I bought my X5 from CarMax. It was available with an $1,800 3-year or 30,000 mile warranty, which was a no-brainer. I have had A/C issues, fuel pump, water pump, valley pan gasket, alternator, final stage resistor, high side A/C service port, thrust rod bushings, and so on fixed on my car under warranty. The alternator, water pump and fuel pump left me stranded 3 times, so they were not items that the stealer was pushing. Make sure that you are disciplined enough to set the money aside for repairs if you do not go the warranty route, even if you are using an Indy mech. The X can be costly.

I agree with you on the 3.0. The 4.4 gives much better performance and gas mileage is the same or better.