Ot...BMW X5??
 

I am thinking about buying one and possibly using it to tow...does anyone use one to tow or even own one?

Would you consider the VW Toureg(sp?)?
Supposedly the V8 has tons of torque.

BMW to tow a jet ski????? Maybe??????

That is what I am planning on towing...I thought I mentioned that...and as far as the vw I am not to into the styling...

If you're gonna tow with it,prepare for the repair bills that come along for the ride. Fever Mike is correct,the reliability factor is astounding. You CAN count on it needing help alot ;)

I've had an X5 for a year now. I haven't had any problems at all with it. Drives and rides great. I don't tow anything with it.

Dean

I also have an X5 that the wife drives but don't tow with it. The early models (2000) had issues with electrical problems but my 2002 has had no such issues. If you get a late model you should be OK. It rides better than almost any other sport-u and has great accerlation (especially if you get the V-8's). I have a couple of late model BMW's and they are some of the best cars on the planet!

Thanks for the input guys...I had a 1999 528 then went into a 2002 E Class Benz and am not happy! I am undecided on the new 7 series or an X5...BMW are (to me) a better car by far...

The new 7 Series does have a lot of problems. Many have gone back to dealers under Lemon Law rights. The X5 at this point has had most of its problems solved and is consistently ranked as a very reliable SUV. But, if I were you, I'd save some coin and buy the Infiniti FX45. That is a great SUV in my opinion.

Miller...thanx for the heads up...I will have to check the infinity out...

The Infinity FX45 is BADASS. We checked them out. 315HP with a nice Detroit sounding growl out of dual exhaust. At $52K though, we will be waiting for hurricane Isabel to plop one in our front yard.

The 7 series has all the bugs worked out now. I work at a BMW dealer. The first year cars were a nightmare. They actually didn't buy that many back, although BMW did spend alot to keep customers happy. If you have never driven the new 7 series , you owe it to yourself to do so. It is an awesome car. Also the new 5 series will be out soon, and it has an even better suspension/steering system than the 7 and is incredible to drive.

i had a 2001 x5 3.0 and used it to tow my 21 foot hustler which is about 3500 lbs on 4 hour+ drives from NJ to lake george, no problems with towing, the early model such as that had some electrical problems. I have recently purchased at 2003 X5 4.4, no problems towing what so ever, love it with the boat behind and drives like a dream. They are rated at 7000lb towing capacity. I would definitely go with the x5, they have worked out the kinks and now it is a superior auto.

justin

Two friends own BMW dealerships and have said that the 7 series continues to have problems and that they have lost a lot of money taking back cars from the first batch last year. I'd be happy if they are now reporting fewer problems. Still, that i-drive system is not nearly as intuitive as the system in the new Audi A8 4.2L. For my money, with the reliability, full-time 4 wheel drive and all the new features available, I'd buy the 2004 Audi A8 over the BMW 7 series. I'd also look real hard at the Infiniti FX instead of the BMW X5. But, that's just my view of the world.

WOW...thats alot of input...I appreciate it guys...

Hustler...I had no idea the x5 was rated to tow that much behind it...maby I would try to tow the boat and the ski...well I'll be doing alot of test driving over the next month or so....thanx again...

Guys, don't disregard the VW Touareg, the V8 is a nice
SUV, it is built on the same platform as the Porsche
Cayenne, and actually the body lines on the VW are
better looking than the Porsche.

However, the X5 is still a nice midsize SUV, and I would
agree with the other comments, buy a late model 01-03
since the later cars always have the gremlins worked
out of them;)

the VW and the porsche are brand new cars and neither have been on the market for the true problems to surface, and im sure they havent had enough feedback on problems resulting from towing...i would stay away from new cars in their first year of prduction...or else you are someone else's guinea pig and now thats no fun

I agree with your last comment 21Hustler... In fact, the only things I've heard so far about the Cayenne is that there are a lot of sqeeks and rattles. It's far too early to make a call on the VW or Porsche because they have not been out long enough and they are completely new platforms. It is almost never recommended to buy a first year car no matter how much you love it. There are simply too many things to go wrong. My $.02.

Have had 3 , 2 2000's and a 2001 after I made them take one of the 2000's back. Lots and lots of time spent at the dealer.... both have about 35000 on them now and seem to have all the bugs worked out. I would change out to something else but I do believe they still have the highest safety rating among SUVs and my family is certainly worth it. But to answer the question ,I haven't towed with either, use my work trucks for that.

I'm hoping to get my X5 soon. I have been looking at the market for a mid size SUV and I still can't find better.
I have a Beemer already and a Porsche and a Dodge. I take the Beemer to get my trans adjusted and that takes a day but I get loaner. I took the Porsche to get the convertible liner fixed and that was 5 months ago... they still can't fix it! didn't get a loaner! My Dodge well it's a Dogde. For me it's about technology and service. I'm a girl that doesn't like to be pushed around and BMW has always taken care of me. Benz doesn't come close to engine technology in my opinion. And the Benz SUV just doesn't look right.

I purchased an 03 X5 4.6is in December of last year. Luckily, I have not experienced any of the problems mentioned above. I have not, or will not, pull anything with the X5, but I can attest that it is an awesome SUV. Good luck with your purchase.

As far as engine technology, Benz is consistently at the forefront. If you are talking about horsepower, sporty growl, and throttle response, BMW always has the right sounds and feels...

I'll never own a BMW that is out of warranty (and I like BMW's). I've owned 4.

I prefer Mercedes, but when it comes to SUV's I don't care for the ML Benz much.

There was a negative comment on the 2002 Benz E-class. I'm not a fan of the pre-2003 E-class cars. They have been their most popular and best selling models, but to me they are rolling compromises. Go with a C or an S, skip the E. The new Bimmer 745 is still in need of further development (and needs a more traditional BMW rear end treatment in my opinion).

