New Owner Observations of 2006 4.8is.

[m3brad]

All I can say is, I'm blown away in how much I enjoy driving this vehicle.

A little about myself. I've owned six (6) ///M cars in eight (8) years and then went out and bought an Audi Allroad for the utility. I instruct a friend at a local roadcourse, who buys and sells hi-end cars. He's been kind enough to supply me with practically anything for track and street, so I couldn't justify buying a street/track vehicle.

Some of the vehicles I've had a chance to drive for long weekends have included:
- AMG cars
- Infiniti FX35 & FX45
- Tourag TDI
- Range Rover Sport
- BMW X5 4.6
- Audi RS6
- Audi RS4.

Having this opportunity has made me quite fickle and to commit to owning a "new" car has been a difficult decision.

I owned my CPO Allroad for three (3) years and finally it started bleeding to the tune of $4,000 in repairs in four months, of course after the warranty ran out . . it had to go.

My search for a vehicle to replace the Allroad came down to my three favorites:
- Audi RS4
- Audi RS6
- BMW X5 4.8is

All I can say is, I'm blown away in how much I enjoy driving this vehicle!


The upsides of the X5 are:
- not everyone has one, but it's not pretentious
- fast, comfortable and great handling
- build quality
- mileage is no worse than the Allroad
- timeless appearance . . .

and every time I open my garage door, I smile . . . especially when I start it up. How many of you back your vehicle in, so you can enjoy the sounds at start up?

The CPO warranty was a must, since I've had enough experience repairing German cars out of warranty. When I bought my car, it came with 50K miles and my friends couldn't tell it wasn't a new car.

Thanks for reading my lengthy post and I'm glad I'm in the BMW camp again!