A good friend of mine has a fairly well loaded X5 on order. The dealer now
reports that the pwer open/close thingie for the rear hatch won't be ready
until April. So he has to accept his order (due soon) without it or wait
until spring.

The question that came up is this: Will the new X5 still have the "clam
shell" design in the tailgate? My friend likes the "shelf" that is created
when he "opens the clam".  With a power option (that is delayed anyway),
it's suspect that they'll carry forward the "claim" design. Or will they?