Well, and the other issue I'll state here is...you've got to pay to play. Should BMW do something about transmissions that fail before 50k? Sure, I think so. Should they do something about transmissions that fail at 100k? Well, I'm not sure. Over 125k? Definitely not. If you want reliability, go by a damn Hyundai (used to be toyota...but...no more... or a Honda).

If you want a premium new German mobile, you'd better be prepared to maintain it. And though the old MB's and BMW's also lasted a long time, they have some pricey bits on them too. Maintaining and fixing one of these cars is going to be more expensive than your average Asian Appliance.

It really is your choice. So a tranny fails every 100k miles, so what? $6k to fix (presumably), that's one years worth of $500/month car payments. No way can I pay off a new X5 in one year at $500/month. Heck, I can't lease a decent one at $500/month, and then I'm *significantly* mileage limited.

Will I be happy when I have to do the tranny on the X? Probably not. Will I accept it as normal, and have money in the bank to pay for that? Yes. Is it cheaper than a new car? Yes. In order to get to where buying something newer to me makes sense, I will have to spend $8k/yr on the X for two years running. Then, and only then, can I justify the monthly payment, the increased insurance, the increased tax bill, and the hassle of finding another new vehicle that I want. The X might have some pricey things break. No doubt. But, once fixed, they're generally good for a long time after that. So even if you hit a bad streak, you've still got a long way to go before you hit 8k/year.

Just my thoughts...and I drove my 37k miles last year...