With gas about $4/gallon, and you spending $200 per week on gas at 11-12mpg, you're driving about 600 miles per week?! That's 30k miles per year! Wow.

With that in mind, I'd never consider an x3. It's gas tank is only 17gals. Nobody who drives that far that often needs to lose almost 1/4 of their gas tank (vs 22 on the x5).

The window sticker on your car was 15/21, right? And you're getting 11/12? If so, then you're like me and your driving habits are such that sticker mileage, and the 'blue sky' mileage that everyone else reports doesn't apply.

I had a 2011 x5 35d and my calculated in-town average was about 18mpg (a whole tank in-town). Highway bursts gave me 24. 18mpg wasn't enough to make up for hunting for gas and sometimes general pump grossness (24 would be).

I traded my 35d for a 2012 x6 35i. I get about 16mpg in town (my worst tank was 14, but I think I did a couple of conference calls in the car with the ac running on that one). I've gotten two highway bursts of 27! I NEVER did that well with my 35d. Must be the 8-speed xmission. Usual highway is 22.

So, when you're thinking gas mileage on the 35i and 35d, use 16 and 18.

And, if it's in budget, how about considering and x6? I've driven various x5s for 9 years and I find my x6 SO much more fun to drive. My passengers like it better too (I ask -- the little ones at least). I have a 10yo son, a 10yo niece and a 14yo niece. I couldn't switch to an x6 until they offered a 3-person rear seat. I ordered the car before they were shipping, so we had no idea if it would work out or not. It did, thank goodness.

The only thing spec'd differently from my 35d was the outside color and soft close doors (my 35d had adaptive drive too), so it has to be the x6ness of it all that they're appreciating. You wouldn't think so since the rear seat is a very maligned area of that car.

I did LOVE being able to put furniture in my e70, but I decided that I use my car to move me around, not furniture. If I can fit the cr*p in that I need/want for a trip, I'm good. Since my goal with my e70 was to always keep it under the cargo cover, I knew it would work out.