I've driven trucks since 1987, and wifey has always had sedans, got her 1st BMW in 1988 and has been driving them ever since.

Soooo, grandchild #3 arrived last week, and "suddenly" something with a 3rd row seat is needed. Her 2018 540i isn't big enough to carry 3 small kids with car seats around. I will never have a minivan in my driveway, so I started looking at larger SUV's with 3rd row seating. I looked at Honda (Pilot) and the Lexus offerings. The Honda is pretty bland, and the Lexus is absolutely hideous IMO. The Korean offerings leave me cold, and given my background and proclivity for German engineering, I looked at Mercedes, BMW and Audi.

As we work on all 3 in my shop, I know their weaknesses and strengths, and the cost of maintaining them. I settled on the big Bimmer, the X7 with the 3.0L 6cylinder turbo engine. Working a deal on a 2019 with 13k miles, new enough that the chances of neglect are minimized. Our Noelle Performance Software bumps hp from 335 to 440 on this motor, so although it won't be the 540, it should get out of it's own way.

Never thought I'd have a barge in my garage, but there we are................................

Worth every penny in exchange for 2 beautiful grand daughters and my brand new grandson.

The Redhead bought herself an X5, and it’s been flawless. It’ll scoot, for sure.

Not to take this thread off the rails, but how much of a discount from new did you get for 13K miles? The X5 had dropped about $1.25 per mile in value when she bought it…..

Don’t play if you can’t pay, I told her….

New sticker was $83k. Asking now is $64k. They're a hot item right now, not many on the market........

As long as you can find a decent BMW mechanic it should work out well for you.

Sooo..... 20K off for 13K miles. $1.53 a mile..... SMDH. I can't even wrap my brain around those kind of numbers, lol.

If you take a look at Mercedes and Audi resale values here, the BMW looks great. About the only German SUV’s that hold their value around here are the Porsche Cayenne and Macan.

Oh, I know, and hey, if you've got the money, who am I to tell anyone what to do?

I'm just Dutch, and copper wire was invented when two Dutchmen found a penny! When I totalled my Tacoma on a steer three years ago, the depreciation came out at a little over $0.03 per mile.

I'll freely admit I like riding in the X5 with the Redhead (she won't let me drive, lol), it's a really nice rig. I just can't think of the economics of it, even though we can easily afford it these days. Deep down in my mind, I'm still a dirt poor farm boy. Breaking that habit is not easy.

Badger,
Congrats!
The day I help you with vehicles will be a cold one in hell (because you know way more about them than I do), but you're doing something right on grandkids.

The deed is done. Was a little difficult stroking a check for $35k plus the 540, but the boss seems to like it, and I have to admit, it’s going to be an awesome road tripper. We’ll christen it with a drive to Calgary in the summer to visit my eldest daughter and her husband.

We test drove a X5-D. Loved the power and mileage but was concerned about maintenance. Not a lot of good diesel mechanics that I would have trusted with it locally.

I love diesels, I drive a Ram 2500 diesel as my daily, but I wouldn't have a BMW, Mercedes or Porsche diesel if you gave me one. The motors are great, but the emission control garbage is unreliable and very expensive to repair.

Will that sissy SUV handle going to the hunt camp? Will you toss a dead animal in the back? lol

We a year ago we paid sticker for a new Audi Q7 due to our second dog addition and annual runs to/from north Idaho. We are pleased with the vehicle. My Tundra goes to hunt camp.

Uhhh, nope

The Ram does that...............