Originally Posted by JCL

Thanks. Interesting history. I dug into it a little bit, and see references to 2001-2002 X5s being labelled with a W prefix by BMW. Their logic apparently was that the South Carolina plant was in a free-trade zone so it wasn't technically US soil. When they got caught they switched to the numerical prefix signifying US production. I don't think the content % changed after a few years, just that they got called on it. Maybe the content % did change, just not sure how they would do that, what components they would have switched over to US suppliers.

Edit: For the original poster - your 2004 shouldn't have these issues, but I think it is irrelevant since your car would be worth less in the US.