self-levelling rear suspension is standard with the 3rd row. it's added weight and something else to go wrong. it hasn't on mine (yet) and i'm knocking at 170tkm. it's possibly an option without 3rd row, might be worth checking whether the vehicle you're testing has springs or bellows in the back. but even without air suspension you won't fit a full size spare in the back. only room for a space saver, which isn't all that much better than run flats. if you really want to do away with those, you might as well keep a repair kit (goo) with you unless your vehicle has TPMS, in which case you really don't want to use that stuff.

all LCI models, AFAIK, are turbos and they come with their own host of problems. FWIW i'd say they're better, at least more powerful. my 4.8 still runs well and i've yet to run into the valve stem seal issue. whichever you decide on, it would only be prudent to be prepared for the repairs that eventually become inevitable. there's loads of write-ups here and on other forums about owners' experiences with N52/N62 or N55/N57/N63 engines. might be worth trawling the web for problems with the engines, rather than looking solely for X5 issues.

CCC vs CIC is definitely worth a consideration, seeing how CIC has a better screen, better reversing camera, faster CPU, A2DP and in general a much neater front end. it can be retrofitted into pre-LCI but that's really not cheap at all.

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