To each his own.

I love my running boards. Besides the looks, I use it to wash the car and mount stuff on the roof. Rubbing against my leg was never an issue for me (or my wife who's petite). I have 2 kids and the running board does help getting them in and out of the passenger area. Besides, I always keep the car clean and not into light colored pants. I'm also 5' 8". So all these things in consideration may affect other owners. I used to have an E53 without running boards and I have gotten so many complements from friends saying it does look better with the running boards.

Other than that, whether you get the running boards or not, you're getting a BMW and an E70 so you're in great company of happy owners.

Congrats.

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2007 E70 3.0