Thanks for the responses and concerns. I started a thread a few days ago about buying a high-mile x5 because from reading this forum (and from the comments people just posted above) it sounds like the x5 is a different animal and maybe more problematic than other models. The thread I started subsided my concerns as other people with high-mile x5's chimed in. Let me mention, as I did in the high-mile thread, that I do consider myself a tech and with that I don't mind buying high-mile cars with the idea that maintenance will be required. As an example, my e39 with nearly 180k miles has needed: front shocks, belts, hoses, window regulator, PS hoses, wheel sensors, control arms, EWS module, etc... Looking back at that list, I can see how that stuff could have been vary painful for someone who doesn't work on cars. The list lo_jack rattled off doesn't sound too bad, but it would certainly suck if I needed to do all of that right off the bat. As I mentioned before, I would have the x5 checked-out by a good indepenant shop who are familar with x5's. In my area, Orr Auto fits that bill.

Vegas_x5 mentioned that $12k is a lot. That could be good news as I would love to spend less, but I've searched through cars.com, traderonline, carsoup, craigslist, and I'm not finding them much cheaper. I have access to manheim.com and it's reporting an average of $9.5k with 115k miles. That is the average cost for a dealer buying at auction - model year 2001. If I get lucky, I might be able to match that with a private party. I would also be more than happy to go out of state, but coordinating PPI and trusting it is much more difficult. Also, I have a dealer friend who could buy at-auction for me, but that would require buying one sight-unseen. I'd rather spend a could grand extra and be able to have a shop do a PPI.

If anyone knows of a good x5 in their area for around 10-12k, please let me know.

Getting back to the problem with the x5 I just test-drove, is the smoke from the oil seperator valve? It's clear that every x5 out there will need this part replaced at some point. My thought here was that that I one I just drove needs it right now and I could probbly get the the dealer to do it for free. Assuming everything else on the car is tip-top (let's not assume that every x5 over 100k miles is a time-bomb), I could be better off getting an x5 that has just had the repair versus another used x5 where I'll end up doing it myself later down the road. Now if the smoke is from something else, than by all-means, I'll run away from it.