelerate into turns now as it will come to a complete stop all by itself. It is worse in SD. Can you decelerate in D while going downhill without brakes? I am curious to see who has the same problems as I do. I find it to be extremely finicky and temperamental.
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