Questions about purchasing a used X5

[ryans081]

Hello!

To make a long story short, had a 2006 330i two years ago, but traded it in and have since regretted it.

I want another BMW, but this time I want a SUV for the snow. I won't be putting a lot of miles on it as it will be just used to drive about 10-15 miles a few days week, so gas is not really a problem.

A medical student is poor and as such, my budget is limited. So I've been shopping for a 2003-2005 X5, with prices ranging from $11,000-$15,000. But I have a couple of questions and hopefully someone can help me.

My obvious preference is a 2004 4.4i, but I read that it is more prone to transmission problems compared to 3.0i. Is this something I should be worried about?

As far as 2003 goes, a 2003 and 2004 cost about the same as this point, is there a reason to get a 2003?

Now for the mechanics...

Most X5's I see are around 100k miles, which seems like the magic number. I will have a PPI on the vehicle, but what should the inspector really look out for?

In auto check or carfax, what maintenance stuff should I be looking for?

I would like to learn to fix some of the minor stuff thats probably going to arise, I read some positive and negative stuff about the CarMD diagnostic tool, namely it doesn't reset the check engine light. What would be a good alternative of it?

Many Thanks!