Yesterday, I did something that surprised me a little. For reasons that I still cannot quite explain, I decided to give a guy $5,000 for a car. That car is not a Volkswagen Phaeton W12, a vehicle that I keep yammering on about; instead, it’s a first-generation BMW X5 with a manual transmission. This is apparently a rare beast, with fewer than 5,000 sold in the United States. Unfortunately, I celebrated my purchase by absolutely nuking the clutch, and so I begin on a new path of Autopain.
This weekend I will be embarking on only my second Gambler 500 event of the whole year. Admittedly, things have been a bit of a crazy for my partner Sheryl and I. A series of weird events have happened, and stacked on top of wedding planning, it means that we haven’t done much of any off-roading. In fact, the one and only Gambler 500 that we attended resulted in our van trying to burn itself to the ground. I haven’t been able to build many hours flying planes, either. Still, I was able to scratch a few things off of my bucket list like going to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022. Things have thankfully settled down recently. And this Friday, I’m going to do a bunch of wheeling during the Missourah Endurah Gambler 500. I’ve decided that my chariot for this event will be my trusty but rusty 2005 Volkswagen Touareg VR6 (shown below). After all, when I bought it last year the goal was to take it off-road.
Sheryl, my love and my enabler, said that if I’m making the beater Touareg a Gambler, I should get something to replace it as a non-Gambler. Never one to say no when the future spouse literally tells me to buy a car, I started looking around.
As you all know by now, I’ve been searching hard for a dirt cheap Volkswagen Phaeton W12. I didn’t find one that would make it home under its own power, so I started expanding my search to my greater “bucket list” of cars. These aren’t dream cars, but things that I want to own at least once. Soon, I found myself flipping through web pages of Mazda Miatas, Mercedes-Benz MLs, various German roadsters, imported vehicles, obscure electric cars, Jeep Grand Cherokees, and even a conversion van with a 7.3-liter Power Stroke turbodiesel.
Somewhere down the line, I found an unexpected rarity. As I flipped through pages including first-generation BMW X5s, some of them were noted to have manual transmissions. Wait, a BMW X5 with a manual transmission?
Most of these ads were poorly marked. They clearly had automatics, but somewhere along the way someone selected the manual option — classic. But then, I started running into ads that showed X5s with a true, honest three-pedal manual transmission.
And most of those listings mentioned specifically that the car came that way from the factory.
If you search the web for articles about the BMW X5 with a manual transmission, you’re likely to find a couple of pieces by Doug DeMuro and one from the guys at CarThrottle. Aside from some other videos on YouTuber, that’s pretty much it. Somehow, these machines have been flying under our radars for two decades.
The BMW X5’s Origins
According to an archived Pharma+Food German business magazine article, the BMW X5’s story starts in 1994. Back then, project manager Eduard Walek joined forces with engineer Chris Chapman, design head Chris Bangle, and designer Frank Stephenson in BMW Group’s Designworks in California. Their idea was to offerg a new kind of vehicle for the BMW brand. It would cater to a market that BMW left wide open: off-roaders.
The team’s idea, however, was not to build the greatest off-road SUV. Instead, the guys wanted to build a large, luxurious vehicle that an owner could take to an opera one night, then use to go fishing the next day. But they wanted to find just the right mix of off-road capability while maintaining the on-road prowess that BMWs of the time were known for.
BMW’s research showed that just three to five percent of SUV owners in America actually take them off-road, so BMW decided to favor on-road feel over off-road capability.
Around the same time, BMW purchased 80 percent of Rover Group, acquiring the last 20 percent from Honda not long later. This now meant that BMW was in control of Land Rover, and the California BMW team was able to borrow some tech from the British brand. One of the bits trickled down from Land Rover is the X5’s hill-descent control system. You can also see some possible Land Rover influence in the X5’s split-folding tailgate.
