matthew grant 
2011 BMW X5 Diesel xDrive35d 4dr SUV AWD (3.0L 6cyl Turbodiesel 6A)
bought it with 44,000 miles
 i came off owning a chevy volt and the shock of only 19 mpg in town has been stunning.  from nearly 100mpg to this.  but, i truly love the sound of the diesel engine, i love sitting up so high, and the torque this engine churns out is sheer delight.  having owned several high end diesels, this engine has to be the nicest i have driven.  i had a mercedes benz (84) turbo diesel wagon for 10 yrs as one of my drivers (while having other cars to drive) and i rue the day i sold that car to a good friend.  owning this is sort of the same experience.  the interior ergonomics are good, the a/c system is strange with the 3 ranges of fan speeds avail on automatic, the rear a/c system seems like overkill but i live in florida and summer might just make me change my tune on that one.  the sheer interior size after the volt is dramatic.  it's large as heck inside.  the sunroof is great, but i never use it living where i do.  the handling is good but this is not the kind of car one throws around, though possible, not practical.  when i bought it i made the mistake of adjusting the computer and the systems it runs, and found i had turned off things i had no idea the car had.  for example, the lane-change-signal system can be turned off, and i did it, only to think that i was beginning to experience electrical issues and i had just gotten the car one week before.  to this day, i still don't know how to turn on the intermittent wipers, and for the life of me cannot find the instructions on this issue in the manual.  good visibility, very hard seats but driven in all day they don't really cause much fatigue.  i've owned worse.  the electric tailgate closure is overkill and just one thing to malfunction.  although generally i am impressed with the car in the 4,000 miles i have driven it, i think i will go back to electric when i tire of this vehicle, it's far more responsible as a citizen of the planet.  but for a 2.5 ton vehicle, it's impressive overall.