Brandon,
I think most of long time BMW owners know what they are getting into maintenance wise when they buy a BMW especially used. We all get actively involved when it comes to staying on top of things. If we keep on buying them it's because we have a true passion for the driving experience they bring us. Mind you, I don't hate the occasional DIY stuff that needs to be done and at the end of the day, I kinda enjoyed myself doing it. It's part of the fun especially knowing we have a great forum community that is always there to help (like yourself for example). But comes a point where we can absolutely blame it on the X knowing we are doing everything that is possible to stay on top of our game but the X keeps on charging back with more problems.

Whenever my friends would laugh at me when I had mechanical failure and they would tell me to dump that piece of S**T, I would strongly defend the brand saying they couldn't understand as they were not BMW owners. I guess it was emotions defending the brand back then. But if you put emotions aside for a min , it's kinda hard to tell a friend that the X is worth buying even if they are willing to put in the time we all do in maintenance cause emotions aside, it's ridiculous. We find a sense in all the work because we just love the feeling of driving it??? Is it the prestige of owning one?
Emotions aside, most X's are a piece of expensive crap and yes we can blame it on the X.

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His : 2005 X5 4.8is (SOLD)
Hers: 2007 X5 3.0si (SOLD)
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Retired:
1999 518
2000 323i
2002 M3 (beautiful car)
2003 330Ci