A few things for me:


1) TIMELESS DESIGN - you already hit the nail on the head, the E53 design if you think about from initial development is going on 15 YEARS OLD! How many other cars can you say age so gracefully? I get compliments on mine all the time, it still looks "newer" to people, and the facelift 04-06 guys, might as well be brand new to unassuming onlookers!

2) THE DRIVE - beautiful BMW driving experience, its fun to drive, handles well, sporty suspension and wheels/tires setup make it a wondrous experience to be behind the wheel. Well appointed interior make you proud to sit "in the cockpit"

3) THE OPTIONS (Manual trans for me) - You can get your E53 in many flavors, namely, a bulletproof BMW straight 6, 3 different V8 engine choices and trim levels, sport package equipped or non-sport package, and the best part for me and why I bought my X, A PURE ENTHUSIAST'S MANUAL TRANSMISSION!

Once I found out 4 years ago (and it was unbeknownst to be prior to that) that the E53 was available with 3 pedals, I knew I had to have one. I have only owned manual transmission vehicles since I started driving 11 years ago, and did NOT want to give that up, with a wedding and first house purchase approaching, but I needed something practical (4 seasons, with room to haul things if needed), so the E53 with a manual was an absolute perfect choice for me.

In the years to come, I see myself driving nothing but my E53. The next best thing for me would be a Porsche Cayenne S or GTS with a manual trans, but we all know that that is not comparing apples to apples. If I could afford the coin for a GTS Cayenne 6-speed, I could probably afford to keep my E53 as well, and then I'd just be adding to the stable!


Name me another luxury, European branded SUV that can be had in a manual trans, there are none (and yes, I know about the E83 manual), which means my X is in a class by itself. It's such a nice conversation piece when people are asking me questions about my car and I say "you know its a stick right" and they are like "No way!" and actually ask to see the shifter lol!


Love my E53!

The look, the leather, the better view of the road (previous was a Mazda Protégé), the power, the beautiful handling. I haven't had this much fun driving a car in years!

:iagree:

For me it was a toss up between a Nissan armada, audi q7, or the x5. The armada is too big for my neighborhood with the parking and I didn't feel like spending all my money on the q7 but I'm glad I picked the x5 the only thing I regret is not getting a 4.8

Speaking of sound i love when i pull up to another 4.4 n62 and hear them drive off, sometime i just want to let somoene drive my car in circles around me and do some launches.

when I was trading in my 2008 g6 my wife told me to trade it for something that has luxury ,well the x5 does, with the black leather heated seats, rides like sports car not like and suv, very quiet and smooth no engine noises compared to the g6 which I bought brand new. can`t beleive how comfortable the seats are. so for an even trade I`m over all happy and the power from 3.0I compared to the 4cyl g6 well no comparison ,just couldn`t imagin you guys here with the 8cyl engines, but I`m happy with the 3.0I no regrets I don`t tow anything . max speeds here in ont 100km /hr ,over by 50km vehicles get impounded with a 5000.00 fine ,factory tint is awsome, heated mirrors, heated spray nozzles ,what more can I say (no payments)silver I like, buffs and waxes easy, auto dimming mirrors all this stuff I never had before and the sound system has good quality speakers in my opinion ,not like those cheap paper type speakers you find in other makes. oh yeah the body over all, like the metal body parts are high quality no rust anywhere since it has seen a few winters in ontario, lots of quality control compared to gm/ford, my g6 which I looked after washing, waxing weekly still had scaley thick rust flaking off at the lower pinch welds on the rockers and stone chips at the rear dog legs. all in all If I do have to put out some repairs in the future on this sav it will be well worth it. :)

The sound of the engine when I stomp the gas to pass the slowpokes on the parkway, bwahahahaaha

My first bimmer experience was an X5. The 02 3.0i Topaz blue that was handed down to my daughter. We had a LR Discovery II at the time. A major maintenance is coming up on that one and I was not ready for it. Plus the V8 in there feel weak. We love the X5 look. Tested drive a feel and bought the 02 3.0i with 32K miles on it back in 2005 still under warranty. The I6 3.0i in the X5 felt stronger than the V8 in the LR. It moves the X at will. I was hooked since then. Replaced the SC300 daily driver with the E39 525i you see in the sig. When my daughter got her DL, we bought my wife an 01 3.0i with 73K miles on it. We were happy for a few years there until I decided to upgrade my wife's ride to the 06 Dinan 4.8iS (in the sig) She returned the favor recently by upgrading my DD to an 03 Dinan 540i MSport. We are die-hard bimmer fans (even my in-law siblings with their E93 3-pedals M3s) I have learnt lots about bimmers by maintaining them.

-Timeless design (same thing can be said about my Z32 ;) )
-Interior lay out and materials
-Built quality (but not the out-sourced plastic stuffs :( )
-Dinan exhaust note on the 4.8iS :drool: :mmm: