I've really enjoyed reading all of the different perspectives in this thread. The only opinion I can't really relate to is that the E53s are somehow "the worst vehicle that BMW has made." Hell, who knows ... maybe in time I will come to feel this way as well, but I hope not. :-)

One thing that stands out to me is that if you're considering owning one of these cars (or, really, any car of this age), you'd better (1) be willing to do most maintenance items yourself, (2) be pretty diligent about those maintenance items, and (3) actually enjoy doing them and learning about the car! Alternately, I guess, you could just have tons of disposable income that you don't mind parting with often and freely.

If I had to take my X5s into a shop every time something popped up, I would certainly not enjoy owning them nearly as much. As it is, in my 4 years of E53 ownership I've enjoyed learning about the cars and all of the interesting idiosyncrasies of German engineering. For the most part, I've found mine to be a pleasure to work on. And the collective wisdom of this list has been a HUGE help.

I guess in some sense it might be a "hobby" as some have mentioned, but I think it's more of a self-reliance/preparedness mindset. I consider time spent learning about vehicles to be very well spent and valuable, regardless of the vehicle.

What's that old saying from the John Muir VW manual? ... Come to kindly terms with your ass, for it bears you? :-)

Chris