:iagree:

Its no M3 or M5 but you will sure enjoy it.
And E70 4.8 is different from E53 4.8is. Not the same thing. Different engine settings. 4.8is is lot more fun.

a litlle modd work and you'll love it !!

strut tower bar
sway bars
spacers
intrax lowering module

and now she handle like a 5 series w sport pkg !!

Yes, the car pictured is my personal vehicle. I did a conversion on it...imported all the parts from Oz.

Thanks for the additional info as well. And thanks to everyone else for all the insightful comments. It's really making me feel better about my decision. Hopefully I'll be posting up pics here soon.

And Jonathan, glad to see you here man! It's nice to have a familiar face in unfamiliar territory. :beerchug:

-Matt-

ummm.. what did you expect to hear? LOL. Seriously though - it is definitely a ton of fun. LOVE IT.

You don't need all that money to make the car drive faster. You just need to be a better driver to drive a car faster.

Tons of mods != Fast, skilled driver

Matt... hi... nice boat you got there (GTO). Guess who I am?

:iagree:

Or...

Considering you're coming from sports cars, you can find a low-mid mileage 2004+ 4.4i or the 4.6is and mod it with Dinan's S2 or S3 package. X5's are well engineered but the E53 "is" models stand apart even from the E70 4.8 (performance-wise). If you decide on it, make sure of warranty/CPO and an extra set of winter wheels and you're all good :thumbup:

Nice cars by the way...love the engine/exhaust note of the GTO.

I just like having my thoughts reaffirmed. :)

It can be only one...ARNEE!!! :nanana:

Thanks man! Definitely set on the 4.8is. And yeah, I'll miss it too...but I'm giving up one great sounding car for another, so I'll be ok.

After over 3 years of ownership, I still love my 4.8is as much as the first day I picked it up. I also had an E36 M3 as well as an E46 M3 before I moved onto the 4.8. You will not be disappointed with the handling at all - and the torque is what totally impressed me coming from a high-revving I6 to a big V8.

And you will really smile on the days when you actually need the space or the AWD, etc..

Go for it!

Edit - here is a link to my most recent pics taken last summer:
http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...plica-rbs.html

I LOVE driving my 2006 4.8is. It's so much fun to put your foot into, it handles incredidbly well for any car (spectacularly for an SAV) and it's extremely useful too for hauling stuff, towing, road trips etc... I don't see how anyone could NOT love driving it, but hey, if you're coming from a low slung sports car and that's the feel you want, I've seen numerous 2007 M5's with 20k miles for sale right now for right around $42k so it sure wouldn't be a bad time to snatch one at half off. Either way, you can't go wrong. :thumbup:

Dang ... maybe shoulda bought an M5! But wife wants SUV ...:(