The new BMW X3: prices, specs and reviews

When BMW launched the X3 in 2003, many reviewers were puzzled by what they saw as an odd and unlovely mishmash of car and off-roader.

A decade and a half later, the German car firm has sold almost 1.5 million of them, and premium mid-sized SUVs are still one of the fastest growing sectors. Indeed, the latest X3, now on sale in the UK, goes up against the Audi Q5, the Jaguar F-Pace, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio and the Volvo XC-60, to name but a few.

Fierce competition has certainly worked to the benefit of the customer. While the first X3 was “rather sad-eyed”, says GQ, and “half-arsed in all sorts of ways”, according to Top Gear, the new model is handsome, smooth and urgent.

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Design

The new car is recognisably an X3, but it has a more confident, aggressive stance. “It’s not a particularly pretty car in the manner of, say, Alfa Romeo’s Stelvio,” says The Daily Telegraph, “but it does have a steadfast quality.”

Others are more enthusiastic. The new look represents “a return to coherence”, says GQ.

Top Gear magazine says the latest X3 uses BMW’s latest “surface ideas – lines that seem to be emerging from a viscous skin – and wears them very comfortably”.

Interior

The original X3 had “one of the crummiest cabins BMW has ever made, a brand-tarnishing memory the new car banishes”, says GQ. “The materials in here are world class.” In fact, the second-generation model had already fixed many of the problems of its predecessor, but the new X3 still represents a significant step forward. “The clarity of the instruments and switches remains top-rate,” says Top Gear.

The seats, upholstered in a new, softer grade of leather, are comfortable and supportive (if perhaps a little snug for plus-sized drivers), and the driving position is excellent. Optional blue stitching, sewn into the dashboard as well as the seats, adds another layer of style and sophistication.

With four adults aboard the car may feel a little bit cramped, but there’s more than enough room for two or three children in the rear seats. “Spacious but no more so than its rivals” is AutoExpress’s conclusion.

Engines and performance

In response to changing environmental preferences, BMW is offering a two-litre petrol engine alongside its two diesels, but that has not yet been tested. The most popular engine is likely to be the two-litre diesel in the 20d, which is complemented by six-cylinder three-litre diesel (30d) and petrol (M40i) versions. All models come with a “smooth and intuitive” eight-speed automatic gearbox, says GQ.

“From the off, the X3 feels like a dynamic cut above most rivals, managing to combine both a reasonable ride quality and agility,” says the Telegraph. Indeed, says GQ, “you can go deep and late on the brakes into hairpins with a sense of abandon that would have been certifiable in an SUV of old. Or even the first X3, for that matter.”

The two-litre diesel engine “feels smoother than ever”, says Top Gear, and is “so quiet you sometimes wonder whether it’s actually running”, but it struggles to pull “meaningfully” in seventh or eighth. Kick down a couple of gears and the 20d has “enough potential for a surprisingly quick and unflustered performance”, says AutoExpress.

The 30d, says Top Gear, is just as refined, but has “masses of relaxed and elastic urge [which] is always there for the taking”. If you want something a bit more outlandish, the M40i behaved “just as you’d expect a near two-tonne SUV with 355bhp to drive”, says the Telegraph. “Line it up, floor it and hang on until you run out of petrol. It’s fun but pretty pointless.”

Price and specs

The entry-level X3 20d, which comes with 18in alloy wheels, climate control, leather seats and satnav, costs £37,900. The X-line package adds bigger wheels, a more purposeful exterior trim, sporty front seats and a bigger fuel tank for £900, while the top-of-the range M-Sport model (for another £1,600) comes with upgraded interior and exterior trims, a digital dashboard and head-up display, and 20in alloys. Swapping in the three-litre diesel engine adds £5,500, while prices for the 20i and M40i petrol models is yet to be announced.

The Week’s verdict

The BMW X3 is a good-looking, well built and highly capable car that earns a place at the front of a crowded field.

During a test drive in Morocco, it felt poised and planted on winding roads that twisted their way through the Atlas Mountains. Occasional potholes did little to upset its composure.

While the 30d was significantly punchier than the 20d, the smaller diesel engine provided more than enough torque and power to get past trucks dawdling on steep climbs. And in the busy, moped-packed streets of Marrakech, the raised driving position, acoustic glass (an optional extra) and well-appointed cabin cocooned us from the chaos outside.