God I miss him. I tracked him down with the help of a cop friend and have the address of the new owners. My 535i is in the shop now with a non-functional blower motor and compromised rear door vapor barriers (so rear seat passengers have to wear rain boots after a storm). I had only made one payment on the 5 before it went into the shop. Warranty is only covering the blower motor, not the $500 parts + labor of the rear door seals.

My X5 at least had the decency to wait 3-4 months before it began to eat alternators, water pumps, etc.

How long did you own the X5. Had the 01 X5 3.0 for about 5 years and was regularly spending $1k per year and i was doing most of the work myself except for 2 times when the alternator went out one year and the power steering went out the following year. Each time getting my wife stranded and had to take it to the closest shop that specializes in bmw or euro cars. I do miss driving the x5 but i don't miss having to work on it regularly.