Juat did a day trip to Jay Peak with my two adult sized teenagers. Three people with their ski gear fit comfortably in the car, the narrow fold down seat folder for skis. Two people, ski pass through. Four people, thule box on the roof. Ultimate practicality.



Left at 6am in a light snowstorm which started in the night, roads were greasy and variable depending on how well plowed they were. 2:15 to get to Jay from the south shore of Montreal - I was hauling. The DCS in these cars is excellent - you can feel the minor adjustments to maintain stable heading when passing on snow covered highway fastlanes. Comfortable, seats and driving ergonomics are excellent, arrive in good shape and ready to go.

When I think of what I will replace this car with when it’s retired, I can’t think of anything sold today I would replace it with. All of these stubby SUVs and crossovers don’t have the cargo space, maybe an X5?

These really are brilliant cars, engaging to drive especially with the N54.

 

Great story! I feel the same way about my '07 530xi. I have a 6MT and I read an article the other day that BMW has discontinued manual transmissions on everything but the Z and the 4 and 6 Series. My wife has a '23 Pathfinder and I much prefer the bimmer's comfort and suspension. I don't drive much in the snow anymore, but when I did, that car drove like a tank through snow and slush.

 

Still love driving my ‘06 530xi. I also have no good options as to what I’d replace it with. I just hope I can get another 3-5 years out of it. Currently at 202,000 miles. I hear they might be importing the 5 series wagon again, but electric?

 

Porsche has an electric fast wagon. I forget what it's called. One parked next to me in a pretty empty parking lot a few weeks back. Obviously looking to start a conversation or something. I stuck around for a few minutes to humor him (and see what was up with the car), but our paths didn't cross. About the only thing I've seen on the US market that would make an acceptable replacement.

 

Love mine too! Take it on a lot of road trips (5hrs to the remote office). Gobbles up mountain roads in sun or snow. Comfortable. Can load it with cargo too.



Cayenne is on my list of possible replacements - can even get manual trans if you go back a few years.

 

My E61 took me on lots of 7-8,000 mile road trips, and I still think it is the best road trip car ever built. I put a set of sport seats in it, and even with our typical 12-14 hour driving legs, we'd never have sore backs.

I made the "mistake" of buying a "project" Mercedes GLK 350. The wife discovered that she preferred driving it around town (have to agree with her) so we sold my over-maintained 2006 530xi.