Trading 330 for E70-not quite yet
 

Drove a 2009 E70 3.0 today. 88k miles, sport pkg. It seemed clean enough, limited carfax history. Accelerating from a dead stop, there was a delay then harsh engagement. The rest of the drive was uneventful. Light rattle from the cargo shade but otherwise seemed tight. I passed on the deal anyway, based on the shifting. I found a service bulletin pertaining to this, but the dealer didn't seem very interested in chasing it.
Anyone experience this shifting problem?

Yes. People have had issues with no decent resolution- some reprogramming, SOMETIMES makes it better, but pretty common complaint in early 30 models

Yep. My '08 48i has it and the dealer just replaced the transmission under warranty. The issue is significantly improved but not resolved. I'm not sold that it's a sign of any problem at this point, maybe just a design/software flaw.

Stay in the 330 as long as you can. I didn't really want this boat, but it was necessitated as my wife resisted a BMW SUV and one of us had to get a bigger vehicle for the family. I'm buying a year and putting her in an X5 or GL and getting my third pedal back. Either that or adding a third bay to the garage.

I thought it was a 3,0 issue. My wife asked me if I was going to put bags of manure in an X5 like I do with my Yukon. Good point.

Active suspension makes even the V8 X5 quite nimble. It can come with some additional problems/costs, but I believe the trade off is worth it.

The 2009 I drove had adaptive drive, sport pkg etc. My tastes are changing. I may look at an 09 with base suspension and comfort seats. 69k miles, which is a plus.

My 2008 is as close to a X5M as you can get without being an X5M.

I found my 2008 with 66k miles on it. Already has almost 74k in 9 months. Mostly road trips to include a 1100 mile straight run where I averaged 70 MPH for the entire 1100 miles. :D

I keep reading about oil leaks on the V8. Is it really that common, or do we just hear about the bad ones?

The really big oil leak problem is there is only 1 common oil leak that I am aware of.

Similar to the I6 OFHG. If you have a V8 with an oil cooler it is much easier to correct then without the oil cooler. Still kind of a PITA, cheap gasket, but a PITA to sort out. There is a oil passage that is blocked/connected with the alternator bracket on the engines without oil coolers, but the engines with oil coolers you remove the oil cooler interface plate as I recall.

Vacuum pump can also leak oil, this is not so bad to repair.

Coolant leak from the center coolant pipe can be a problem, but I installed once of these as PM in my N62 when I replaced the water pump.

Bimmer Fix | Coolant Pipe Repair System

Yes, replace the water pump by 70k miles, the bearings got noisy in mine before I took a 2200 mile road trip, but the pump survived and was really noisy when I returned.

I am also running a cooler HamburgTech thermostat in my 4.8l.

So, the X5 wets itself just like my 330. Typical. I live an hour, at least, from any decent inventory so this may be a long process. I won't eliminate the V8 from my search. Thanks

Oh, come on now. The general shape is the only common between yours and X5M ;) You may have adaptive drive, but the torque vectoring diff is what really makes something this heavy to turn, and the huge HP and TQ is what makes it go fast.
Adaptive drive is associated with a lot of extra cost involved, perhaps after 100k miles mark or so. $2200 for a sway bar and almost a 1k for a shock is not cheap. I dont have adaptive drive, but after I got rid of the RFT tires I dont have any complaints at all. Ride is just by my taste and the X5 leans quite a bit under heavy cornering, but that actually gives more grip, not less. Only in aggressive "slalom" type maneuvers it may loose it's poise, but it is not that bad.
Known N62 flaws:
-coolant transfer pipe, middle of the engine
-alternator bracket, oil leak
-valve seals
-secondary air system channels in the head, plugged-up
-vacuum pump
-intermediate shafts, valvetronic
-???
Known N52 problems:
-water pump, at 60 to 100k miles
-???