Thanks, everyone, for helping me to shed some more light on the mirror issue. I'm definitely going down the 'premature failure' path, as it's clear that this problem is widespread (indicated by the high number of vehicles affected across multiple country markets). I don't mind paying for labour, and I've already paid for the initial diagnosis, but I'm going to make a case to both my local dealer (Chandlers) and BMW UK to get the parts as gesture of goodwill. I'm a firm believer in the adage 'you don't know if you don't try', and I'm more than prepared for a polite battle! I can, of course, live without the folding mirror functionality, but as I like my cars to have all their features working correctly little things like this annoy the hell out of me!

And now that I've had the chance to sit down and read through a few more threads, I can see that the corrosion problem in the tail lights is also an all too common occurrence. I'm going to look into a DIY fix before buying a new light assembly (either dealer OEM or via ebay)...or I might add this to the 'premature failure / design flaw' list when I talk to BMW.

This is our first BMW, but we've owned nothing but German cars for the last 7 years (Mercedes x2, Audi x2, Volkswagen), and I'm frankly amazed at the sheer number of niggling electrical problems that the X5 has. I still love it though!

Cheers

Alex