Is a 2015 BMW X5 suitable for country highway driving and some tough terrain?

The biggest determining factor in how a car copes with tougher terrain is driver behaviour. Drive the car sensibly, sympathetically and to the conditions and you'll be amazed where most cars will happily take you. But get it wrong and drive in a ham-fisted way, and even the roughest, toughest four-wheel-drive will suffer and fail. The BMW X5 is a soft-roader at best, but should definitely have the suspension to tackle rough roads (as opposed to off-road). The biggest challenge will be the tyres fitted. Many of these vehicles had huge wheels with tyres with very little sidewall. These tyres are easily damaged on rough roads. Since luggage space is not a critical issue for you, I'd suggest buying a full-sized spare tyre that fits the car, as the SUV's usual space-saver or tyre repair kit can be fairly useless in such conditions. But you also need to be honest about your intentions. By mud and water, do you mean the odd puddle, or 10km of rutted farm track with bog-holes for good measure? If there's any off-road work at all, then you need an off-road four-wheel-drive, not an SUV.

How much does the Porsche Macan cost to maintain?

You’d think this would be a fairly simple question to answer, but in reality, it’s far from it. It seems neither BMW nor Porsche offer what we know as fixed or capped price servicing, that is; a known price that the service will cost, paid when you need to have it carried out. This is not uncommon with prestige brands and reflects the changing costs of imported service parts as well as different marketing approaches. BMW, however, comes closest to this concept with what it calls its Service Inclusive Basic Plan which requires the car’s buyer to pay up front, typically for the first five years, of servicing when the car is purchased. That sounds odd, but it makes sense to buyers leasing their cars as the service costs are then paid for as part of the financing package. In the case of the BMW X4, this package, which covers consumables such as filters, oil, spark plugs and brake fluid (but not clutches, brake pads and windscreen wipers; that’s another step up to the Service Inclusive Plus Plan) lasts for five years or 80,000km (whichever comes first) and works out to an average of $350 per service or a total of $1750 over the plan’s duration. Fundamentally, it’s like other car-makers’ capped-price servicing but you pay up front for it. Meanwhile, at Porsche, the servicing costs for a Macan over the same 80,000km/five-year period will depend on what state you live in as labour rates vary from state to state. Since you’re from NSW, I’ll use the data from that state. As such, the Macan will need an annual service at one-year/15,000km costing $695. The next service at two years/30,000km is an intermediate service at $995, followed by another annual service at three years/45,000km ($695 again). The four-year/60,000km service is a major one costing $1750, followed by the five- year/75,000km service at $695 to end with. In total, that’s a grand total of $4830, making the Porsche by far the most expensive car to service for those first five years.

BMW X8 - Will BMW build an SUV bigger than the X7?

With the Germans in particular hungry to mine every single niche – fanned by the flames of electrification and a hunger by the ever-growing number of global billionaires for the biggest and best – an 'uber, uber SUV' above the X7 will probably happen. BMW is saying nothing of course, and we're only speculating here, but if it ever happens, it would almost certainly be electric or electrified, and may spawn a Rolls-Royce offshoot, since BMW owns that English brand. So, nothing for now, but don't bet against an X8 or even X9. They're likely inevitable given enough time.

BMW X5 diesel problems

Despite the price and BMW’s reputation, this series of X5 was not without its problems. Specific to the diesel-engined versions was a raft of things to watch out for when shopping for a second-hand X5. Those start with a poorly designed intake system which used small flaps in each inlet trat designed to create better air and fuel mixing and, therefore, more complete burning of the fuel. The problem was that these little flaps were secured by two screws each, and these could become loose and fall into the engine with catastrophic results. In some cases, the screws could even migrate into the turbocharger unit, destroying it. Like many other brands of modern turbo-diesel, the X5 could also be afflicted by problems caused by a blocked Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). If the vehicle was used for urban work rather than highway running, the DPF could become clogged and unable to regenerate itself. Any X5 diesel with a `Service Engine Soon’ light illuminated on the dashboard is a potential problem child. The car’s exhaust gas recirculation valve could also leak, causing faults within the emissions-control system, while the electronics associated with the fuel injectors could also be damaged by water entering the engine compartment. Beyond the diesel engine, the rest of the X5 package was not without problems, either. Those can include electronic issues, poor water sealing around the body, noisy suspension and problems with petrol-engined variants as well. Fundamentally, this was not BMW’s finest hour quality-wise. It’s also worth noting that even though the BMW brand is a German one, this generation of X5s was manufactured in South Carolina in the USA.