Stephenson goes further to say that the X5’s platform came from the acquisition of Land Rover and the automaker wanted to see what a BMW SUV would look like. He drew up initial sketches during a flight:
Further helping BMW’s quest for good road feel, X5s enjoy unibody construction and independent suspension. And the all-wheel-drive system is tuned so that 62 percent of the power goes to the rear. BMW also went in a different marketing direction than Land Rover. BMW distanced itself from off-roaders in calling the X5 a Sports Activity Vehicle rather than Sport Utility Vehicle.
The X5 began production in 1999 for the 2000 model year. BMW built them in America at the BMW Spartanburg plant in Greer, South Carolina, where it continues to build vehicles today. The logic here is to build its SUVs in its biggest SUV market. This plant doesn’t just build BMWs for America, either, as it builds models that get exported.
I got my first taste of an X5 back in early 2020. Back then, I drove a second-generation model. It had the smallest engine–a 3.0-liter straight six making 260 HP–but it was more lively than any SUV that I drove prior, and I instantly fell in love.
The Search
At first, I didn’t target manuals, but just any good X5. Unfortunately, second-gens were pricey, and first-gens were broken. It seemed that just about every listing mentioned either broken window regulators, broken door handles, or a combination of both. On two listings that I’ve seen, descriptions mentioned door handles that were broken on every door, inside and out. That seller suggested getting in by twisting the key in the door lock to activate the function that drops the windows. Then you hop in, Dukes style.
In an even more incredible listing, a seller said that all door handles and all windows were broken. How did he get in? By crawling in through the trunk. And those aren’t the worst of it. A number of the cheap 4.4-liter V8 X5s for sale out there are immobile from timing chain guide failures. Others have crippled electrical systems, perpetual check engine lights, and wrecked interiors.
Apparently these issues aren’t isolated. Go to an enthusiast site like Opposite-Lock and you’ll find all sorts of folks struggling with their old Beemers. It seemed that I’d never find one with that perfect mix of cheap and still in decent shape.
That’s when I found two first-gens that caught my eye. One was fully loaded 2003 X5 with the 3.0-liter M54 straight six with 21-inch wheels, beautiful blue paint, no rust, and apparently, the seller spent thousands refreshing the engine and suspension. Like our Adrian Clarke, I am a sucker for big wheels, so I drove four hours one-way to Indianapolis to take a look at a 170,000-mile BMW.
Unfortunately, the car was not quite as was detailed in the listing. The paint had a lot of damage with missing clearcoat and what appears to be an attempt to spray paint faded paint. Inside, the windows were held up with wooden blocks, and sure enough, most of the door handles didn’t work. Neither did much of the electrics. It contradicted the listing’s claim that everything worked great.
I took it for a test drive, anyway, and fell in love all over again. I adore the precise throttle response of these early X5s. Neither of my Volkswagen Touaregs even come close to the feel of the pedal. And the steering, it’s heavy and you feel what the wheels are doing through it. True to the seller’s word, the suspension did feel new and the engine was buttery smooth. I’m a huge fan of Volkswagen’s VR6, but BMW’s M54 is right there (maybe better?) in feel and sound. So if a clapped out X5 was this nice, I had to find a better one. I decided to hone in on the second one.
My 2003 BMW X5 3.0i
This one was a white 2003, with a big rust spot on the lower tailgate and a higher price. It was much closer at only 30 minutes from home, too. But it did have something that the other X5 did not: a manual transmission.
BMW doesn’t appear to have ever published production figures, but enthusiasts believe that there are just 4,446 first-generation BMW X5s in America with manual transmissions. And BMW put manuals in the X5 only for one generation, so these less than 4,500 examples are it.
When I got there, the paint was in better than expected condition. Save for the rust on the tailgate, the body has held up well to 164,000 miles of daily driving.
And unlike my beater Touareg, where replacing the tailgate will be an ordeal, it looks like replacing this lower tailgate should be a walk in the park. The bolts appear to be easily exposed and don’t appear to require a contortionist to work them.
Inside, the interior is in great shape, with the most wear coming from a burn on the driver seat.
Oh, and everything works. Every door handle does its thing, every window goes up and down without drama. Heck, even the parking sensors still work. That air-conditioner blows so cold that keeping at 60 degrees would chill you out. It’s clear that this X5’s multiple owners tried to keep it in good shape despite living in the Midwest.
