Advice on E70 purchase consideration

[blkxer]

Hey guys,

I currently have an 03 E53 4.4i, and I'm feeling a major repair bill coming. I was planning on keeping the E53 for at least another 3-4 years, but with the high cost of any transmission repair, I'm considering if I should sell it. Take the residual value and money I would have put into the transmission repair, and just get another vehicle.

I love the the look of the E70; however, my price point would put me at the early production of the E70 (2007-2008 models). My question for all you E70 owners are:

Are the 07-08 models more prone to problems than the later production ones?

Is there a list of common problems with the E70?

Are the E70 transmissions prone to the early failure seen in the E53?

I'm currently weighing all my options whether to keep the E53 and take the repair hit...upgrade to an E70 3.0...upgrade to an MBZ ML350 or Audi Q5?