Will you simply be bringing the car into a BMW dealer and saying "fix this"???

If so, in 3 years you CAN (not will, but CAN) rack up all kinds of expenses. Besides the normal maintenance (brakes, oil, brack fluid, ATF) which will be 3-4000, you could be facing a radiator ($1k), or self leveling suspension baldder ($3k) or a few window regulators ($500)...never mind a tranny ($7k)

Or you may get lucky.

If it won't be the end of the world to spend the money, take the risk.

70k to 130k isnt the same as 20k to 80k

Well I feel like the ultimate idiot, although its not really my fault. I got the # of the guy my friend is hooking me up with for the sale and it's a actually an E53. '06 that he didn't specifically state the names of options but has a trailer tow on it, DVD, it's the 3.0 not 4.8 :( and seems to have everything but a nav system. Seems odd that it doesn't. Was that pretty standard? Anyhow he's also selling a house so I may not get to look at it til next week.

Well, that is quite a switch. 06 E53 would be the most reliable of a proven model. 3.0 is vastly preferable to me, others might want the V8 power. I wouldn't have Nav, it was antiquated. Get a Garmin if you need it.

I just like the extra power in the 4.8 but no issues with the 3.0. And I told my wife that there are some definite upsides to the 06. Especially in regards to reliability.