Would swapping 20-inch wheels for 18-inch wheels affect the handling and safety of my BMW X5?

Urban dwellers love the look of huge wheels and low-profile tyres, but their country cousins generally hate them. That’s because those some giant wheel and tyre packages make the car ride more harshly and the tyres themselves are more prone to damage because there’s less sidewall to soak up impacts. Switching to an 18-inch wheel and a tyre with more sidewall would definitely make the car ride better, but it’s not always that simple. For a start, you might run into problems in a legal and insurance sense because you’ve suddenly modified the car. To get around that, you should stick to the smallest wheel and tyre package that the manufacturer specified for that vehicle. In the case of a current model BMW X5 that’s a 19-inch wheel and tyre. That’s going to give a better ride than the 20-inch items you currently have, but it won’t be as big an improvement as an 18-inch package. If, however, yours is not the current model X5, then previous models did, in fact, offer an 18-inch package. Either way, check with your insurance company that you’re not transgressing at some pedantic level and check, too, that the smaller wheels won’t drastically alter the overall gearing and suddenly make your speedometer inaccurate. As for handling and braking, the differences between an 18-inch and 20-inch wheel tyre package would only be felt on a race-track and not in everyday driving conditions. But the improvement to ride quality will be felt every time you drive the vehicle.

What year BMW X4 can I purchase on my budget?

It depends on which model X4 you want. With $65,000 you should be able to get into a 2018 model.

BMW X3: replacement key cost

Generally the cost will depend on the variant and year. You can get more information on quick and cheap key replacments from dealers or automotive locksmiths here.

BMW X5: Replacement key cost

An automotive locksmith might be able to help you on the cheap, but if they can't you'll need to go to your dealer. You can read more about how to replace your key fob here.

BMW X1 2011: Seats cracking

I presume the seats are leather. Leather needs regular maintenance with cleaner and conditioner to keep it supple and prevent it from drying out and cracking. You can buy leather conditioner at all major auto outlets.

BMW X Models 2005 Problems

No car is perfect, but we've gathered everything relating to the BMW X Models 2005 reliability here to help you decide if it's a smart buy.

Ford, Mazda lead latest safety recalls

27 Jun 2018 · by Spencer Leech

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has published its latest round of safety recalls, with models from Ford, Mazda, BMW, Kia, Audi, Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Lamborghini affected.

Used BMW X3 review: 2004-2015

22 Feb 2017 · by Ewan Kennedy

Ewan Kennedy reviews the 2004-2015 BMW X3 as a used buy. BMW was one of the early prestige companies to spot the surge in interest in SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles). Realising that most SUV buyers ...

Used BMW X5 review: 2000-2015

1 Feb 2016 · by Ewan Kennedy

Ewan Kennedy reviews the first, second and third generation BMW X5 from 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 as a used buy.

Used BMW X5 review: 2000-2003

19 Aug 2014 · by Graham Smith

Carsguide reader Ramon Cruz is intending to test drive a 2003 BMW X5 4.4i, which has done 180,000 km, and asks if we could advise him of what he should look for with this model? New The surging ...

Used BMW X3 review: 2004-2012

26 Aug 2013 · by Ewan Kennedy

It’s not just we Aussies and the Yanks that love their SUVs, Europeans have really been getting into them in recent years; and the big name German marques have quickly cottoned onto the boom in these ...

Used BMW X3 review: 2004-2006

9 Jun 2011 · by Graham Smith

Once the X5, BMW's SUV breakthrough model had blazed a trail across our 4WD landscape it was to be expected that the company would follow it up with a more compact model. That was the X3 and it ...

Aircon comparison between cars

Answered by CarsGuide 12 Oct 2010

Generally it was always felt that the air-conditioning of European cars wasn’t up to the task for Australia; that was because there wasn’t the demand for powerful A/C in Europe where the climate is generally milder. But when the European carmakers began to move on to the world market and export their cars to places like America where the demand for good A/C is very high they have improved the performance of the A/C systems in their cars. The cars you say have had good air are cars that are typically built for the US market, those you say don’t have good performance are not. A/C systems soak up quite a bit of engine power in driving the compressor and that has a greater impact on smaller engines than big ones, and again the cars you are critical of have smaller engines, so they will also probably run smaller compressors.

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