Originally Posted by primeral

Understood. I don't know MT223's history of BMW ownership or DIY-handiness, so I was only helping to cover all of the bases. Although religious maintenance is absolutely necessary, a high mileage BMW might come with surprises.

One interesting fact is if this person is coming from a different brand (ie Honda, Nissan, maybe even Lexus or Infiniti) the hourly labor rate is somewhere around $75-79. At a lot of BMW shops near where I live, they charge between $100-120/hr. At the NTB (National Tire & Battery), regular cars cost $79 for a 4-wheel alignment. NTB charged me $120 because it's a BMW.

Good luck with your prospective purchase, MT223. I am not swaying your decision whatsoever, as I love BMWs and have learned to live with the higher cost of ownership. If it's of any worth, I drove my 2002 M5 to 175,000 miles with very little problems and I hope my X5 does the same.