Then I took it for a test drive. And while those automatic X5s were good, they didn’t have anything on this manual. With 225 horses and lb-ft torque on tap, the 3.0-liter engine works to get the X5 up to speed. It really seems like the manual transmission is the perfect pairing for getting the most out of that engine.
An X5 with a manual transmission sprints its way to 60 mph in about eight and a half seconds. It’s not fast, but the manual makes it such an engaging experience that you won’t care. Paired to the tight steering, you might even feel inclined to find some curves to take it around. I sure did.
When it comes to manual cars, I test clutch health by giving the vehicle a high load at low speed. In the X5, this originally resulted in nothing surprising happening. Engine revs built up right alongside speed. The seller believed that the clutch was the original. 164,000 miles on the original clutch seemed amazing to me, but not unheard of.
Given the good condition inside and out, I handed the seller $5,000 and drove away with a huge smile on my face. Then I broke my new toy.
There Goes The Clutch
The X5 drove the route home just fine. I even intentionally took a longer route involving high speed on the highway, stop-and-go traffic, and other situations that would test the transmission. And, it did well. Even when I punched the throttle, everything held firm. I did a 0-60 test, running it to redline through the gears. The engine sang, the clutch bit, and I left Sheryl’s Prius in my dust. I began to think that maybe the seller was wrong when he said that it had an original clutch.
After I got it home, I decided to drive out to the local dam for sunset pictures. After getting my photos, I turned around for home.
Then I screwed up.
The manual transmissions in these SUVs have an incredibly short first and second gear. First is so short that you’d have to work to stall it. This is a crawler gear of sorts, and I reckon it would be great for utilizing the X5’s 6,000-lb towing capacity or for off-roading. It’s not so good at getting you out into traffic with gusto. You should probably start in second when trying to get going fast. I didn’t.
As I hit the top of first going into traffic, it hit me that I wasn’t going nearly fast enough. In a panic, I quickly selected second then put the hammer down. But I must have been sloppy with my footwork because the revs went up but the speed didn’t. Catching it, I selected third, which did grab. I managed to get up to speed without messing up the flow of traffic, but I believe it happened at the expense of what life the clutch had left. I’ve never killed a clutch before, so you could imagine how many times that I’ve already cursed myself out.
Perhaps I did nothing wrong and it was just a time-of-life failure. After all, this was allegedly the original clutch. Either way, it definitely slips when you give it a bunch of throttle in any gear. That did not happen before. And that means that my BMW is broken before the honeymoon is even over.
Amusingly, it’s not the shortest amount of time that I’ve owned a vehicle before it broke on me. That distinction goes to my now former Volkswagen Phaeton V8, which overheated within an hour of ownership.
The plan with this one is to have it do what I used to do with the Touareg VR6. It’s going to tow around my fleet of motorcycles and tiny cars. I am a bit bummed that I’m going to have to spend some dough on a new clutch and probably a new flywheel. But I do like the thought that this rare unit will have a fresh clutch that I won’t have to worry about for a while. It’s better that the clutch failed now and not, say, while I was towing something.
With a new lower tailgate it’ll look even better, too. And really, for once I’m happy that my list of repairs is this short. That’s how much this X5 is in good shape. I’m afraid that this is going to start a new addiction. Loving bad Volkswagens, and orphan Smarts are hard enough, so does this mean that I’m going to start collecting BMWs, too?
(Photo credits to the author unless otherwise noted.)
I like the Euro-only first-gen ML230 more than I should. The first-gen M-class was available in Europe with the 2.3L I4 and 5-speed manual. They are old enough to (re) import here
“I Bought A Rare BMW X5 With A Manual Transmission….”
Oh, cool!
“…And It’s Already Broken”
That checks out.
Get a good local independent BMW shop to check it over. That can be worth it’s weight just for the financial planning purposes.
I love BMWs, but I will never DD one again. They are the definition of Autopain. Too high a risk.
