Boy I love my 525i and will hate to see it gone.
I'll be talking to my friend about the 540 next week and let you all know what I decided. I bought my 525 from him and he just bought a new X5.
One good thing is that he's pretty well off and doesn't know a wrench from a screw driver, so it was over to the dealer for everything, over to the detailer every month for a cleanup. The dealer only offered him ~$6000 for the 98 540i.
Thanks again.