I am a qualified Mechanical & Non destructive Testing Engineer who went on to be a board member managing procurement on a 57,000 vehicle fleet in Europe & have many years experience in global transportation, manufacture & maintenance facilities.

Over the last 15 years I have owned/been the daily user of the following cars:
1 Alfa Romeo Saloon, 3 BMW saloons, 1 Mercedes Coupe, 1 Lexus RX300, 1 Lexus LS400, 1 Range Rover & 1 Audi A8 & I have never had such an unreliable car that cost so much to maintain as my BMW X5.

In summary:
1.Some of the BMW X5 gearboxes have real reliability problems
2.Dealership service standards are appalling when compared with Audi & Lexus.
3.BMW X5 maintenance costs are to quote What Car Magazine again "ferociously expensive to own"
I'll pay another suspension bill tomorrow that will be in the region of £500 to £600 for it to pass an MOT!
Then I'll advertise the BMW X5 & go back to driving my Lexus which hasn't failed on a thing despite being 10 years old!

We test drove the Porsche Cayenne and the BMW X5 back to back and thought the X5 was a much better drive, handled better and was considerably cheaper for a higher spec model of the same age and mileage.

Ours has the panoramic sunroof which is a great feature for taking advantage of what little sun we do get.

The engine is superb, making great noises and having lots of grunt.

Recommended.