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I own a 2007 X3 with the cold weather package (heated steering wheel, front and back seats), and towing package. I absolutely love this vehicle, but lately I have had the itch to get something newer. Looked at a 2010 X5 4.8, 2008 Range Rover Sport HSE, 2010 ML550 (I am a car nut - have owned a 650i triple black convertible, 2010 SL550, Jag XKR, and my wife currently drives a 2011 E350 Coupe).
Every time I do a test drive, I come away disappointed; the X3 drives like a champ - handles interstate traffic like a fighter jet, has great visibility, and if I drive it sensibly, I can get 24 mpg on the highway.
The X5 was really nice - tons of power, but terrible gas mileage, and not much more useable space (heck, it's usually just me in the X3 anyway). The Range Rover was very well-appointed, but VERY costly for repairs - which seem to occur very often, based on my buds that own them. The ML550 was surprisingly nice (have owned 3 ML350's) and powerful, but did not handle as well as my X3.
It all boils down to this (and I may be trying to convince myself that I don't need to cure my itch) - the 2007 X3 still looks great, handles like 3 series sedan, and has enough interior space with the seats down to hold anything that I need to haul (love the hitch for my Yakima bike rack).
To top it off, I can drive this thing like a bat out of hell on the interstate - changes lanes like a champ, and has great upper end acceleration, and gets decent gas mileage. I am hard pressed to find a vehicle that costs so little to own, and had all of these great driving characteristics.
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