[TyantA]

My wife and I have only owned sedans. My last two were '97 then '07 328i.

We've been thinking SUV for all the usual reasons - we tend to lug a lot of stuff wherever we go, travel a fair bit to see family and I love to drive.

I've driven (dad has) '15 X3 28d which feels really planted, predictable etc. but still on the smaller side of things. We want to be able to pack noticeably more than my car when we go camping, for example.

We've been looking at ~2013-14 MDX but '13 fuel economy isn't ideal (X5 isn't much better) and the '14+ dual screen infotainment is hard to stomach and clunkier to use.

The other factor is reliability. *knock on wood*, I've been pretty fortunate with my 3 series. Am I looking for trouble with a '12 X5? We live in a pretty remote area - the nearest dealership is 2 hours away. There's one local shop that deals with European vehicles and... let's just say they have a reputation.

I guess what it comes down to is driving out of our way to see this thing today vs. hitting the competitor lots where we're staying to see what else we haven't considered.

Any input would be appreciated.