After many years of owning bm,s i am seriously looking into buying a 2003-4 x5 very soon and wondered if you fine folks could give me the heads up on any common problems or faults to look for.Any help would be appreciated-thanks

There are some good buyers guides on here read those but as a rough guide here goes.

2004 was the facelift year so before (2000 2003) X5's came with 3.0i 4.4 and 4.6is petrol and 3.0 diesel engines, there were a few manual boxes but the vast majority will be 5 speed auto boxes.  After 2004 power increased for the 4.4 V8 (286 up to 321) the diesel also got a power increase the 4.6is was dropped and replaced by the 4.8. gearbox was replaced with a 6 speed automatic.

Engine wise the 3.0i and 3.0 diesel are strong units that with good maintenance give long service 4.4 and 4.6 V8's produce good power but they do have some weak points (search chain guides) the 4.8 is better but not perfect.

BMW in their wisdom decided to say the gearbox is sealed for life!! the early GM boxes were not good the 2002 on ZF boxes are stronger but ZF advise service every 60k 

Interior is generally tough but drivers seat squab will show signs of wear (I brought a passenger seat from a dismantler £80 and swapped the squab)

So when buying 1st before you do anything open the bonnet and make sure the engine is cold if it has been run before you get there wonder why, check the oil? Turn on the ignition and check all lights on the dash come on wait and see if the cycle off (right display)then start the engine it should start with no rattles, knocks or smoke (diesel or petrol) if its petrol and there are rattles or knocks walk away it will not be cheap or easy to fix. With the engine ticking over check that all the buttons and switches work as they should cycle all of them at least twice (again no cheap fixes) Look for any missing pixels on the display check nav and other stuff if it has it make sure the heater and aircon work as they should.

If your still happy go for a good drive, gear changes should be smooth and hardly felt even when pushing on so should the down changes (any jerks or strange behaviour walk away box repairs are minimum 2k. 

There should be no shakes rattles or clunks from underneath though suspension bushes only last about 50/60k before they need replacing check for odd tyre wear rear inside edge is a giveaway I would budget for a complete re-bush front and rear and a 4 wheel alignment just to be sure. Re-bushing is a DIY prospect the difference it makes is huge.

There are a lot of X5's out there some are better maintained than others good ones are great a bad one is a money pit.

I brought our first one (a 4.4) to tow a horse trailer the current one is a 4.6is my experience says take out a warranty, good luck

Dave

Many thanks for your help-i will be careful