We often wax lyrical about the original E53 BMW X5, with good reason. Not only did it sort of invent the sporty SUV but it completely changed BMW forever. It’s also still considered by most BMW fans to be the best SUV the brand has ever made. Its blend of ride comfort, surprisingly fun handling and excellent cabin made it a wonderful SUV in its day and one that’s still desirable today. However, should you actually still buy one today?
Being an older German luxury car, you’d be forgiven for being a bit apprehensive about actually owning one. Repair bills might be costly and it might have a tendency to leave you stranded. In this new video from Hoovie’s Garage, we see exactly why that is.
The E53 BMW X5 is a lovely car to look at, a wonderful car to sit in and a surprisingly good one to drive. However, there are quite a few common problems that can cause big headaches. Even he little stuff on Hoovie’s car is annoying. For instance, the interior driver’s side door handle is broken, so you can’t get out. Because the window won’t roll down either, you can’t even reach out and use the exterior handle. So you have to exit through the passenger door but then can’t get back in from the passenger door because its exterior door handle is broken…
What about the bad stuff? Well, the entire suspension is a disaster, including the rear air suspension which is completely blown. So it bounces up and down like a dump truck with an empty load. It also has clogged catalytic converters, which causes the engine to run awful and there are leaks from just about every place it can leak.
There is a plus side, though. Hoovie’s mechanic decided to disconnect the cats, essentially giving the car an exhaust that ends at the manifold. Because of that, the X5 sounded like a straight-piped Chevelle 442 all the way to the junkyard where Hoovie left it to die.
We love the E53 BMW X5 for what it is. But we’re not quite sure anyone should own one.
