[darkcloud]

Originally Posted by BigDog

yeah dunno why women don't dig the 3 wagon....

Mine does.

We picked up a Jetta Sportwagen recently for me as my 325i lease was up and will be a temporary car and in 2-3 years she will take it over and I see the next generation 3er wagon being my official next new car.

[E90076]

All right, so what about an LR3 or now the new "much nicer on the inside" LR4?

Is their reliability that bad?

Keep in mind that reliability is actually somewhat important to me now that my 335i left us on the side of the highway for 2 hours because of a fuel pump failure.

[shipill]

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[graider]

Fx35 or fx50 hands down. Nothing is better than a good looking SUV with top notch reliability. It wouldn't be pretty for your wife to stand on the side of the road waiting for tow truck due to electrical problem. lol

For the wife, I would say the FX as it has the artistry/curvy look, interior is comfy, steering wheels tilt/telescope so it will fit your wife perfect, and tech are way ahead of bmw. Not to mention the infiniti is extremely reliable. Some real world opinion here http://www.carsurvey.org.

X6 is a handsome truck and I love it. but it is too big/heavy and geared toward the male crowd more. probably alot less reliable than the fx with turbo problem and bmw in general are not reliable as infiniti. Check out real world opinion from owner for the x5 (should be similar to the x6).

if you wife doesn't need alot of back seat leg room, then an infiniti ex35 is great too. it is built totally for woman. small, easy to park, round view monitor which show 360 view of your car when parking (awesome feature), cheaper too so you can invest the rest.

I'm in the same boat as you too, thinking of getting my wife an fx35 or ex35. She loves the exterior and the interior.

as for audi, don't feel them at all. q7 is ugly, q5 should be about as ugly or boring. reliability is questionable.

The rest of the list are not good. especially for the wife.

[footie]

Out of your list I wouldn't pick the S5, it's less practical than the M3. If your set on a saloon then the S4 is really cool, sounds quite classy as well with that new engine and it goes like stink. Of the SUVs on the list I would pick the VW, it's probably the best looking of the bunch and it's co-developed along side the Cayenne so it actually handles really good, it's got a great interior and much of the switch gear is Phaeton. I don't know what they're like in the US but here you can pick up second hand models for a real bargin.

[KingOfJericho]

My chick drives an FX35. Personally, I think you'd be wasting your money by going to the FX50. You lose the great exhaust tone and burn extra gas for no justifiable reason. Unless you're towing, FX35 all day long. The interior is quite nice on the new ones too and it handles like a sports car. We just bought hers after the lease.

[footie]

Originally Posted by graider

as for audi, don't feel them at all. q7 is ugly, q5 should be about as ugly or boring. reliability is questionable.

The rest of the list are not good. especially for the wife.

The Q5 in S/Line is amazing looking, especially on 20" rims and Daytona Grey. It's also the best handling SUV on the market at the moment but it's ride is quite firm, as the brother ownes an X6 I can tell you that he after having a test drive in the Q5 came away with the opinion that the X6 is a boat in comparison.

It might be dear but it's a brilliant little SUV.

[Esoteric]

I'd look for a CPO 2008 S4 Avant. Quick, relatively agile (compared to an SUV), looks outstanding (imho), has reasonable space, and sounds glorious (put a milltek exhaust on it, and it's even better).

That said if your wife is anything like my wife, my vote goes to the Q5. With the s-line package, it's a damn fine looking truck.

[linsm3]

Originally Posted by BigDog

yeah dunno why women don't dig the 3 wagon....

As a wife and mother I would like to ask whether you dig the wagon, PLEASE! NO WAGONS! I say you give her the M and you get the X5. When my husband is not out racing around in the Viper he drives the X5 which he loves BTW and I take my baby, car that is. No WAGONS for me, i can't even stand the SUV.