BMW X5 For Sale
BMW X5, 2006. $3,250
e-mail: jim.cathey.pb@gmail.com
or telephone: (360) 608-1910
Why Selling?
This car was my wife's Mom-mobile, used for car-pooling kids to
school. But, our kid is an adult now and it's again just the two of
us most times; after ten-plus years we simply don't need it anymore.
We have smaller cars for scooting around in, and a big truck for when
we need to carry more. Clearing out the driveway a bit will ease our
minds, and maybe cut down on the necessary car maintenance.
The Good
- It's a quiet and comfortable car. All wheel drive and
(aftermarket) heated seats, front and back—it's pretty
decent in the winter—especially with good snow tires on it.
Spacious and flexible.
- Has an aftermarket hitch on the rear that we used for carrying
bikes, and a cargo rack on top that we used for carrying kayaks.
(The electrical part of the hitch is only partially fitted, but I
used official BMW parts, which are getting hard to come by. It's
just a matter of putting it together mechanically if you want to
tow something that has lights. We were gearing up for towing a
parade float when we got a truck that would just do the job
without all the fuss.)
- 2006 model has the hill descent mode system taken from Land Rover,
which we've used a few times on the bad winter days when we
couldn't stay home and the road from our house in the hills down
to the valley floor was an ice-sheet luge track on which no sane
person would consider driving. Magic!
- Has the HID headlights, it lights up the road pretty well.
- Inline
6 VANOS
engine, which is more fuel-efficient and much easier to work on
than the V8 models, as well as being generally more reliable. My
wife got roughly 21 MPG, I get roughly
24 MPG. The car has plenty of get up and go,
even with the smaller engine.
- Low (123kmi) miles on its second engine. (The engine failure was
a freak, and everybody we consulted, mechanics and the
people at the dealership alike, expressed considerable surprise
that the original I6 engine had failed. BMW's I6 is one of the
most reliable engines out there.)
- Upholstery is in excellent condition, no tears. The interior does
not look all beat up and chewed. (No pets, no smoking.) We did
our best to treat the car well, and when car pooling it
was not a rolling cafeteria. The Little Darlings did
their eating elsewhere.
- The roll-up cargo cover is still there, and in very good shape.
The window shades in the rear doors work.
- Two original keys. (One had its rechargeable battery replaced
when it failed.)
The Bad
- Higher miles than one might like, over 300kmi, but it is
on its second engine, which only has 123kmi on it. So, not as bad
as all that. And the I6 engine has an outstanding reputation for
reliability.
- The radio has failed. This is an integrated navigation
monstrosity comprised of several large units scattered around the
car, which means that repairing or replacing it, at least at the
time it failed, was much more difficult and/or expensive than we
liked. So we didn't. Things might be different now, you can
decide. Or just use your phone instead, which is what we do.
- Sometimes the passenger seat thinks there's somebody sitting there
when they aren't, and you have to buckle the seat belt to shut up
the nannies. (Or find someone to exorcise the ghost sitting in
the seat...)
- On rare occasion the car won't crank and start right away, it acts
like you're not trying to start it at all. Holding the key in the
start position for a few seconds while it thinks about it, or at
worst taking it out and putting it back in again (the 'IT Crowd'
solution) will cause it to crank and start. (Stupid computers,
they're putting them in everything now...) It
has always started for us.
The Ugly
The extras, that is! Some extra items go with the car:
- A set of flaking chromed BMW wheels, with worn tires. (These are
what came on the car when we got it. I replaced them with good
painted take-offs.)
- Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded snow tires on their own (painted, BMW)
wheels. Only three snow tires, one was destroyed by driving too
far on it when flat, so last winter I used one of the above extra
wheels as the fourth. (The bare fourth wheel is fine, only the
tire itself was destroyed.) IMHO these snow tires are unequalled,
and last a long time. (If you don't drive on them when flat!)
- Kayak/ski bars for the roof rack.
- The receipts for the parts that were replaced during our
ownership. (Coolant tank, radiator fan, AC compressor,
alternator, catastrophic converters, engine, door handles, etc.)
Pictures:
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