I’ve owned a few different BMWs (multiple E30, an E36, E46, my current DD E82 128i), and none of them have been problematic. The only major issue I had was with my E30 318iS when the steering rack shit itself, and that was just a very, *very* long day replacing with a Z3 rack.
Granted, it seems that as you go higher in the model range and manufacturing year for BMWs, the more risk you are facing. But up to a point, provided you kept up on the regular maintenance, the pre-F-series entry-level BMWs (e.g., I6, no turbo, manual transmission) are pretty reliable.
Fuel pumps on E30s die at 100k like clockwork. Other than some coolant hoses, I don’t think I had a single other problem and unlike my E90, zero oil leaks.
Fuel pumps, water pumps, and M20 timing belts – but those are all maintenance items (and in the case of the M42/M44-equipped E30/E36’s, the stupid profile gasket, but that’s not terminal and not *horribly* expensive). Again, if you pay attention to the maintenance schedules (and if you keep up on the amendments / updates to said schedules) on the older BMWs, they can be very reliable / durable.
But I’ve had no significant issues, other than the normal oil leaking through gaskets after 80,000 miles on the N52-equipped 128i.
I’m trying to remember how much BMW paid to acquire Land Rover’s legendary reliability and cost of ownership. /s
That might explain the leaking oil gaskets in M52/M54/N52 motors (which are otherwise quite reliable). The old Rover ‘marking one’s territory’ feature…
Awesome car I’ve thought about buying one of these! This generation might be the best looking SUV ever IMO. I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself that clutch was almost certainly on the verge of letting o, they can fail suddenly with no warning happened catastrophically on a friend’s audi. Or on a mazda I had years ago, admittedly after a lot of abuse-it was my first “performance” car- it was still totally drivable but started slipping out of the blue one day if you floored it, had about 140K on the clock. Also don’t know about the AWD x5 but on the e46 3 series a clutch replacement runs $800-$1500 hopefully an X5 is somewhere in that range.
Same form of slipping clutch happened to me and my E39, which is basically an E53 without stilts.
I’m suspecting the second clutch replacement is not so distant either.
M54: What the CCV system and coolant system – both are prone to sudden catastrophic failure at right around your mileage — BMW best practice is to replace both completely on a proactive basis. I recommend this for the CCV – its bad ass. I had one for my E46.
https://germanautosolutions.com/store/german-auto-solutions-m54-ccv-replacement-kit/
I’m not 100% sure what setup the X5 had — some version of the M54 had different valve covers etc. that impacted the CCV version.
Anyway – awesome car – congratulations!!
Great sunset pics!
“Golden Hour” is named appropriately. Anyone who does outdoor photography for a living knows about it, and anyone selling anything that is photographed outside should learn about it for their listing photos.
Man, those first gen X5s really have aged very well. Now I sort of want one even though I don’t really have any use for an SUV
I’m far from a BMW expert but I think this is one of the most reliable combos that you can buy from that era, the M54 with a manual.
I drove E39s with this drivetrain, a very pleasant driver’s car.
It’s in nice shape despite the badly aging interior in these.
Not a bad deal, even if the clutch went out, that’s just a wear item. I’d say this was a very sane purchase.
Anyone else think it’s pretty obvious “Autopain” should become a regular feature on this site?
I’d read it. This is some of my favorite content. It’s weird, because for years, I’ve been there, done that with all this. So, I can objectively appreciate the finely curated pain it takes to create articles like this. And although I don’t really get to do it anymore (wife, kids, etc), I still objectively appreciate the effort, the story, and…the fact I’m not the one doing it!
I absolutely love first gen X5s. When I was 11 or 12 my uncle got a brand new one in black, and while I was already on the path to being a car fanatic it definitely awakened something in me. I still remember my dad and I meeting my aunt to watch her daughter play college lacrosse against a local school (they lived a few hours away and we made a weekend out of it), and she pulled up in it.
I knew BMWs were cool at that point because my dad always talked about them, but I’d never gotten up close and personal with one. Naturally I asked if I could ride with my aunt back to our house, and I still vividly remember being blown away by the car and that fall drive on a Saturday afternoon.
