The E70 is a big fat pig in comparison to the E53. The N52 is an amazing engine that will give you years of dependable service. I cannot speak for the N55 as I refuse to own one.

Technologically it is superior in every way. There are no rust issues with an E70. There shouldnt be any rust issues with any BMW but everyone has different definitions of taking care of their vehicles.

All BMW V8's are junk. Well, they aren't junk, they're just awful.

The pano roofs are ummmm, temperamental as these get on in years. They always seem to get temperamental when the weather is below freezing and your asshole navy seal husband decides to push the vent function.

I drive the piss out of my E70's. Adaptive drive and load level suspension makes these things untouchable in the corners. I always smile when I push the accelerator down in curves, especially when I'm next to some douche in a fart can civic that cannot seem to shift properly. The Transmission (6-speed) is pretty spot on but you will find your RPMs are up there at highway speed.

As the ever-wise ard stated its all about maintenance. Chances are that the 200K X5 is on its 3 or 5th owner and was traded into a Chevy dealer because the moron who bought it off of Honest Abe's Used Luxury Cars Buy Here Pay Here lot had absolutely no clue how to take care of these things and could not afford to do the regular upkeep.

Thanks for all the input.
I forgot to ask how the seats are? Our X5 had very comfy seats with the side bolsters.
I've read there's 3? options for seats in X5 E70:
- regular, sport, and 'active'.

Is there any difference in the seats regular and sport regarding the cushions seat, and back rest / bolster portion?

I know the active seats, have the ventilation cooling feature, but apparently are quite rare to find ...

Jonathan

I have the Multi-Contour seats which I believe are in addition to the Sport Seats (or as a stand alone option). They adjust at the top and side which I don't believe the Sport do.

that sounds more like what I'm after. Do they have any of the perforated leather or cooling? Perhaps only as another option...

No, I believe those are the Active ones.

Maybe they're all lumped into different seat names, but looking at our option seat we have S451A - Active seat for driver, which is where the seat portion moves like a terrible massage to keep your legs from getting restless.

Other separate options for S456A - comfort seat, S488A - lumbar support, S494A - heated seats. We also have the cooling/vented seats but I'm not seeing the option for that.

On the sunroof....ours occasionally refuses to close from the vent position. Which seems to be a problem on all BMWs. Sometimes it'll close the first time, sometimes the second, sometimes it's 30 min later with me occasionally trying. I don't see it jamming like is shown in youtube videos, it's almost like a pinch sensor where it closes, then reopens.

Every Single E70 I have had does that. Every spring I open the roof fully and lube the piss out of the tracks and guides. It will then happen less frequently. Now the asshole doesn't want to slide back when you are @ speeds greater than 50MPH.

We're just going into our second summer with it, so lubing it up will be on the to do list. I don't think it's jamming like most of the videos I see, I think it's just old and worn and either a sensor or the current draw is saying something is wrong and it just reopens.

My latest trick was to leave it vented, lock it, then hold the unlock on the fob so it goes through the window down procedure, but since the sunroof is in vent, it needs to close then retract. I call it a trick, but really I'm only 1/1 so far haha.

Close...but the e70 seat names for the US market are; regular (basic), sport, and multi-comfort/multi function. The "active" and "ventilation" features are additional options that can be added to the multi-comfort seats.

TIP: a quick way to tell if an X5 is optioned with sport or multi-comfort seats (when you can't see the entire seat)...is to look at the shape of the headrests or thigh extension. The extending thigh cushion is rectangular on the sport seat...and the thigh extension is angular on the multi-comfort seat. The multi-comfort seats have a manually articulating neck feature.

Have you guys "re-calibrated" your sungroof? Start the car, put the sunroof in vent (not sure that step is required) then push up and hold the button (like you are putting it in vent) for what seems like forever and the sunroof will go through its dance and eventually close.