I'm truly sorry that you have had such a negative experience with your X5. Certainly the early X5's had some reliability issues, and it's very unfortunate that your '01 suffered from such a high number of problems.

But consider this - most Bimmer owners are intelligent and very astute car buyers. Like many others, I spent a great amount of time (nearly a year) researching my SUV purchase before I bought a CPO X5. I knew going into this transaction that certain failures are inevitable. I fully expect to have future problems or failures with the water pump, radiator, tranny, window regulators, etc. I already have an action plan in place on how to handle these failures in regards to where to obtain the parts and who will make the repairs. I have an unparalled support group though a great relationship with my dealership, an excellent independent BMW mechanic, and finally, the members of X5World.

But it all comes down to getting behind the wheel, firing up the engine, and driving off with the feeling that you are driving the car that is right for you. To me, I can live with my X5's maladies. To me, no other vehicle in its class provides the same combination of performance, handling, convenience, comfort, and durability (yes, durability).

But then again, this is my own opinion. Out of the 30 plus cars that I've owned throughout my lifetime, my last 8 cars have been BMW's. I've lived with a very tempermental E36 M3 and a just plain raunchy Dinan E39 540i, two of the best cars I've ever owned. Chances are likely my next car (a 2 seater) is going to be a BMW.

I'm sorry, you've had such a bad experience. But if you're going to a BMW board expecting to hear from BMW apologists, it ain't gonna happen. If you want utter reliability, go buy an Accord or a Camry and be prepared for complete boredom.