The interior had so much more technology than I’d ever seen in a car and everything about it just felt so neat to me because I’d never been in any luxury cars up to that point. I was sad when we finally got to our destination, and that car has always had a special place in my heart since. I thought I was a pretty big deal for the next couple of hours, having been driven around in an X5 and such.
…wow, thanks for the trip down memory lane. It’s cool as hell that you found a manual one! I knew they were out there but I didn’t realize they were this rare. Hopefully the clutch issue proves to be an easy fix and you get a lot of joy out of it. In a humorous twist, things have now come full circle and my old man is talking about ordering a current X5 and bringing me along to pick it up in SC and drive it home. I’m pushing him to get the V8 hard, but it’s not like choosing the B58 is settling.
Come down to AZ and buy this one for comparison’s sake:
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/d/scottsdale-2003-bmw-x5-speed-manual/7530889954.html
I appreciate how everyone on this website has their bad idea niche.
Though it’s scary that it’s not clear which is rarer – a manual X5, or an X5 where all the doors work.
I can’t imagine the doors are that difficult to sort. I have an old E39 528i (also a 5MT, incidentally), and I had to replace the window regulator on the passenger side. While I sat in the passenger seat and let my friend use it to get reacquainted with manual transmissions, the window dropped straight into the door frame, taking with it the cable that pulled the latch to open the door. When I fixed the window regulator, I reinstalled and adjusted the cable, and now both window and door work. I imagine the E53 didn’t use a dissimilar system.
How about manual and the doors/windows work?
Life is so….well it just pisses me off sometimes. So you ended up finding and buying a 2003 BMW X5 3.0i that had a 6sp manual transmission. All I can say to that is, wow! I only say that, because I’m a car guy and I’ve been trying to find a similar BMW X5 except newer like a 2009 or 2010 but ONLY with a 6sp manual transmission. Needless to say I have had just really bad luck, wait no I have had no luck lol. What also pisses me off is that if I lived in England or just Europe then I would be able to find one in like 2 seconds. Anyways you stumble across one and just nonchalantly buy it not really knowing what a “find” you now own. Considering you don’t seem like a hard core kind of car guy, no offense, but that would automatically mean that more than likely don’t know how to drive a clutch all that well. With that being said the first thing you do to this poor, rare and innocent X5 is you burn its clutch out until it was so depleted that it almost seemed like the car was being driven by a 16 year old new driver on the streets on San Francisco. (Obviously a 16 year old new driver, driving a stick shift around an area like San Francisco would just mean that the clutch in whatever car he or she would be driving would be not even burned up. It would be incinerated to the point of no recognition because put 2 & 2 together) So you out of all people got to drive & own a car that I would cherish and would love to own, but I can’t because it’s damn impossible to find one in a Manual Transmission that’s for sale. If you could please, for now on when you look back at this story. Can you remember it and talk about it with respect now knowing that there are people out there, not just me. Who have been trying for years now to be able to have the same opportunity that you had to purchase an X5 manual transmission. If able to purchase one to most definitely NOT carelessly drive it around to the point that once was a perfectly good clutch is now completely ruined because the person driving it, no offense, but probably shouldn’t even be allowed to drive such car since they do not possess the needed skills to properly drive a stick shift car in a manner in which they could drive such car 24/7 for a year and at the end of that year the clutch in that car would still be in perfect working order. Basically you bought a car that was too advanced for you. Even though it was too advanced for you to drive you still did and by doing so you haphazardly and prematurely brought severe ware & tear to an innocent, perfectly working RARE BMW X5 manual transmission SUV. So now you know just how much cars can actually mean to someone who is a hard core car enthusiast and especially when the car at hand just happens to have even more “meaning” to well, me. I bet you don’t even own the SUV anymore, do you? Well I guess I have made myself clear then. Even though what you did has really pissed me off. I just hope that maybe now you defiantly won’t repeat this, what could’ve been avoided, sophomoric issue ever again or anything else like it for that matter. Do us all a favor and go buy a Toyota Prius. That way there’s really no chance that you could ever do anything that would remotely be disrespectful towards us, actual Car Enthusiast and/or towards the Automotive World in general. Also think about this, when I stared reading your story I automatically knew that I was a better driver when I was 14 compared to you when you burnt up that clutch. I just hope that you’re skills have gotten at least a little better since that incident happened. Anyways like I said I really am pissed. Pissed that you ruined a good clutch in one sweet ass car and pissed how you of all people got to buy that SUV, but a car guy like me who would seriously cherish that car if I owned it as being one of my new “collection cars”, not at all a daily driver. Ugh!!!! You seriously suck. Thanks for letting me get all of that off of my chest. Wear your seatbelt and please drive safe.
