[Akshay1234]

This is the only picture I have now, sorry for that. I intend on taking some good pictures in a day or 2 and putting them up here.

Apologies in advance for the long story, you may skip this post and go straight on my thoughts on the car in the next post.

Well, the story to this is pretty similar to the story of my 320D. It started with the realization that we needed another SUV, for various reasons like out of Bombay trips almost every weekend, and also the fact that it is just easier to live with an SUV in Mumbai with the bad roads, and the waterlogging during the rains. With the sedans I would have to think twice before taking them out, I would wonder how the roads would be and if on a rainy day would wonder if some roads would be flooded. With this is mind we decided the next car had to be another SUV.

With the Yeti, there is no need to worry. It handles everything thrown at it with ease, be it bad roads, waterlogged streets, an expressway or even a twisty ghat section. It is like an all in one. I'd had the Accord for a tad over 4 years, and decided that it was time for a change (the Accord would go on for 4 more years easily, mind you). Spoke to dad and he wanted another Yeti, he had read about the facelift and was so happy with our Yeti he said that we should get the facelift with the xenons, and DSG, etc. I was a bit apprehensive of getting another Yeti, simply because I didn't want 2 of the same cars.

A couple of months went by and nothing really materialized. Then in June I sensed nothing was going to happen till the Accord was gone. Put up an ad, and before I knew it, a friend and BHPian had confirmed he was picking it up. With the Accord going I decided to show dad the X3. A friend of his had got one recently and he quite liked it, found it spacious and comfortable. That was a base model, and there were huge discounts on it. I thought this would be better than another Yeti even if it were a base model X3.

So off we went to Infinity cars, and just had a closer look at the X3. They had a base model on display, and the higher end 2 litre model which was to be on display from a few days later. After seeing the higher specced one with the pano sunroof, the real leather, and the variable damping suspension we both decided that the base model didn't make sense, even though it was a fair amount cheaper. But we still weren't buying it, we just didn't like the base model.

I then saw some ads for a slightly used X3 20D done some 7k kms, and seemed to be in perfect condition too. The price was as good. We dilly dallied, and finally after a month that car got sold too. I knew the facelift X3 was coming, and knew that the differences wouldn't be much and that the discounts on the present one would be maximum now.

Managed to convince the family, and called the dealer only to be told all 20Ds are sold out, only the base model is remaining and one 30D which was white with beige interiors. Went to check it out, and I liked it though the colour scheme was very boring I must say. It didn't feel special. While seeing it the dealer told us that someone may have already paid a deposit on that car. So we were wondering now what to do.

The next day I received a call from my sales person (Winston at Infinity BMW, who was really good BTW) who said BMW had 2 X3 30Ds in stock at the plant, a Black with Red interior, and a Blue with Beige. I had sworn multiple times never to buy a black car again, but I guess I'm a fool. Booked the Sapphire Black with Red Brown interiors the next day. Finally I was getting a proper inline 6 Bimmer.

If you are wondering how this story is similar to the 320D, well in that case too we were looking at the Laura L&K, and then the 320D Corp Edition, and then we bought the Highline.

[Akshay1234]

Anyway, now that the story is over, a little bit about the car. The F25 X3 30D is the second generation of BMWs mid size SUV. The 30D in the name is for the 3 litre diesel engine, the same 6 cylinder motor found in the 530d. Its got 258bhp and 560nm of torque. It also has the famed 8 speed ZF transmission. Power is transmitted to the ground with an all time all wheel drive setup which BMW calls XDrive. With this combination, this hulk can manage a 0-100 sprint in 6.2 seconds, which I think is ridiculously fast for an SUV. Its faster than a Macan S diesel for Gods sake.

