That depends on your point of view; whereas I actually agree with you, many do not as there is not a 100% clear definition of what constitutes a country. Here is an interesting discussion for those interested in geo-politics (although from wikipedia so it isn't exactly reliable).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries

But as far as I am concerned Scotland is definitely a country!

Also to get back on topic - yes we do get ripped off on prices - the main reason is that the manufacturers are not recognising the effect of currency exchange. Five years ago you got roughly 1.6 USD for every GBP. And so a 40000 GBP X5 (not many of those about admittedly) cost about 64000 USD, take off the taxes and the values were pretty comparable. Now with the rate at 2.05 the same vehicle costs 82000 - effectively a 35% increase in US terms. It is this that has the biggest effect. BMW are effectively using this difference to shore up profits - as they have significant profitably issues, and are on a massive cost-cutting campaign. In reality prices are not too dissimilar to those of 5-6 years ago in the UK, and BMW weren't going to cut prices, were they!

That's ok, I have called back the team of commando's that I had sent round to your house! :p

One of the primary reasons for the different prices is that exchange rates vary, and it is not practical to change the prices of vehicles dramatically from year to year. The dollar has been weakening for years against other currencies; however, BMW cannot raise prices in the U.S. to recover this weakening 100% without really impacting sales. A few years ago the Euro was worth around a dollar, nowadays it's around $1.4 dollars. If BMW had increased prices in the U.S. and additional 40% more than Europe over those years their U.S. sales would have really dropped.

So BMW "averages" the exchange rate out... getting a better profit margin in those markets where currencies are strengthening, and getting a poorer profit margin in those markets where the currency is weakening, e.g., compare what the relative costs of a Candian BMW vs. a U.S. BMW would be at the exchange rates of a few years ago, and you will see that it is the exchange rate changes that account for much (but not all) of the disparity seen Today.