How much to budget for Maintenance & Repairs

[coupedncal]

I am looking at the X5 diesel from this 2014-2019 generation as a possible purchase. My plan is to buy a used one with about 30K-50K miles. My previous BMW was an i3 REX that I kept for 3 years and the only thing I did was replace two rear tires. So that ownership experience was flawless and the car was drop dead reliable. I am sure that will not be the case with an X5. Hence my questions:

(1) How much to budget for maintenance and repairs? I am a slice and dice numbers-in-a-spreadsheet guy and I need to figure out the cost to hold this for a long time. Say 10 years and 200K miles. I do basic work myself but any engine work that will require tearing stuff apart will be at a non dealer workshop at say $150 an hour labor cost.

(2) How much should I expect to pay for a used say 2014 or 2015 model diesel.

(3) Where do you guys go to look for private party deals? My preference would be to avoid dealers as you don't get repair history on most dealer purchases and I would prefer to get that info.

[InsipidMonkey]

I'm by no means an expert on this, but just went through all of this myself. Here are my thoughts:

Originally Posted by coupedncal

(1) How much to budget for maintenance and repairs? I am a slice and dice numbers-in-a-spreadsheet guy and I need to figure out the cost to hold this for a long time. Say 10 years and 200K miles. I do basic work myself but any engine work that will require tearing stuff apart will be at a non dealer workshop at say $150 an hour labor cost.

Hard to say with any confidence. As long as you keep up with maintenance (air/fuel filters, oil/transmission fluid/diff fluid/PS fluid/coolant changes, carbon cleaning, mounts) the F15 seems to be quite reliable except for a few common issues (eg air springs, fuel pump, belts/tensioner, etc).

You'll likely have to take care of some diesel emissions stuff if you're planning on keeping it to 200k. Many choose to go the ABC delete route once they're out of warranty coverage if it becomes an issue.

Originally Posted by coupedncal

(2) How much should I expect to pay for a used say 2014 or 2015 model diesel.

If you're looking for a 2014 or 2015 with less than 50k miles, probably in the $25-$37k range depending on year and options. I searched through hundreds of listings to find the one I ended up with, but was looking for a particular combination of rare options. If you're planning on keeping it for 10 years I would certainly make the extra effort to find one that is well-equipped with the options you want (comfort seats, LED headlights, cold weather, premium, surround view are musts, IMO; suspension upgrades highly recommended; night vision, DA+, sound upgrades, nappa leather, spare tire, soft close doors, leather dash, ceramic controls all should be strongly considered; M sport, 3rd row based on your preferences)

Originally Posted by coupedncal

(3) Where do you guys go to look for private party deals? My preference would be to avoid dealers as you don't get repair history on most dealer purchases and I would prefer to get that info.

I found cars.com and the BMW CPO website the best for finding vehicles. I've never had an issue obtaining a full service history ("Warranty Vehicle Inquiry") for a vehicle by just asking a SA nicely, regardless of whether I purchased from a BMW dealership or somewhere else. I highly recommend you request the service history from a BMW dealer for any BMW you're seriously considering purchasing because it contains far more info than any other source (especially for vehicles still under or just out of factory warranty). If you get a PPI done at a BMW dealership they usually just give it to you along with the inspection report.

[coupedncal]

Originally Posted by InsipidMonkey

You'll likely have to take care of some diesel emissions stuff if you're planning on keeping it to 200k. Many choose to go the ABC delete route once they're out of warranty coverage if it becomes an issue.

Thanks for such a detailed response. I appreciate it. Could you elaborate on this further? What does ABC delete mean?

[InsipidMonkey]

Originally Posted by coupedncal

Thanks for such a detailed response. I appreciate it. Could you elaborate on this further? What does ABC delete mean?

See here: https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1525210

[MrTookies]

Originally Posted by InsipidMonkey

See here: https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1525210

Thanks for referencing my thread ;-)

I second what he said earlier! Only issue I had (purchased new) on my now 130k mile X5 Diesel was emissions related!

One of the reasons I bought a new vehicle was because I couldn't find the option combination that I wanted. Major items M-Sport / ACC+ / LED Headlight and it being a certain color Diesel... I was debating if the ACC + would be worth the extra money... I would have been very mad at myself now if I would have not gone that route!