Bluedog,
That was a good deal, and I too have found that you can purchase trade vehicles from dealers at excellent deals, especially if the vehicle doesn't match the clientele that shops at the dealer. I guess they figure they'd rather move it, than sit on it for too long.
I purchased the King Ranch (Super Crew, 4WD, castano leater, fully loaded), which was just totaled, 4.5 years ago from a Mitsubishi dealership for $21K. It had 38K miles on it, and was barely a year old, and the original sticker listed it for $37.5K. They were asking $28K, and I totally low-balled them. I couldn't believe they accepted.
They just wanted to get rid of it.
The cool part is that 4.5 years later (w/ 112,000 miles on it), I was able to get $17,300 retail for it from the insurance company. So, it basically cost me about $820/year to drive.
On another note, just dropped the X5 off at United BMW this morning for the lens work, and they gave me a sweet
Lexus IS for a loaner. I didn't realize how fast they were (never paid that much attention to them since they were small). It has a paddle shifter on the steering column, and man do they work well. They were very responsive, and it was very natural to use. I already miss my X5 though, and it's only been 4 hours!
As far as the clunky doors go, I do realize they are nice and heavy. I think 'clunky' is a bad word to describe them, since it has a cheap connotation to it. They don't sound cheap, just different. It wouldn't suprise me if BMW designs their door lock mechanisms to 1.) Increase chassis ridigity when the doors are shut and 2.) Improve side impact crashworthiness. If they were doing this, then you would need some beefy door lock mechanisms, which would probably give a more rigid, mechanical feel that most other "whoosy" designs. I'll have to study them when I get the X5 back (because I'm a geek like that).
Later guys!