Question for the high(er) millage folks

[mrbdm99]

OK, so I have a 2001 x5 3.0 with approx 112k miles. I really have no idea how many of those are highway miles before we got it (at 8x,xxx miles two years ago), but 90% of all the new miles we have put on it are highway miles.

I really should have done a bit more research when I got it, but, like most of you I am sure, I couldn't help but get it as soon as I drove it. It just felt right. If I would have looked around a bit, I would have probably realized the dealer was charging a good bit too much, but that is neither here nor there.

Outside of oil changes, I have had to get the steering rack replaced as it started to bind and that *knock on wood* is the biggest drama I have come across. I recently took it to my mechanic to have him do a once over with this last oil change and he found about 1700 dollars worth of stuff to do, nothing pressing, but stuff he believes will need replacing sooner, rather than later. Not a huge deal, but here in lies my delima... Stay with me a bit because, as you can see, I'm rather wordy, but I will do what I can to keep it short.

We drive to see family quite a bit, we always take two dogs, a baby (meaning carseat), and all related gear. For a weekend or a week, the amount of gear we tote is about the same. That is to say, it is a lot of stuff. We generally come back with more than we left with and that really taxes the amount of room in the x5. A quarter the time, I can't see out the back window due to everything in the back seat (can't put much in the very back due to the dogs). In about 5 months, we will have a second baby + related stuff to tote. We will be needing more room. My wife's solution is to put the dogs up in a "doggy hotel", but that is almost as pricey as getting work done on the x5, so they will continue to come with us. I don't see that changing. My second concern is that with that many miles, I am probably going to have bits and pieces (like right now) that come up that need to be replaced from here on out (an o2 sensor here, a faulty speaker there, etc). So, that leads me to the thoughts of replacing it for something with more room. Keeping cost in mind, 05 MDX's and 05 XC90's are priced about right and offer a good deal more space. 05 SRX's are priced even better with more people space, but about the same cargo space (all three with the 3rd rows folded flat for now). We even, gasp (though, I admit I love them because I am a truck guy too) drove a Tahoe with the new six speed auto and it was smooth, quite, and huge. Those are priced about 10k too much for me right now though, but, 10k isn't a huge sum in the overall scheme of things.

So, as you can see, I'm really torn on 1) do I keep the x5 or 2) do I move up to something bigger. I really love how the x5 drives and feels, but I am a bit scared of maintenance costs that are potentially lurking around the corner. Anyone around here with these higher millage cars have any insite into the problem? I really also don't want to keep putting money into a car that is worth (according to Carmax) slightly less than I owe... So yeah. Any thoughts would be appreciated!