BMW X3

[Darrell]

The price might make you fall in love with it If you get a bargain, you can always sell it on if you don't like it

Did that 2 weeks ago with the Volvo S80!!

 

[John]

If it's cheap enough it's worth a punt if it runs well etc. etc.

The one I drove was a company car which was a replacement for a company 2005 3.0 manual the employee had previously but had knee issues so then needed an auto.

It looked exactly like the one in your picture (the newer one was not an unattractive mid-blue colour).

Why did you bin the S80?

 

[Deleted member 150136]

View attachment 111429

I feel sick

 

[Darrell]

Why did you bin the S80?

Because my wife managed to get £800 more than what we paid for it.

 

[Harrythedog]

A cheap car with a reasonably known history that’ll do the job, what’s not to like.

 

[HB]

3.0 l M54 I believe it’s called. One of BMWs best engines. Had 2 of them for my wife in saloon and then in touring guise. Genuinely reliable, never spent a penny other than routine services.

However swapped the 330i touring for a 3.0d X3 - The engine basically self imploded. Rest of the car was actually quite good.

 

[V6GBJ]

The model I’m looking at is 3.0 Sport.

Mine was a 2017 30d Msport and had a rock hard ride even after fitting smaller wheels. Never liked it, bought a GLE instead.

 

[SpikyMikey]

Mine was a 2017 30d Msport and had a rock hard ride even after fitting smaller wheels. Never liked it, bought a GLE instead.

Agreed; we had an X3 2.0D MSport on the company fleet, the ride was really hard, even compared with my 3 Series Touring MSport

 

[Meldrew2]

One of BMW's first attempts - not a loveable car but not at all awful (the current X3 is MUCH improved). If the price is right...

My wife's X1 runs on normal tyres (the runflats were backbreaking) but my X4 is on the OEM runflats and is quite comfortable to drive - even with the 20 inch wheels. Not as forgiving on rough surfaces as my old ML was though.

 

[Deleted member 150136]

With the older one that Darrell is looking at, you need to get the tyres matched right(is it * tyres?) Or it throws the diff out and plays havoc with all the traction and stuff lights.
Generally people fit 4 tyres at a time to keep it equal.

 

[Nat]

They're pretty good cars. I had a 3.0i sport in Tenerife for a couple of years and it done what I wanted it to do (as to be in a car going from A to B) plus I didn't want a french pile of plastic littering my driveway. The dash layout was a bit boring but then some people will say that of Mercs. Apart from servicing and tyres it ran well and wasn't a lot of money to run. My UK neighbour had one and it was ok apart from some plastic cog needed for the 4wd to work properly. From memory that wasn't a cheap fix.

That looks like the SE as I'm sure the sport had colour coded bumpers, etc. If it's cheap enough then get it otherwise you'll find a dear car anywhere

 

[Darrell]

With the older one that Darrell is looking at, you need to get the tyres matched right(is it * tyres?) Or it throws the diff out and plays havoc with all the traction and stuff lights.
Generally people fit 4 tyres at a time to keep it equal.

Thanks for that. I’ll check the tyres.

I think they’re quite new as they were an advisory in a previous MOT.

 

[Darrell]

That looks like the SE as I'm sure the sport had colour coded bumpers, etc. If it's cheap enough then get it otherwise you'll find a dear car anywhere

I think it came up as a Sport model on AskMid or the MOT checker.

 

[Deleted member 150136]

They're pretty good cars. I had a 3.0i sport in Tenerife for a couple of years and it done what I wanted it to do (as to be in a car going from A to B) plus I didn't want a french pile of plastic littering my driveway. The dash layout was a bit boring but then some people will say that of Mercs. Apart from servicing and tyres it ran well and wasn't a lot of money to run. My UK neighbour had one and it was ok apart from some plastic cog needed for the 4wd to work properly. From memory that wasn't a cheap fix.

That looks like the SE as I'm sure the sport had colour coded bumpers, etc. If it's cheap enough then get it otherwise you'll find a dear car anywhere

Yes the cog thing is also an issue, there's also a thing underneath you can/may need to change when the tyres wear uneven.
I had all these issues with mine, everywhere kept saying change all 4 tyres and it'll be fine(it had two brand new on the rear and the fronts were very good), as they weren't star rated( or whatever it is).
I just binned it off for export as I wasn't going to spend £600 on tyres I didn't need.

I didn't know all these things until I bought it

 

[Piff]

Got a 2017 X3 X-Line. Standard suspension & 19" run-flats - ride is fine. Its a 2.0 D with a lovely spec. Would have preferred a 3.0 D but not available at the time in the spec I wanted.
Only criticisms so far are "unusual" power steering - feels too light at times and windscreen washers spray a heavy jet (rather than a fine spray) but only a quarter of the way up the windscreen - under investigation.

 

[Darrell]

The seed has been sown.

 

[John]

The seed has been sown.

Have you been dogging again?

 

[DaveE320CDI]

Hi Darrell, Sorry missed the petrol bit !

 

[Darrell]

Have you been dogging again?

I was actually going to say “I saw the neighbours son earlier and the seed has been sown”.

 

[Darrell]

Hi Darrell, Had quite a few BMWs and the 3.0 diesel is the sweetspot of them very little goes wrong honestly apart from glow plugs and controller, mechanically there bullit proof ! no black death or injector problems with these regular oil and filter changes are all they ask for, no leaking radiators into auto box fluid no limp mode, great ZF gearbox, buy it for the right money you will not regret it, ive also had loads of mercedes too but im a bit of a sucker for fixing them

Hi Dave,
The car I’m looking at is the 3.0 petrol.