There in NJ, it's a CRIME (2,000$ fine?) to fill up yourself, just like in my neighboring Oregon. Don't call it a full service :D.

You would hate driving through Oregon late at night looking for gas station. Most of them are closed, and of course, you cannot pay with card to fill up yourself. I had to stop at 5 gas stations once, before finding one with attendant on duty. Oh, I got the "full service", it was awesome (jk, some of them you are afraid to give your credit card to).

Not a problem in other (reasonable) states - pay with card and fill up yourself - no attendant needed.

Ok, so here is what I have gathered so far with your help.

Disadvantages of Diesel:
Not available at as many service stations.
The pumps can be a little dirtier and the diesel has a different odor.
Some additional engine noise.
Engine is not as smooth.

Here are some benefits;
Lower overall fuel costs.
Huge increase in torque.
Significantly further range per tank.

I am also hoping that there may be less depreciation with the diesel over the next few years depending on how gas prices play out. However, this is a gamble with no real way of knowing wht will happen.

We are going to test drive a 2010 35d this weekend. Car appears to be very clean, one owner and is CPO'd for the next 3.5 years or 55,000 miles. From what I have seen online and on NADA, the car seems to be a deal at under $39,000. Premium package, Sport package, Nav, heated seats, nice color combo, new tires, etc. Hopefully it checks out and we are happy with the way it drives and sounds.

So, sounds like it has 45,000 miles. Yeah, let us know how it checks out this weekend.

Yeah, 44k and some change. That is about 10-15k more than I would prefer, but I assume that is why the dealer CPO'd it. The fact that there is so much warranty left makes me feel better about it. Do you think that is too many miles for the price, considering the length of warranty left? Most of the certified 30i's I have seen are $34-39k with 30-50k miles and none of them had a warranty as long or with as many miles remaining as this one. Plus, I feel the 35d warrants a premium over the 30i. Also, we will only put about 13k miles a year on this thing, so the mileage may be back to an average amount for it's age when we sell it. We would only keep it while it was under warranty.

The 2010 X5 35d sold last night before we could look at it, so back to the drawing board. Thanks for all of your help.

Well, I found another 35d. This one is an 09 with 31,000 miles. It is actually being CPO'd as we speak and I put down fully refundable $500 deposit with the dealer to make sure we get first dibs on it. I feel good that the car is going to be a CPO and still has some original warranty left as well. However, when I took a closer look at the Carfax, I see that the vehicle was serviced quite frequently at a BMW dealer. It actually seems too frequently, imo. Should there be any reason why a reliable car should have been to the dealer for serivce 10 times within a 21,000 mile span? I know there may have been some recalls performed and I am pretty sure that diesels require specific emmissions fluid every once in a while, but this car seems to have been in for service literally every 2,000 miles in the past 2 years. Can there be any logical explaination for this or do I need to simply run away from this particular vehicle even if it is a CPO? Here are the dates and mileages listed on Carfax. All simply state, "vehicle serviced":

01/04/2010 - 7,797
04/06/2010 - 11,056
08/30/2010 - 16,658
10/15/2010 - 17,910
01/05/2011 - 19,134
03/30/2011 - 21,075
07/21/2011 - 23,837
09/27/2011 - 25,425
11/02/2011 - 26,330
02/24/2012 - 28,240

It may also be worth mentioning that all of these were under the same owner.

My two cents and I am late to this thread.

I owned a number of the E70s including the 3.0, 3.5d, and 3.5i. One year ago I traded my 2012 3.5i for a new 2011 Acura MDX Advance which I still own.

I preferred the 3.5i to the diesel. Doing the math, the price of diesel on average was 10% more than premium unleaded, erasing quite a bit of the fuel economy advantage. I also felt the 3.5i was a better match for the X5, it was much quicker off stops and I wasn't planning on towing anything.

I traded my diesel for some of the reasons already mentioned in this thread. First the clatter was too much for me. At low speeds it was loud outside of the car, especially around my neighborhood. It just didn't feel like a premium car (I get that many people here like the sound). Also, my wife refused to fill it after visiting too many gas stations with dirty diesel pumps.

I left the 3.5i due to continued reliability issues with the X5s as a hole and due to my fatigue with run flat tires (we also sold our 328i for the same reason).

The Acura MDX Advance is a fantastic value with the adaptable suspension, blind spot detection, automatic cruise control, and emergency braking system. The MDX does lack some X5 features I liked such as the heated steering wheel, rain sensing wipers, and park distance control. I know the rub on the MDX is the center console, but I was fine with it in a day of use. (Note I also had no issue with iDrive). Our MDX has been solid, no rattles or issues except for a recall to reprogram the tranny.

Obviously there are good and bad cars from each manufacturer. Used BMWs scare the heck out of me. Even if they still have warranty, there are a bunch floating around that were traded in for problems, so be careful.

I bought 11 new BMWs over the years and have completely left the brand. My second car is now a 2012 Infiniti G37 Convertible and it also has been solid (so far).

Again, BMW is a very good car and there are great folks on this board. My X5 problems were all over the board (last one was failing brakes). As Mike Miller said in Roundel, avoid BMWs that are out of warranty (pointing to the potential emptying of your wallet).

Best of luck in your search. The X5 is a great drive, hope you find something you like.

Well put it this way, I am on my 2nd X5d and my dad is on his 3rd. He drives ~50k miles a year, I drive ~35k. Neither of us has had a single solitary warrantee issue.

During the winter months diesel does cost as much or even 10 cents more than premium, but during spring/summer it drops dramatically. Last month i was paying 20-30 cents under the cost of REGULAR..... Diesel prices are tied more closely to heating costs, so they climb in cold months and drop in hot months.

I bought a 2012 x5d a few weeks ago. It is my first diesel. I think your Advantages/Disadvantages list is spot on. Except I haven't really had trouble finding a diesel station. As someone else mention, just plan ahead a little and keep an eye out for the green diesel signs.

On the price of diesel, I've noticed that shopping around a little helps. Lately, the price has been the same or lower than regular grade gas in my area. There is a website/app called GasBuddy.com that is helpful in finding local diesel at a good price. Also, after a few weeks you know which stations in your area have diesel so not a big deal.

Yes, the pumps are dirtier than the gasoline pumps. I've taken to washing my hands right after filling up. But with the range, my fill-ups are pretty far apart so not a big issue.