Um... huh??

I was with you until that sentence... can't make out what you are trying to say...

you could get a beater for the winter months. I'm in upstate NY and drive my old Isuzu Trooper when it gets brutal outside.

No offence, but eight years is nothing (or should be) these days.

I parked my Isuzu because it has a loud valve tick and I don't have time right now to look at it. Other than the alt, clutch and starter, I have needed NOTHING but tune up parts. It is 13 years old with 165K miles. If my $20K Rodeo (which is reputed to be a so-so vehicle) can achive this level of service perfomance, then a $70 BMW should be able to do it too.

Similarly, my 19 yo, 210K RX7 Vert has also been trouble free.

In fact, the last car I had that needed (almost) as much attention as the OP's car was my '71 Pinto. And I purchased that with 129K miles on it and drove it another 100K.

BMWs are nice cars. I like my X, but there is no excuse for such poor quality performance in a vehicle this young, and this expensive.

If you accept (and make excuses for) [poor quality] from BMW, you give them license to continue to produce [poor quality].

If someone built a vehicle that drives and handles like my X5 and is reliable and cheap to fix as a Honda, let me know, I'll be the first one in line to pick one up.

Obviously none of you have ever owned an Audi product. :tsk: