It’s no better or faster than an X5M, much uglier, less practical, and in Canada at least it’s effectively double the price. Base X5M is $136k, XM Red Line in $260k. Terrible value for an ugly car with a sort of funky interior.

If he wants a cool SUV and must spend at least a quarter-mil on it for some reason I would go straight for a G63 AMG. It’s truly unlike any other car you can buy, it’s charming, good looking, and one of the few mass produced vehicles assembled by hand. Or a Range Rover.

Range Rover Sport PHEV - daily/commuter, road trip, towing, off road, and snowboard rig

Huracan Sterrato

R34 GTR

That’s cool you get those in the US, for 2017+ they didn’t offer any RWD 3-series apart from the M3, all xDrive. Might have been special order only but I doubt it.

I think you’d be fine either way, but I would 100% get a good set of winter tires. If you do get the xDrive there’s an app called xDelete which can turn your xDrive car into a RWD on demand.

I’ve changed my trans fluid on my ZF6 every 100k km and it’s still good. 265k on the clock, 60k of that stage 2 tuned with a trans remap.

The E70 will be super fun for an SUV of its size, and while it does handle well and has tons of power, it still feels heavy. Its a 5300# SUV. I can attest to a Cayenne S feeling a little bit more nimble despite not being really any lighter. It’s also got shockingly heavy steering, which could be a plus depending on your mindset. I have a tuned xDrive35d and I love the comfort and waves of torque, mine has similar lb-ft figures to an X5M and it’s lovely. That said the F10 M5 can be had for reasonable money and that sort of power in a RWD sedan would be a hoot.

X1 35i would be a fantastic choice for you IMO. Basically a lifted E91 and the 35i still has hydraulic steering.