Peace
“some dough” LOL LOL LOL “some dough” LOL LOL
Bring More Wallets
My bank account balance: “Am I a joke to you?”
My BMW x5 Brought Me Worries and Broke My Wallet. I wasn’t even born Born Moderately Wealthy so I had to Bring Many Wrenches to do as much work as I could myself. I was always worried that someone would Break My Windows and I would have to Bring My Wallet out again. It still Brings Me Women and I even Bought My Wife. Regardless, I love it still because when running well, it’s a Beautiful Mechanical Wonder!
I do wonder sometimes how you manage to come up with the scratch for all these acquisitions – None of my damn business, of course, but I wouldn’t think this gig is particularly lucrative. Nonetheless, I hope you never run out of the ability to find this stuff and write about it!
Barely moving windows
Bought my wife
Many others.
I see a good number of people saying that your ownership experience will be expensive.
If you take them to a BMW dealership, it will be expensive. Independents should be OK.
And if you dont mind doing your own wrenching, I have found that they are not nearly as bad as people make out. I’ve owned three now, and I love them. None newer than 2001 ( so far, anyway ).
I have redone the suspension on my 328, pretty straight forward, some hassles, but not bad.
Tons of web sites offering standard repair level parts, original and 4rd party, and some sites offering performance oriented parts.
Just remembered…. I dont know if they did it on the X5, but sedans have a “Clutch delay valve”.
It is a restriction in the hydraulic line between master and slave cylinders. It restricts how fast the clutch plate will move toward the flywheel when the pedal is “dumped”. It might contribute to glazing. Ive been meaning to remove mine for a while now, so I cant say, but I have heard things are better without it ( if you know how to drive a clutch ). There are replacement valves sold for it, but I hear you can just remove it entirely, connect the line back together with it out of the way.
Never attempted to remove the delay valve on my X5 (not sure if it has one, either), but did remove the valve on my e90, and it makes a world of difference. Much more natural shifts even at higher RPMs, but mostly just easier to drive at normal speeds.
I owned a 2002 e53 3.0 since new. It is surprisingly reliable. Definitely not wallet breaking. Yes I bring along a coolant tank and coolant just in case (have it gone twice on hot summers). The only big bill I had was a bad CV joint (ripped), took it to a shop to get that fixed because it was winter and I rather have professionals with a lift deal with it than me on the driveway.
Did you get this in Zion IL at a medieval named dealer by chance? I was there yesterday looking at used 4Runners and a ML350 caught my eye. I tried to invoke you to appear, quietly chanting “Mercedes, Mercedes” but to no avail. I need to know at what mileage a used MB goes kablooey and if I can get two years out of this one before it happens.
Clutch is relatively cheap, especially if you are comfortable with wrenching (like a few hundred). I seriously doubt the flywheel will need to be replaced (although it might need to be resurfaced)
Being used to David Tracy levels of Autopain, this seems like just a mild headache. I was ready for a much bigger shitshow and was pleasantly treated to a story with beautiful photos of a very nice vehicle for a reasonable price. The much anticipated denouement was just that a wear item wore out! Sure, you helped it along a bit, but I’m sure it won’t be a big deal for an accomplished wrencher like yourself. According to this 19 minute video I just found randomly, I guess it should just take 19 minutes 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xXMFTVgzo
Are you sure you didn’t just glaze it? I’ve done that before with a Saturn, acidentally starting out in 3rd and just going with it instead of downshifting. I was sure I had cooked the clutch, but after it cooled down and I treated it nicely for a week or so, it was fine.
