BMW X5

The generation decides which engine you are looking at. The F15, 2013 to 2018, runs the 35i with the N55B30 and 306 hp — familiar and relatively cheap to keep, but it leaks from the valve cover and the oil filter housing, and the water pump is a consumable. Above it the 50i with the N63B44TU and 450 hp: this is the first Technical Update of the N63, better than the original but still in the hot-vee layout — it cooks turbochargers and vacuum lines and drinks oil.

The G05 from 2018 is a different car. The 40i with the B58B30, 340 hp and 382 after the facelift, is the best choice in the whole range: closed deck, chain at the back, none of the N55's early troubles. If you are buying one X5 and would rather not think about the engine, that is the one. The G05 V8s — the 50i at 456 and the M50i at 530 — use considerably more reliable versions of the N63 with better cooling, but they stay thermally loaded.

The 45e and 50e plug-in hybrids are common in America and give real electric range. On a damaged auction car the high-voltage battery is a separate risk: a damaged pack prevents the car from starting, and that does not show in the photographs.

sDrive is the trap that costs money. In California, Texas and Florida BMW sells the X5 with rear drive only, and the auction listing says simply "X5". A buyer who assumes every X5 is all-wheel drive ends up with a car that is markedly harder to sell in Bulgaria. We hold hundreds of them. It is checked from the badge and the VIN, not from the title.

Equipment in America is not standard, it is packages. The base car is sparse and everything is paid for, so two X5s that look alike are different cars. Look for M Sport for the aerodynamics, brakes and suspension; Luxury Seating for the comfort seats with ventilation and massage, because the standard American seats are hard and shallow; Executive for laser headlights, head-up display and the Sky Lounge panoramic roof; Dynamic Handling for active anti-roll bars and rear-wheel steering. An xDrive40i with M Sport and Luxury Seating is the combination that resells best here.