It isn't all about body height either. It is about the complex curves of the body and where they move inward.

I can only assume that the X5M has more curves and the body moves further toward the middle of the vehicle in front of the rear tires vs. the E53 as it was a "squarer" vehicle.

Plus, the E53 4.6is has plastic on the lower body panels vs. the X5M. This, plus running boards, would help keep it wider overall, which in turn will keep debris off it.

http://photo.netcarshow.com/BMW-X5_4...2_photo_04.jpg

http://photo.netcarshow.com/BMW-X5_M_2010_photo_06.jpg

Our ML320 (with AMG flares) had the same issue.
http://photo.netcarshow.com/Mercedes...0_photo_03.jpg

well, I heard back from my dealership today and they told me BMW will stand by the vehicle.
I was told that the photos of my car were sent to the design division of BMW in N.J. and that they were going
to see what needed to be redesigned to avoid the problem. After they fix whats wrong, i was told my car will be repaired 100% with no charge to me.

You would be correct on the curves..

They should have never painted the bottom of the running boards at least :dunno:

Glad to hear.

Ah, but there is the rub! People expect all body parts to be painted on this vehicle. Look at the changes to the X5 LCU just to get rid of more plastic.

I am actually getting the lower doors and side skirts fully wrapped with 3M clear film on my X3 M Sport before winter to keep this from happening. Actually, everywhere in yellow is getting protected as I know the rock chips are coming.

http://bora20.smugmug.com/Cars/2007-...98_xqR6T-M.png

http://bora20.smugmug.com/Cars/2007-...42_rNMWp-M.png

http://bora20.smugmug.com/Cars/2007-...92_LPAq4-M.png

I certainly don't expect body parts to be painted if they will literally be destroyed after a few thousand miles! I have had many, many vehicles and have never seen anything even close to this. It's an obvious design flaw, not a physics problem. BMWNA really needs to take care of this problem for us, and I think we should formally start keeping track of dealer responses and actions that we can use as ammunition to get this resolved.

^^^That is why I asked if we could sticky this thread for now so it could be used as a source of information on the issue but no bite from the admin/mods. I would have stickied something like this on our forum.

I agree 100%, I wonder why they won't do it?

If you look at the number of replies in this thread, and the number of views, it is far less than the various threads that are stickies. It isn't up to me, but just saying.

Why not just subscribe to it?

It is not up to me either. Threads that get a lot of reply don't need to be stickied, they are always on the first page and don't get lost.