BMW X3

Cabin wise, you immediately notice the changes as this one has a welcome effect. This includes the upholstery which is done in Vernasca leather, the big touchscreen infotainment system as well as the contrast stitching on the seats. There are also pearl chrome accent strips along with a few wood trims in the cabin. Everything just falls logically to the hand. The front two seats are powered and also come with memory function. Like the new 5 series, even this one has a tech-laden cabin which we will explain a bit later. There are rear AC vents for this five-seater SUV and many useful cubby holes as well. Wireless charging for compatible phones, head-up display, tri-zone automatic climate control, 3d navigation and more are available too. There are six ambient light modes on offer as well.

Both the front as well as rear seats are nicely padded. We do get a feel of the 5 Series here too. Going back to the instrument cluster, it changes colour depending on the mode selected.

BMW has developed the Comfort Access system for the boot. This means you can open the boot without actually touching any button and just waving your foot under the rear bumper. There is 550 litres of space to store your luggage and it can be amplified with the rear seats folding flat to provide 1,600 litres.

It still looks distinctly like a BMW X3 for sure. More than a generation change, this seems like a facelift. We are being told that most of the changes have happened under that taut skin. There are a few details on the face that will arrest your attention. These include the full LED adaptive headlights and the chrome trim around the grille. The Luxury Line package that the new BMW X3 comes to in Malaysia brings lots of tastefully done chrome that you will see in and outside the cabin. The kidney grille is also three dimensional now. The turn indicators are set in the lower bumper. At the sides, you will notice the new gills just ahead of the front wheels. Speaking of which, the 19-inch alloys are standard. At the back, the lights are again LED units and the bumpers too are new.

The dimensions of the new BMW X3 are 4,708 mm x 1,891 mm x 1,678 mm for the length, width and height respectively. Wheelbase is 2,864 mm. In terms of the older car, the new one has gained 60 mm in length, 10 mm in width and 54 mm more wheelbase.

It's a BMW and is supposed to handle well. So let’s attack the elephant in the room first. If you have sat in one of the new age BMWs, you definitely will be pleased with the ride comfort. This stands true for even the new X3 now. Gone is the stiff ride quality and in its place comes the well sorted planted feel. All thanks to the adaptive suspension at work. It is so good that you will feel bad at thrashing something as exquisite as a BMW this way. The 19-inch wheels don’t rob anything from the ride quality department or as we thought they will. The handling aspect too hasn’t gone soft yet. The BMW X3 handles like a small sports car. The all-around disc brake setup ensures that stopping power is ample and when required.

The X3, of course, comes with the company’s xDrive, which is the same as all-wheel drive. The system is biased 60:40 in favour of the front wheels. It splits torque in this fashion though its capable of sending power to a particular set of wheels given the conditions. Automatic Brake Differential too comes into picture once the system detects that a wheel is slipping. It then sends power to the opposite wheel or the one with the maximum traction. Fording depth is 500 mm whereas the ground clearance is 204 mm now. While we believe most of the owners will want to enjoy the luxury of the vehicle on-road, it is apparent that BMW wants customers to know that the vehicle is capable off-road as well. In terms of steering feel, the BMW X3 has got a communicative unit that tells you what the front wheels are up to.

As discussed earlier, the BMW X3 is offered with a single engine and the variant is called X3 xDrive30i. The 2.0-litre 4-cylinder BMW TwinPower Turbo engine makes 252 PS of power and 350 Nm of torque. This engine is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission that also gets paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. Performance is brisk with 0-100 kmph coming up in just 6.3 seconds whereas the top speed is electronically limited 240 kmph. BMW claims an efficiency of 13.53 kmpl from this engine. There are various modes to go along with the engine. These are EcoPro, Comfort, Normal and Sport. There is also the configurable Adaptive mode. Depending on each mode, there are changes to the engine’s characteristics. These also have an effect on the efficiency of the vehicle. As is obvious, the most gains can be got only from EcoPro mode. There is also the stop-start system.

The engine refinement is very good with this motor. It is also a rev happy unit. The gear shifts too are imperceptible. Want to take control of the gear shifts yourself? BMW offers the manual modes as well as the aforementioned paddle shifters. The one on the right helps shift up while the left one shifts down.

In terms of safety features, BMW offers the best with this lone trim. This includes the Parking Assistant that helps park the vehicle in a tight spot all by itself. There is also the front and rear parking sensors, eight airbags, ABS, traction control, ESP, height adjustable seat belts, Lane Control Assist as well as Steering Assist. There is also the reverse camera to aid reversing.

Euro NCAP tests have given the new X3 five stars.

The BMW X3 is then a formidable contender and the freshest of the lot. It competes with the Mercedes-Benz GLC, Lexus NX and the Audi Q5. Amongst slightly more premium competition is the Porsche Macan and Jaguar F-Pace. At RM 320,000, the BMW X3 isn’t the most affordable one in the segment but is definitely worth a look.