I can remember buying and trading baseball cards where I learned "BUYER BEWARE". Unless we are incapable for some reason, that insight is ingrained very early on.

I can also remember driving 60 miles to Detroit to buy my first car off a dumpy used car lot. I knew before I left I was going to buy the car and when I saw things I should have been concerned about I invited the salesman to convince me they didn't matter and to keep me emotionally involved so that I completely discounted them. I'm not alone in that scenario and that won't change.

There have been times when I did everything right and everything went wrong. Odds were certainly better that I made a good purchase but "sh$t happens".

It's interesting to read the posts as folks are noticing stuff in the pictures that I didn't initially pick up on even owning a 4.6. so I am even more aware of how difficult it is for a lay person to make an informed decision. We don't even agree.

Personally, I wouldn't bother challenging seller ethics and wouldn't make a buying decision on whether or not I could hook up a scanner or rev the engine to 7000. I wouldn't let anyone off the street hook up a scanner to my X5. I would never think of free reving my X5 to 7000 let alone allowing someone else to do so. It would be entertaining to hear what the sellers say about input and requests but I wouldn't be surprised if, regardless of the results, we don't all agree on go or no go.

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X5 4.6 2002 Black Sap, Black interior. 2013 X5M Melbourne Red, Bamboo interior
Dallas