[Silverbear]

I live at the edge of a wilderness area in New Mexico where I drive mainly twisting mountain 2 lane. I'm thinking of replacing my much loved E70 4.8IS with an F85. I have a question about how valuable the night vision system is for people driving in remote areas with lots of big animals jumping on and off the roads if anyone with experience using this feature can comment.

I've had many close calls over the years with herds of elk, the last time I was blessed to not only have the X5 make the stop in time with my family in the car but then to immediately see a pair of mountain lions just beyond the elk and one of the pair was enormous. Lions are a rare sight even out here and I'd never, ever seen 2 lions nor one this big. I'm very glad I didn't hit any of these beautiful creatures!

I have long wished for a night vision system that fed into the HUD and would help me spot wildlife. But I worry that one which only displays in the center stack is going to be pretty useless. Of course it's impossible to test this feature since dealers are in cities and test drives during the day, etc. On top of that it seems that maybe only 1 in 5 "loaded" used F85's have this feature so if I do make it a "must have" then I will either be forcing myself to buy new and built to order or make my search dramatically harder. I ordered my E70 but I was thinking to buy used or possibly even try out assuming a lease this time around so it would be great if I don't need the night vision. But if it will help me keep my family safe then I want to know and I want to get it. Thanks in advance!