Well, it seems my better half has caught the BMW bug; she’s ready to offload the Ford Freestar van we’ve been driving for several years and has decided she’d like a BMW. I’m still trying to grasp the awesomeness of that; I knew I married well, but… Wow.
Anyway, she asked me to track down a few to look at, and since the Twin Cities area has a far greater selection than anywhere else within a reasonable drive, we’re planning a trip there this weekend to look at a few and maybe bring one home. The one that has really caught my eye is this 2001 X5:
2001 BMW X5 – Rare 5 Speed Manual – $7500 (S.E. Minneapolis)
2001 BMW, Sport Edition – Full Time AWD 3.0 V6 154K, in excellent condition mechanically & cosmetically.
Tires Good – All maintenance up to date – Repair Documentation available.
Tinted windows all round ( except windshield )
A/C blows cold
Sport self leveling Suspension
Upgraded Stereo with 6 Disk,
Fast & Easy fold down seats
OEM Towing package ( seldom used but great to have )
Luggage Area Cover
OEM Winter Floor Mats
18in Wheels with Sport rims
Great SUV – Fun to Drive – Peppy – Like new condition – no accidents or body putty – rust free – garaged
$7500.00 or best reasonable offer.
The seller obviously doesn’t know an I6 from a V6 (BMW has never built a V6 engine), but aside from that seems to know that this is a BMW built for the enthusiast… It looks to been special ordered with all the right boxes checked; Sport Package, 3.0 liter M54BB30 engine, 5-speed transmission, factory towing package, self-leveling suspension… I’ve corresponded a bit with the owner; sounds like he’s the second owner and has all the maintenance records since the car was new. No rust, no accidents, clean paint and interior… Looks like a great car. But considering that the NADA retail price is just a tad over $10,000 (with the optional equipment added) makes me wonder why he’s got it priced at $7,000.
We’ll have a look at the car on Saturday, if it’s still available. In talking with the seller it didn’t sound like people were beating down his door wanting to look at it, probably because of the 5-speed. I’m always amazed that so many people think a manual transmission in a car is a negative; when you consider that a manual is far more reliable and will return better gas mileage than an automatic, it seems a no-brainer, especially on a vehicle with 150,000 miles on it. But I guess the point and shoot mentality is pretty much the norm in the US today.
Tags: craigslist, minneapolis, x5
[…] How cool; a registry for three-pedal X5's! I've already done the intro thing (here) but I might as well add mine to the list also. It's a 2001 3.0/5-speed with the sport package. Since bringing it home a couple weeks ago I've narrowed down a few issues with the rear end; subframe bushings are toast (will be replaced soon) and the rear wheels have out-of-spec camber & toe, so I'll be replacing the wear items back there and have it aligned. One thing that I'm still researching is the shifter; when in neutral, instead of finding "home" between 3rd & 4th it tends to swing over toward 5th. Not a huge issue but it sometimes results in inadvertent 2nd to 5th shifts. I'm thinking maybe some of the bushings in the shifter are worn, but… More photos (stolen from the CL ad) are here. […]