Handling: quick acceleration, excellent cornering for an SUV

Fuel economy: Diesel engine, 24 MPG highway, 600 miles per tank

Brand reputation & image: Like BMW approach to service

Fuel economy: typical 11 MPG city

Past personal experience: Reliability

Reliability & durability: Lots of suspension and fuel system problems.

Available features: comfort access, auto hold, auto tail gate, head up display, heated steering wheel

Handling: weight balance of car, less body roll, pin point steering, sure foot feeling while cornering, car is very responsive to driver's input.

Exterior styling: modern, aggressive, bull dog stands, dynamic body lines, long appeal.

Past personal experience: product in line with "The Ultimate Driving Machine", well & solid build, good dealership experience, reliable though expensive to repair/maintenance after warranty.

Interior styling: simple and functional, easy to clean, control are easy to locate and operate, layout of the interior is good balance between function vs design and material vs luxuries, long lasting appeal.

Fuel economy: like many other SUV it consume more fuel, but I know the EPA before buying the X5.

Quietness: the run-flat tire is very noisy

Audio & nav systems: compare to other car brand, BMW's premium sound system is not up to par.

Price or payments: BMW cost higher than other brand in the same class, except Porsche and Land Rover.

Insurance & depreciation: All BMW have high depreciation.

Discounts & incentives: It was an unusual offer of $6000 less on the end of year models.

Powertrain performance: The pep, the tightness of the suspension, the thrill of the drive!

Safety & braking: The fact that it is a safe car, the braking is effective. The safety was an important issue.

Handling: The response, the cornering..

Handling: The MDX was great until I test drove the X5. I found it to be less tighter and found the front of the car seemed to pitch forth when braking hard.

Past personal experience: Not MDX - HONDA service was terrible. After owning the Odyssey, having horrible experiences with service, I vowed to stay away from HONDA products.

Price or payments: Comparatively speaking, the incentive from BMW (less $6000) was what did it for me. Acura could not match it.

Exterior styling: very agressive and modern look

Rear seat room & comfort: due to the third row seat, the second row has a tilt function

Safety & braking: best brakes ever

Handling: best handling in its class

Reliability & durability: german engineer

Ride smoothness: feels like a luxury vehicle

Discounts & incentives: with the 4 year free maintenence plan the is no better deal

Exterior styling: Nothing

Materials & workmanship: Poor fit & finish, orange peel in paint

Color choices: Bland color choices

Audio & nav systems: Antique nav system, Hate I-Drive

Exterior styling: Flame surfacing

Powertrain performance: Not enough torque, no Diesel offered

Handling: This vehicle is extremely responsive in the city and feels great while crusing on the HWY. I will add (I do not have a heavy foot) that my gas milliage is excellent for a vehicle of this caliber (20 City / 25 Hwy).

Materials & workmanship: The overall quality is great. Everything is in place, is well finished, and fits. Also, everything works as advertised. I read a few complaints concerning the iDrive but after an hour or so of instruction, it is easily mastered.

Safety & braking: This vehice has excellent (but not overbearing) braking power. Also, the harder one brakes the brighter the tailights become. As for safety, there lots of air bags and the vehicle rated very high in its class.

Exterior styling: I chose this vehicle over the Lexus, Mercedes, and Audi as it has a more agressive stance and looks very masculine as well as refined(the Audi and Mercedes run a close second).

Powertrain performance: The powertrain feels very competent as well as responsive. The engine is competent and transitions very well when challenged on hills and any incline. Acceleration for the 6 is about normal in response time as it is truly pushing a lot of weight.

Price or payments: It was very hard to find one close to or under invoice. But the vehicle does retain a lot of residual value. I had to do a lot of research to find one at a decent price...but I did!

Ride smoothness: If you do not like to "feel" the road at low speeds as this vehicle comes with run flats, this may not be a good choice for you. That being stated, this is a great crusing vehicle. I completed a 7 hour hwy jaunt with no issues!

Audio & nav systems: The base audio is simply to vanilla. There are no major controls such as a mid range or eq unless you upgrade. The ipod connector is a must and it works great (the cable is $70..ooch). The nav may be too hard for non tech types but I find it a great tool.

Brand reputation & image: Its a BMW

Handling: Corners really well. Sporty

Powertrain performance: 3.0 is super smooth and strong

Fuel economy: Better than our 6 cyl Grand Cherokee by far

Price or payments: Overpriced relative to USA prices

Insurance & depreciation: High insurance cost

Ride smoothness: A bit harsh compared to a car

Brand reputation & image: Have always liked BMW from afar, finally able to get one.

Powertrain performance: Big V8 puts power down when it's needed. Xdrive and DSC are terrific in the winter here with 2 feet of snow. Huge tires really help.

Handling: Handles better than our other vehicle which is supposedly a sports sedan.

Interior styling: Excellent fit and finish. The car just feels dense and well put together. The materials are heavy, not clunky. High quality.

Safety & braking: Best crash ratings, very heavy car and feels like a tank. Braking is superb.

Fuel economy: 15 mpg in City. Huge fuel economy on highway though, but I don't drive like a maniac.

Ride smoothness: Bumpy, but only because we have low profile sports package tires. This is my own fault.

Insurance & depreciation: Car depreciates like crazy and insurance went up about 15% a year in cost.

Price or payments: I feel that the certified pre owned program from BMW adds much too high a cost to the vehicle. However, wife wanted from dealership, so we had to get from there.