Last month we bought a 2016 BMW X5. Our three year lease on a 2016 Ford Edge Sport was ending, which we had purchased after our accident that fall. Rather than leasing again we purchased the BMW X5 as a certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle, which inspects and reconditions the vehicle while extending the warranty coverage.
The Ford Edge served us well but Gabriele wasn’t interested in keeping it. Three years ago we only had two weeks to decide on a new vehicle due to the accident and had to rush the process. So this time we started the process early. She drove a lot of cars and said the X5 felt the best. It is also more expensive than the competitors she test drove, so CPO rather than leasing new made the most sense to us.
Runners up were the Mazda CX-9 and the Jeep Grand Cherokee. We had a good dealership experience at Farrish Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Fairfax and came close to buying a new Grand Cherokee. The Jeep with the Technology package had all the safety bells and whistles Gabriele wanted, and we could have purchased new for only about $2,000 and change more than the BMW X5 cost used.
But some of that discount was contingent on taking a loan from Chrysler at a higher rate than we qualified for with our bank. The car also didn’t have a turbocharged engine option that Gabriele wanted, and just didn’t feel like as special a vehicle.
Our “new” X5 is a F15 generation car, the third version of the BMW X5 which first came out in 1999. The newest G05 version just came out this year. Our car was originally leased and traded back to BMW a couple of months ago.
This was the first BMW we’ve purchased that was new enough to qualify for the CPO program. The program used to extend warranty coverage for an additional two years or 50,000 miles beyond the new car four year/50K, totaling six years or 100,000 miles whichever came first. Unfortunately for us BMW changed the program in 2017, cutting it back to one additional year of coverage (total of five years from original sale date) and unlimited miles. The CPO warranty doesn’t cover everything the new car warranty does but does protect against engine, transmission and electrical failures.
CPO BMWs can only be purchased from a dealer or private party. In actuality you have to go through dealers unless you get extremely lucky, because late model X5s just aren’t sold by owners. We spent a lot of time on this BMW CPO site, getting a feel for the local market. Gabriele had some “must have” options related to safety features like heads up display, blind spot warning and surround view cameras, but was otherwise flexible on features and colors.
There are traditional gas turbo, diesel turbo and hybrid versions of the F15 X5. We weren’t interesting in the hybrid due to its multi-engine complexity. We were open to a diesel but found very few on the market. The BMW X5 also comes in a rear-wheel drive version but Gabriele wanted all-wheel, xDrive in BMW speak. We didn’t need the X5 50i with the 450HP twin turbo V-8 engine, we shopped for a 35i with the venerable six cylinder N55 turbo engine.
We found the right X5 at Passport BMW in Marlow Heights, MD. It’s sapphire black over black leather with 43,000 miles and a long list of features. It has the M Sport package, which we weren’t shopping for but IMO makes the car more aggressive looking with different bumpers and 20 inch staggered wheels. It had all the Driver Assist packages Gabriele wanted plus cold weather, ventilated/heated seats, glossy roof rails, premium package and Harman Kardon surround sound.
It’s a pretty cool family hauler.
We had a good experience at Passport BMW. Our salesman Peter was responsive, informative and in general acted as if he wanted to make the sale. Surprisingly this wasn’t the case in every dealership we visited. Passport had more CPO X5s than other dealers in the area to choose from. Another plus was that Maryland caps the “document and processing” charge at $300 while Virginia dealers charge as much as $799. That’s a savings of $500 right off the bat.
Passport also came through for us with a brand new battery, which the car should have received back in 2017 but did not. There was a Service Information Bulletin (SIB) from BMW in force at the time that called for battery replacement at the second scheduled oil change. Passport informed me that SIB has since been updated and the F15 X5 taken off the list of covered vehicles. Despite this and the fact that the oversight happened at a different BMW dealership, Passport will install a new battery next week for us. It took some persistence on my part to make it happen. But regardless, that kind of commitment to customer satisfaction means a lot.
Going with the X5 presented some complications. The huge 275/40 fronts and 315/35 rear tires were brand new courtesy of the CPO certification process, but they are were also summer tires and runflats. So I needed to buy some non-runflat Continental all-seasons that can be safely driven year round. I’ll either find a buyer for the performance runflats or keep them for next year. Since we ditched the runflats I needed to purchase a spare tire kit.
As I said above very few late model X5s are sold private party, at least in the greater DMV area. So BMW dealers have a virtual monopoly on CPO cars and don’t seem to negotiate on price very much. One salesman actually told us they never negotiate and we should view that as a benefit, since it means the price is always transparent and the same for everyone!
I think we paid a fair price for the car. For comparison I looked up what the three year residual number was when the car was leased new. This car had a MSRP of $71,220 (ouch) in 2016, and was leased for three years and 15K miles per year. The residual value at conclusion of the lease was 55 percent, and we bought it for less than that number. So according to BMW’s math we did OK.
I stayed neutral during this search and didn’t push becoming an all BMW family. It was Gabriele’s decision and she needed to be excited about the car, especially because we were buying rather than leasing. There were pluses to having her drive a new leased vehicle with full warranty coverage. That way the only maintenance concern was fluid changes, plus maybe tires if they wore. My two M cars keep me busy with ongoing maintenance and it was nice not have to worry about her vehicle.
On the flip side it’s fun learning up on the F15 generation and exploring how much basic maintenance I can perform. I’ve never owned a turbocharged BMW or one with the iDrive control system. This car will be a catalyst for me to purchase a coding tool to see how easily we can customize certain features of the vehicle.
We’ve got warranty coverage until Thanksgiving time next year, which can be extended for an additional fee. After that there are some interesting options for finding more power from the N55 – if Gabriele is interested and gives the OK of course. Should make good fodder for future posts!
I am a lucky one who bought from private party !
X5 2015 3.5x with 50K miles bought in 2018 (so 3 years); Msrp $75, paid $30k :)
Makes me feel I need to keep this car until it dies lol
Did you do better ?