Well after months of saving, and selling my audi, my wife and I are finally in the market for our x5!! I have wanted a bmw since my dad first brought home his first m roadster in 1997. we are looking at 03 and 04 x5s, i have just a few oddball questions about these cars
- between the awd and xdrive is there a huge difference in rough stuff driveability? we live In Idaho,so the winters are pretty harsh, and there will be some light offroading for camping and hiking, is the xdrive system worth the extra 2-3k I would have to fork out for the facelift?

-obviously the cars I am looking at will be out of warranty, luckily I am competent in doing most of my own work, with exception of engine internals and transmission, which I have heard are pretty bulletproof in the x5 anyways, can anybody backup this claim? Also, I know what it takes to keep german cars running, barrels and barrels of money, in the years I am looking at what are the most expensive repairs near 100k, in terms of parts?

anybody who has purchased a used x5 in these years have any pearls of wisdom for me? I am mostly looking at by owner, so are there anythings to watch for?

Since this is gonna be our sports "ACTIVTY" vehicle, we plan on doing a lot of stuff in it, has anyone ever used an air matress in the x5? or does anyone know if you can fit one in with the seats down and the front seats pushed up? Would there be enough room for 2 people two sleep for a night in the back, I am 5"11 and my wife 5"6' so we are not huge people
Well thats allthe things I can think of now, I am stoked to be getting this car, and although Iam a little nervous about buying an automatic outside of warranty( this is the first auto I have will own, the wife insisted) I am definetly stoked for our first bimmer