F15 X5 Replacement

panthro

panthro

panthro

Soldato
Joined
19 Nov 2004
Posts
12,615
Location
Wokingham
I posted this on Pistonheads as well in case you thought you were seeing double. I've added a couple of other cars to the shortlist since.
Thinking of selling my X5 40d. It's my only car other than a 54 plate Focus that is being used to teach my wife how to drive (that's another story), so any replacement needs to be big enough for 4 people (me, wife, 2 year old and 5 year old) and the occasional 5th person (mother in law) in the middle.
My X5 is fantastic and I'm not entirely sure I need to sell it but it's going to be out of warranty next month and having done 83k I'd prefer to sell now. Plus I enjoy changing cars! With the warranty renewal, BMW's offer to me was £2.3k for the full warranty with no excess, which is ridiculous.

My life pre-children was basically BMW M3's and a Z4. I'd love an F80 M3 but not sure it's big enough. Having the X5 and gotten used to the space I'm not sure I want to go back to a smaller car. Looking at a max of £30k and having the following shortlist:

2016 LCI F80 M3 - not sure if it's big enough. Can you fit a tow bar bike rack to it?
2017 onwards 540i Xdrive - Great car, next gen compared to the X5 but doesn't really excite me.
Porsche Cayenne 2015 onwards - can only get a diesel in my budget and it's almost 50bhp down on the M5. Plus I prefer the iDrive system.
Porsche Macan - smaller than the Cayenne and I can't think of anything that it does better than the Cayenne except handling.
Cupra Ateca - not sure on this one at all, never sat or driven one but it's fast and supposedly handles well. Also, I prefer my cars with 3 litres and 6 cylinders.
2015 onwards C63 AMG Estate - slightly more practical than the M3 but still not a huge amount of space. Above my budget and will drink fuel.
Mercedes E400 estate - love these but they are fairly boring and being relatively new will depreciate more than the others.
E43 Estate - on the suggestion of a PH member, I had a look and these are almost in budget and look amazing.
Maserati Levante - not sure if a Macan is a better option as they're a similar size.

My ideal car is a facelift RS6 but I can't afford one and probably can't afford to run one either.

So in summary:
£30k max
5 doors and 5 seats
Automatic
ISOFIX
Big boot with fold down seats
More than an average of 20mpg would be good

Any advice or other cars I've missed would be appreciated.
 
I don't know what you should get but I've been having similar thoughts recently. Logically, I should buy a 540i because I've driven them, like them and its the obvious replacement for my 2015 530d.

The problem is they just seem such rubbish value for money? I'd need close to £30k for a good one and it'd likely be a 2017. £30k for a 4 year old 5 Series that isn't an M car? What? This is what puts me off and I suspect will put you off, too. Especially as my experience of the 540i (I have driven them lots) is that it's a slightly quicker 530d that sounds quieter and smoother around town and uses 50% more fuel. Which is fine, but to then have to pay a massive premium for it too? It's pushed me into waiting for an M340i I think.
 
Last of the line B8 RS4?

30k max - would get you a good example
5 doors and 5 seats - tick and just about tick
Automatic - tick
ISOFIX - tick (?)
Big boot with fold down seats - tick
More than an average of 20mpg would be good - 30mpg on the motorway
Plus 4.2litres, V8

However, it’s probably a bit dated looking at your list, it’s similar size to the C63 so likely not big enough and after typing this, doesn’t really fit. It does have a nice V8.

Skoda Superb? :cool:
 
[TW]Fox said:
I don't know what you should get but I've been having similar thoughts recently. Logically, I should buy a 540i because I've driven them, like them and its the obvious replacement for my 2015 530d.

The problem is they just seem such rubbish value for money? I'd need close to £30k for a good one and it'd likely be a 2017. £30k for a 4 year old 5 Series that isn't an M car? What? This is what puts me off and I suspect will put you off, too. Especially as my experience of the 540i (I have driven them lots) is that it's a slightly quicker 530d that sounds quieter and smoother around town and uses 50% more fuel. Which is fine, but to then have to pay a massive premium for it too? It's pushed me into waiting for an M340i I think.
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Yep that's pretty much my dilemma, I'd probably get a much better value out of the 530d and have a much wider choice of cars with a high spec. If you're spending a fair bit of money you need the right options. I thought about waiting for the M340i but I don't think the size would cut it based on reviews, I've not been in one so can't say for sure.
Also considering the X3 M40i.
 
I bought an E43 saloon when I should have got the estate. The saloon is cracking though. Size-wise it is ample enough for lugging a 9 month old to the Midlands every now and then. I would say it is space constrained with two though.

I think the estate is holding its value quite a bit though - one popped up on Cazoo the other day for 41k?
 
X5 4L D is a hard act to follow really. Cayenne would be similar, don't think the Anteca would give you what you had in the X5 if you need high up driving but if not then 5 series, maybe a run out F10 M5 if you wanted an RS6 and can put up with older tech?
 
Tenzo said:
Last of the line B8 RS4?

30k max - would get you a good example
5 doors and 5 seats - tick and just about tick
Automatic - tick
ISOFIX - tick (?)
Big boot with fold down seats - tick
More than an average of 20mpg would be good - 30mpg on the motorway
Plus 4.2litres, V8

However, it’s probably a bit dated looking at your list, it’s similar size to the C63 so likely not big enough and after typing this, doesn’t really fit. It does have a nice V8.

