Very good thoughts - love the "clean diesel" logo idea. I know what to do now! I will tell my wife we need to trade the Alpine white X5 5.0 for a black X5M!!! Then, I can get some (semi-classy) door magnets that I can slap on the X5M when I have a day of longngngngng driving!

Seriously again, I can get some pretty nice looking door magnets for the X5 and I can take it occasionally when I know I am going to have to drive a long way and/or when I know I have about a 14 hour day planned!

Why not get the F150? I know my dad only has the 250 bc he has to plow in the winter-- looks like you might not have that problem. My brother drives an F150 Harley Davidson edition-- now that's a sweet truck. More comfortable and some nice oomph to it.

Or a raptor..?

F250 with the WING natural gas package. Ordered and delivered through select dealers. Fill the CNG tank overnight with a home compressor. Save $$. Dual fuel, run on gasoline to extend the range. A clean NG engine laughs at the idea of a clean diesel. Far lower GHG, and lower fuel costs. And it doesn't rattle.

Or wait, and get a WING F150 when it is available.

The Touareg in business attire.

http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/...pse34ea99f.png

My 2008 4.8 was a Section ~179 purchase in 2007. I am in commercial flooring and I get some looks to this day but overall I doubt it has hurt my business.

It gets a bit better mileage than my 2004 F350 diesel crew 4x4 LB which was my DD for over 4 years but it surely is easier to park, and much more comfortable at the end of the day. Plus I can carry supplies and tools to a job if need be.

The biggest fallacy is the perception. Whenever anyone mentions my "expensive" work truck I ask them if they have priced a new Super Duty lately. They start at about $65K. Or I say... "yeh, it's a German Tahoe" :rofl:

Do u still have your Ford? If so, you could still drive it whenever you wanted/needed to, right?

Of course.

It is a great idea but comes with the unfortunate "optics" even when it is a sensible choice and is less of a spend than a Tundra. Anyway, I'll hire your company if I ever need it based on your thoughfulness and logic alone! :D

Not sure mileage should be part of your decisiion. My 2011 35d is averageing !7.8 around town (with admittedly a lot of start/stops and up/down hills) I'm switching back to the 50i when the 2014 becomes available.

The E53 wasn't rated at 6,008 lbs GVW for nothing! plenty of them were section 179'd and written off and even more of them were in my college's parking lots with truck tags on them. Get the X5 and enjoy your life.

don't your clients have insurance anyway? image problem eliminated. I would imagine that the clean diesel thing would actually help you with CO demographics.