No matter what car you get Import or European used you are going to have to put money into it to keep it running good. Of course European will be more expensive to upkeep but you get what you pay for. I just picked up a X5 and I was shopping around for a while and was looking at Acura MDX's, Lexus RX330, Mercedes ML's and they all have transmission issues. I think the only Import that was comfortable and felt luxury was the MDX but even that its no comparison to the ride and feel of a X5 and ML. Now between just those two it was a no brainer for the X5 as Im into sporty luxury vehicles. Handling of the X5 is far more superior than the ML and from what Ive seen and read the X5 has stronger transmissions than the ML.

Im not saying that the X5 are not problematic and don't have issues but as the years go by theres more electronics involved. Compared to the older cars I also own a 95 M3 they are very well built and I rarely have any issues with it.