I also had a worn-out clutch in a Miata that I nursed along for several thousand miles before I finally had to replace it, so I wouldn’t give up just yet. Drive it gently as-is for a little bit and see if it gets better.
You know, I think I glazed a clutch in a Suzuki GS850 before. Revved to the high heavens for months whenever I gave it the beans. Then at some point it never did it again. I suppose that’s possible here, but the mileage and unknown history gives me pause. But we’ll see, maybe I’m wrong!
I know I’m injecting myself into this a little too much, but I like the name of “Beans” for your sweet, new-to-you, Teutonic rig. In fact, it reminds me of a little Navy bean. 🙂
I did this to my wife’s Z3 backing up a very very steep hill on gravel. Throttle application over about 3000 RPM led to slipping the whole way home. After letting the car sit for a day and cooling down, it drove fine and is more than capable of redline these days.
D’oh!!!
Luckily, I have only one ‘bucket list’ car: the last generation Lotus Espirit V8 twin turbo. Since they’re becoming harder and harder to find, much less afford, there’s little chance of me ever owing one. So I’ll never end up in a situation like this.
As far as bucket list cars go I’ve stopped wishing about cars to own and started wishing about cars I can fit in.
The “Holy Grail” of X5s?
The ‘rare McDonalds collectors cup’ of X5s.
Hahahahaha! Mercedes can write an article every month or two from here on about finding the “True Holy Grail” X5. 😉
In my experience, it’s quite difficult to kill a BMW clutch, I had a e36 that had 325k miles on the original clutch, and my current e46 has 168k miles on it’s original clutch.
I commend you on your choice of a 6 cylinder X5, I think the I6 is the best BMW engine out there (after some experience with the 4.4L V8 in my former e38 740iL. I too, recently purchased a BMW SAV. I couldn’t find a X5 that was both in my price range and in reasonable condition. So I looked at the X3, and found a good one. I missed out on a couple of manual transmission ones, but found one with an automatic.
If that’s the case, I wonder if the clutch finally gave up life after 164,000 hard-driven miles. Otherwise, I can’t think of a reason for the slipping immediately after the bad shift. Unless a seal suddenly got real bad and the clutch is slipping on oil.
My e46 with the M54 and 5-speed has over 205k on the original clutch.
I’m waiting for the clutch to go bad so I can fix it and the leaky rear main seal all at once. But I can’t justify it while the clutch is still working.
Same here – 209k on the original clutch on my ’01 330Ci. Honestly, as much as I abused that clutch early in its life, I’m pretty surprised it’s still hanging in there.
On the upside, if it really was/is on its first clutch, that tells you a lot about its history. This thing was cared for.
It also needs an “aye-tahl-eon” tune up! 😉
Data point: 220k on my 2006 330i with original clutch.
+1. 250k on my old e46 330xi and afaik still going. I miss that car a ton.
@mercedes, throw an M56 valve cover on there while you’re doing the obligatory cooling system overhaul.
Clutch, smutch. As long as it drives, let it slip all it wants- until you can’t stand it anymore.
Back in the early 2000s I worked at a BMW dealer while in college. We got a number of these first gen stick shift X5s, and can confirm how short 1st gear really is. The sales manager advised all the sales staff to always start in 2nd gear when on test drives to better show the smoothness of the drivetrain and not scare off potential customers.
Autopain fits the ethos of this website so well that I have a hard time believing that it wasn’t the original name.
I couldn’t get the site to load for full-launch updates because I kept trying autopain.com. It did seem fitting with Torch and DT at the helm!
“I begin on a new path of Autopain.”
Well done. Also, all clutch aside, this looks like a great find. I agree that your clutch eating shit now rather than while towing something is the best case.
“Unfortunately, I celebrated my purchase by absolutely nuking the clutch, and so I begin on a new path of Autopain.”
I came for the article, but stayed for the anagrams!
The clutch was already worn out. Don’t worry about it.