BMW X3 review car review

Looks

It’s a masculine car with its long nose and kidney shaped front grill giving it that unmistakable BMW look. Inside it’s luxurious and well built with extras you often have to pay more for, airconditioning, parking sensors, heated seats and Bluetooth come fitted on all models. BMWs iDrive infotainment system will take a while to get used to, but once you do you’ll be lost without it.



Practicality

The X3 proves that luxurious can still practical, passengers have plenty of space and the boot is large. The rear seat splits three ways, so you can have extra boot space and still carry back seat passengers there’s enough room in the X3 for dogs, child seats, pushchairs and everything family life can throw at it.

Driving

This is one of the best 4x4s to drive, engine performance is good and roadholding and grip are both excellent thanks to its fourwheel drive system. It’s more suited to onroad driving than rough offroading, but it will instil confidence on bad road conditions. It’s a comfortable car, as long as you don’t choose one of the sportier suspensions but we think the diesel engines are noisy.



Safety

With six airbags as standard, the X3 got the full five star rating from Euro NCAP’s crash test specialists. There’s the security of fourwheel drive on most models and you can add of the latest safety technology, like automatic low speed braking if the car senses an impact.



Running Costs

It costs a similar amount to other luxury 4×4 and thanks to efficient engines running costs are reasonable. If you’re happy to do without fourwheel drive the 18d will give around 69mpg, better than many of its rivals. But it you want fourwheel drive capability economy will drop, although it’s still good for this kind of car and BMW’s three year warranty also comes with unlimited mileage.

GH Verdict

This upmarket 4×4 may not be as sporty or as easy to live with as some of its rivals, but it strikes a good balance between the two. Superefficient engines are a big part of its appeal.