yeah, I am pretty lame in that I think if you pay 60-80k for a 5-7
series, you would expect the car not to be on someones top 15 worst
cars list.

I do love BMWs, always have, but over the past 10 years the 5 and 7
series have lost their way in terms of quality.  The only reason why I
think they sell so many 5/7 series is because they are leasable cars.
By that I mean the typical 5 or 7 series buyer does not know a lot
about BMW's or Mercedes for that matter. They are just buying the label
for a 2-3 year lease and if things break they really don't care so much
becuase they are just renting.

The 3 series tends to be financed more because of a lower price point
and of course BMW sells a lot more so the bugs are worked out quicker.

I apologize for sounding so negative, but the initial poster was
looking for objective answers. So I did not want to paint a rosey
picture when they are not rosey at the moment. I had a brand new E39
(1998 540i) and I will never forget my first service call at 2k miles.
The interior door handle on the driver's door broke off. And then again
every 10k miles. Dealer said the 7 series exterior doors handles had
the same problem.  Of course the car had other issues. But geeze, and
damn door handle.

and the Toureg has had more problems and recalls than any in it's class.