The little BMW 3's are their bread and butter. The X's I've driven have retained a sporty carlike feel which many like.

If I needed an SUV for driving and towing, I'd stick with a GM Trailblazer or fullsize Yukon OR an Expedition or Excursion (overkill for small stuff). I'd shy away from the Explorer and would never consider the Escape. Jeep Cherokee is still a good choice for midsize towing.

I'd not go with a Nissan of any type for towing. The new Infiniti/Nissan uses an unproven transmission technology that I'd prefer to allow others to debug for me.

Toyota offers some rugged tow machines.

Good luck.

"As far as engine technology, Benz is consistently at the forefront. If you are talking about horsepower, sporty growl, and throttle response, BMW always has the right sounds and feels..."

MC - I'm not sure I agree with you on the engine tech comment. In fact, the only way MB has been competing in the high HP arena is by slapping superchargers on their engines and not advancing them through innovative engine technology enhancements. BMW on the other hand has only created high HP engines through this method (reference M5 or M3). I am not saying which one is best or which one has more HP but instead clarifying your statement on engine technology.

BTW, I am a huge fan of the new MB's (SL's and new E-55). Love their styling and performance!!! Unfortunately MB's overall quality has taken a dump recently according to JD Powers and the latest Overall Owner Satisfaction Survey. In fact, MB slide all the way to something like 36, behind such well known poor quality as most of the American automakers. I found that to be interesting since I was going to make my next car an MB SL or E. Currently. I have 2 bimmers (a new BMW M3 cab and X5) and have owned 3 in the past 3 years. BMW placed first in that survey. Believe it or not, Buick placed second. Then was Toyota (including Lexus) and so on. I thought that was interesting and worth passing on.

Vyper,

No arguments on the horsepower war. BMW's M Motors are and have always been favorites of mine from a sport motor standpoint.

We're still getting mixed up on using horsepower as a primary method of assessing engine technology. Benz has been at the front of the curve from material utilization, combustion efficiency, emissions, torque curve, vibration control, winter heat-up time, serviceability, and reliability (no, I'm not interested in hearing stories about your neighbor's Dodge truck that has 426,000 miles on its original engine).

As far as "innovative engine enhancements", Benz had variable intake timing on its all aluminum Nikasil lined quadcam V8 all the way back in 1990, long before those technologies became buzzwords in the car mags. Turn the clock back a LONG way and you'll see hydraulically adjusted anvils on overhead cam motors, variable pressure assist on cam chain tensioners, high silicon content aluminum in big V8's, impressively intricate pressure lube oiling systems for valve actuation gear, and other cool stuff. The current generation of twinplug multi coil distributorless ignition, 3-valve combustion chambers, and dual length tuned intakes are not a catch-up attempt by following other makers' examples, but are a new generation of good-performing, emissions friendly, and fuel efficient engines that I find some humor in discounting as "old-tech". As far as BMW's high output motors, anybody can cam a motor and spin the dog out of it to get high output - that alone does not impress my "tech meter". To each his own, I guess.

As far as slapping on a supercharger, Benzes blower motors produce monster torque and flat torque curves without spinning the internals to dizzying RPM levels. They use silent-start electromagnetic supercharger clutches and bypass valves to make the start-stop of the blower a virtually seamless and unnoticeable affair. All that and they still idle and have good low end torque (the last M-roadster I drove was awfully soft on the bottom end). I would hardly call their choice a band-aid.

Not that I base my discussion on motors from the the "specialized" divisions (AMG/M-Sport) but the latest AMG version of the Maybach V-12 shows an output of 600 horsepower and 550 ft-lbs of torque from the quad-turbo 5.6 liter V-12.

With that said, I hope that I have made it clear that I do love BMW's for their styling and unparallelled driving dynamics (they have always been a DRIVER's car, the way it SHOULD be).

I do agree that the Benzes of late have shown lax quality issues. Combine that with the common Benz customer who has high expectations, virtually zero mechanical knowledge, and a privileged attitude and you get lots of complaints. BMW has done a great job of marketing their gems to a population of people who appreciate cars and more people have been stepping UP to buy froma pool of people who are decidedly "normal" versus the primadonnas that buy Benzes.

I work on all of my vehicles myself, sometimes even while they are STILL in warranty (I trust ME more than I trust the wrench monkey at the dealership). I have always been impressed with the level of components and the assembly/disassembly methods used in Mercedes above all other brands. I have resisted the newer S-class sedans because the content level has dropped significantly over the pre 99's.

I'm starting to ramble and the bottom line is that there are more cool cars to choose from now than we have ever had. SUV's have gone all weird and we are the benefactors of it (just look at the badass Porsche).

The local dealer in one's area will have more to do with satisfaction than the unit purchased in many cases. Check out your dealer and get comments from other customers on dealer satisfaction.

As far as the original question of this thread:

If you buy an X5 and tow with it, when it comes time to trade it, do a transmission fluid and lube service a week before you go to trade it and do NOT let anybody know that you used it to tow with. Remove any add-on trailer light pigtails and paint the inside of the hitch receiver. Add a nice plastic BMW hitch cover on it. They will kill you on trade in if they think you have been towing anything substantial with it (don't ask the dealer too many questions about towing with it now, cause they'll remember that when you come back for trade in).

I just erased 10 paragraphs on JD Powers. Suffice it to say that my BMW experience has not been as pleasant as my experience with Benzes and that my Ford truck experience has been far better then JD Power said it should be. My sister's Lexus experience has been memorably bad which is opposite of what JD Powers said it should be.

I love all cars (and all boats). But I do have my favorites, as do we all.