First X5 but nervous

[CondorX5]

[quote="Imy"]
3 litre whilst underpowered in comparison to the v8 are absolutely bullet proof. It's a great engine with a good reputation. I found mine was more than adequate for London driving and never had an issue with it.
[/quote]

Agree its a great little engine, but the same isn't the case for the GM gearbox in this model - it can be very unreliable -  there was a US recall on the box, an interior seal failed and it was quite scary when cold as it only went into reverse until pressure built up again.BMW GB of course ignored the issue.  The 3.0i I had for a few months before buying my 4.8is had that problem, which was a shame as it was a lovely car, I lost confidence in it when I realised it was the problem described with the box.  I did find it had to work very hard though, so the fuel economy was no different to the 4.8is.    I regularly got over 20-24mpg with my 4.8.

Advice to OP is to try and see/test drive one of the V8 s as well as the diesel and 3.0i