2004 BMW X5 consumer reviews

I have owned Audis, Acuras, Saabs and this is my first BMW. I can honestly say there is a reason why this car is more premium in price. While it is expensive it maintains its value being that there is not one cheap part in the entire vehicle. The car operates flawlessly and is the type of car you buy and hold for a long time. I have traditionally changed cars about 2 years. After 18 months the car still feels new and interesting. Reliability excellent and its quality is outstanding. Nothing more to say.

Don't buy this car without an extended warranty it is the most unreliable car I've ever had. The dealer wants to charge me 4000 dollars for a new panoramic sunroof and i've been in the dealership at least once a month. All this only happened after the Warrant expired.

Really a very nice car, but it rides exceedingly stiff with the sport suspension on 19" rims. So skip the sport suspension! Note that I love tighter cars, and have had an M5 and 740 sport..but the X5 is over the top on stiffness with the sport suspension. Also, the panoramic sunroof (the BIG sunroof!) can leak very slightly(ours fixed under warranty) and there is a software upgrade avail. from BMW for a "clunking" transmission (we have a 2004 w/6-spd auto). Aside from that, it's great...fast, great brakes, good sound system, we love the sport seats, the nav is much better than earlier BMW nav systems, the finish is fantastic, etc. Ours has 40K miles on it with very few issues.

I've been driving an X5 for a few weeks now and the first thing that struck me about it was how substantial it is. Heavy doors. high-effort and purposful controls. Accurate but deliberate handling. Gutsy and lovely-sounding V-6. There's a subsystem or adjustment for everything. This car makes my Acura feel like an economy car. When they say German engineering, I get it now. It has less to do with build quaility (like a Toyota) and more to do with servicability, material quality and durability.