Can I ask what your favorite vehicle was?
2006 BMW X5.
When running correct - best combination of ride quality, seat/cab comfort, handling (based on the then-great 5 series platform), road noise cancelling, etc of any vehicle I've owned that I could tow my boat with. It was smooth, quiet, nimble for what it was (4700 pound SUV), never took a "bad step" handling-wise, and towed my 2,000 pound boat/trailer with ease. It even averaged 20 mpg over the 11 years (lots of highway miles).
I used the hell out of it. I changed all my own oil with the correct spec at 5k intervals, did almost all my own maintenance and small scale repairs...I knew damn near every inch of that thing except the drivetrain internals.
Of course, it was a 2000-present BMW - so I had a myriad of issues with it over the course of my 11 years. It's Achilles Heel was that goddam BMW CCV (PCV) system. I had the winter package on it, yet it still froze up THREE different times (usually blows out the valve cover gasket, spewing oil everywhere). $1600 the first time (2015), $1800 the second time (2020). Third time, there was coolant in the combustion chamber, so I junked it.
183,000 miles over 11 years (it had darn near 300k total...otherwise ran perfect)...I got my money's worth out of it. And other makes/engines have the same issue - simply put moisture builds up in the crankcase over time, and freezes the pressure release valve - so with nothing venting the high pressure, it blows the weakest link (usually the valve cover gasket but the cylinder head gasket can blow out too, which is what I think mine did the 3rd time).
So, yeah. Change your oil regularly in cold climates, folks. I did and it still blew 3 times. EVERY modern BMW can succumb to this. It's a terrible design that they never truly improved upon. Ironically, my 2002 3 series e46 I've owned now 11 years too, doesn't have the winter CCV package - yet I've never had an issue with that one.
I'll drive that one until it inevitably explodes too...
