In anyway I don;t think you'll be unhappy with either one. Good luck.

Hey out there, I am desparately confused and need your help. My wife and I had a 1998 540i 6-speed for 3 years and just turned it in on a lease. We both loved it. We also had an X5 4.4, and liked it, but we both prefer manual transmissions (no, you can't have her!). We are debating whether to get another 540 6-Speed, or an X5 3.0 manual, with the Sport Package of course. My car is an S4, so I kind of feel like the 540 is too similar, which is making me lean towards the X5.

Questions:

To those of you who have the 3.0 manual, does it have enough power? Any downside with the manual?

I test drove the 3.0 yesterday, and felt the exhaust note was mild, especially compared to the 4.4 growl. Anyone done aftermarket exhaust on the 3.0? If so, which one(s)? How do you like the sound?

As far as mods for more HP, what can be done to get the HP and torque up? I looked at the Dinan page and it wasn't very specific. My guess is you might get another 10-25 HP with an more free-flowing exhaust and the couple other minors things that could be done, correct?

In a perfect world, the 4.4 and/or 4.6 would come in a manual...

Thanks in advance for your help!