Skoda Superb? :cool:
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2 things I don't like about the RS4 - lack of space and the old tech compared to my X5. Other than that they are great cars.
Almost considered a Superb 4x4 estate but at £20k not £30k.
 
Stupid question but why not keep the warrantied X5. Cost to change is going to be a lot more than the cost of the warranty over a couple of years
 
My wife runs an Ateca FR (2.0T) and it’s perfect for her needs and our 2year old. It’s basically my old 8v S3 with less HP and the same DSG gearbox, in a SUV body. I wanted to get an XC60, but the wife complained it was too big for her to drive comfortably. She loves the Ateca though. It’s perfectly sized for us just now, but with another child I’d want something bigger. Especially if I wanted to put the mother-in-law in the back. It’s going to be much smaller than your X5, so I don’t see it working for you.

My RS6 is fine size-wise for all the above, but too big for the wife and it’s out of your budget anyway. Out of your list I think you’d need to look at something the size of an E43 Estate just to get the practicality you have now.
 
This is a tough one. You have a wonderful car already and none of these are really much better or particularly worth changing to, IMHO.

I have recently changed into a Cayenne, it is a beautiful car and is quite a bit nicer than than a BMW of equivalent age/spec, little details on them are higher quality all over the car. Leather is on every surface, all of the things you touch are metal or leather, loads of equipment which is often hard to find on other cars, sublime active suspension, etc.

If i were you and didnt have a car at all right now, i would be straight into a Cayenne. A colleague of mine has a Macan and honestly, i dont get them. Its a smaller diluted Cayenne to me, it feels very similar but is the X3 to the X5, what is the point if the larger model is at a similar price point. I actually also have an F25 X3 (30d Msport) incidentally, but absolutely wouldn't have bought it over an F15 had the F15 been anything like a similar price.

This leads me full circle to my last comment, and that is that i would be into a Cayenne if i didnt have a car at all in your position. The thing is, you do, and you have a very nice one. I would personally therefore just let the warranty lapse, ensure that the car is perfect while the warranty is still in force, and then stick with it.
 
I was going to say a Skoda Kodiaq vRS but it seems that Covid has stopped the prices from falling and the ones available are over £30k still!
 
Jez said:
This is a tough one. You have a wonderful car already and none of these are really much better or particularly worth changing to, IMHO.

I have recently changed into a Cayenne, it is a beautiful car and is quite a bit nicer than than a BMW of equivalent age/spec, little details on them are higher quality all over the car. Leather is on every surface, all of the things you touch are metal or leather, loads of equipment which is often hard to find on other cars, sublime active suspension, etc.

If i were you and didnt have a car at all right now, i would be straight into a Cayenne. A colleague of mine has a Macan and honestly, i dont get them. Its a smaller diluted Cayenne to me, it feels very similar but is the X3 to the X5, what is the point if the larger model is at a similar price point. I actually also have an F25 X3 (30d Msport) incidentally, but absolutely wouldn't have bought it over an F15 had the F15 been anything like a similar price.

This leads me full circle to my last comment, and that is that i would be into a Cayenne if i didnt have a car at all in your position. The thing is, you do, and you have a very nice one. I would personally therefore just let the warranty lapse, ensure that the car is perfect while the warranty is still in force, and then stick with it.
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Cheers, I am leaning towards either a Cayenne, E43 or keeping the X5. I don't think the Cayenne will offer me anything vastly better and the main reason I want to change is for something newer (mine is a 2015) with less miles on it.

233 said:
Stupid question but why not keep the warrantied X5. Cost to change is going to be a lot more than the cost of the warranty over a couple of years
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I'm not paying £2.3k per year to keep it under warranty, and I'm not sure I want to run it out of warranty as with higher mileage BMW's in my experience there are big bills round the corner.
 
Having done the same thing about 2.5 years ago - I had been using an F15 X5 40d as a daily, 64 plate, sold it, got a 14 plate Cayenne S (V8, twin turbo diesel) instead and it's great.

Pros
It's quicker, it handles better (even taken it to a track day lol), it drives better.
The build quality is way better, leather quality much improved, more comfortable and feels much more premium.
Plus the noise, as far as a diesel goes it sounds great.
Tyres are cheaper, even if the car has 21" wheels, because it doesn't have the mega wide rear tyres the X5 did.

Cons
For the same money it'll likely be a a year older than the X5, else you spend more to buy it newer.
The PCM feels old vs the iDrive. But android units are cheap and plentiful and sort this. Plus you get the map etc in the speedo/rev cluster too which is cool.
Some people won't 'get it' and ask you why you didn't buy a 'proper porsche'
Fuel mpg is obviously worse, but it's not bad by any means.
 
panthro said:
So in summary:
£30k max - Newer F15 X5 / live with the old one
5 doors and 5 seats - Newer F15 X5 / live with the old one
Automatic - Newer F15 X5 / live with the old one
ISOFIX - Newer F15 X5 / live with the old one
Big boot with fold down seats - Newer F15 X5 / live with the old one
More than an average of 20mpg would be good - Newer F15 X5 / live with the old one

Any advice or other cars I've missed would be appreciated.
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The 2 easiest 'right in front of you' options are always the best :D

An F15 X5 40D does everything that anyone needs, so just stick with that. Or up your budget and get an M50d, just because that engine is hilariously good.

Our old 2016 M50d was actually better on fuel than the current 2018 40d................
 
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