Now that you've got the gist of it, let me be a little more specific -

The Engine
Of course I had to start with this. This is the main reason I am so excited about this car. The 3000cc Inline 6 is just brilliant, and makes this car a beast. With almost 260bhp and about 560nm on tap, its never short of pulling power, and makes even a big heavy car like the X3 seem properly quick. Refinement isn't as good as the Audis, but thats fine with me since I like the smooth growl of the engine. Take it past 3000rpm and there is a fair bit of engine noise inside, but any enthusiast would love the noise. The engine is vibration free and very smooth, and revs just like a petrol engine. Pulling power is immense, and whether its in the meat of the powerband or at 80kmph in 7th gear the power delivery is instant. The noise seems to be becoming a bit less as the engine opens up, and I guess by 2000kms it will be noticeably more silent. I have revved the engine a couple times, and even buried the throttle a few times, and the mid range very very strong. You just get strongly pushed back into your seat, and see the speedometer needle flying clockwise. It does run out of steam post 4000rpm, but it still is enjoyable to rev the engine. Overtaking is effortless and with just a dab of the throttle you have already passed the car you wanted to before you know it. I can't see any downsides whatsoever of this engine, and this is certainly why so many rave about this N57 engine of BMW.

The Gearbox
The 8 speed ZF gearbox, a lot has already been said about this on this forum, and on the web. And all of it is true. The gearbox is magical. Even though the one in my car is slightly toned down from the one on the 530d which has the Sports Auto transmission (only software coding actually, maybe I should think of getting it done to my car), it still amazes me. The shifts are absolutely seamless, and its always in the right gear. It never hesitates to kick down, and does so without a jerk. Inspite of having 8 gears, the ratios are not extra short. It feels just like a normal 6 speed gearbox, except with 2 extra overdrive gears. The 7th and 8th gear are just a boon for high speed cruising. By flicking the gearlever to the left to sports mode, it immediately drops down a gear (or 2 sometimes) and goes right into the meat of the powerband. Shifts happen quicker and you can feel the quickness of the shift with a slight jerk on the upshifts. All in all, a brilliant piece of machinery, which totally exploits the N57 engine.

The Suspension
The suspension setup is surprisingly pliant for a Bimmer. The car rides on 18" rims with 245/50 R18 Pirellia Cinturato W rated runflats. Inspite of this the car soaks up smaller and medium bumps well without any suspension noise, but sometimes with a thud. On larger bumps or sharp ridges you can feel the RFTs and the suspension stiffness with a sharp thud. The suspension actually absorbs a fair amount at lower speeds too, but comes into its own once you cross 60kmph. Then it soaks up everything, and you just feel individual sides of the car moving but no suspension noise when moving over road roads. I did try it on a patch where the road was terrible, and there was just mud, stones and some rocks - I had to go very slow, but it was certainly manageable and we didn't get thrown around much.

What is worth mentioning separately is the Dynamic Damping Control, which adjusts the damping of the suspension. In comfort mode the suspension is rather soft, and even wallows a tiny bit once speeds picks up. Use the performance control buttons and shift to sport or sport + mode and the suspension noticeably stiffens up. Bumps which or expansion joints which earlier could not be felt are now noticeable, and also the car seems much flatter while taking a corner. This is just amazing, and this alone is worth not buying the base model X3. Its like the whole character of the car changes.

Handling on the car is great by SUV standards. There is some amount of body roll, which can be disconcerting, but the car just grips and once you get used to the body roll the car can surprise you with its handling prowess. Corners can be taken at silly speeds with the people inside totally unaware. It is no 3 series when it comes to being nimble and handling well, but it makes the Q5 and the ML and quite a few other SUVs feel like barges in comparison. It is a true BMW in this sense.

The Drive
Getting in to the drivers seat, you notice it is high up. Fine its not as high as a Fortuner, but its certainly much higher than a normal sedan, and you can look down at all crossovers and many other SUVs. The driving position is typical BMW, and very car like in many ways. The ergonomics are great and if you have driven a BMW before you will know where everything is.

Once you start driving you notice how light the steering is. This is with all newer Bimmers, and I don't really like it. The steering doesn't have much feel, and is kind of vague for a BMW in comfort mode. In sport the steering stiffens up, and feels nice. And it even seems to get more precise. Though I wish there was some more feedback through the wheel. It is effortless to drive the X3 with the light controls.

Traffic isn't a problem with the 8 speed gearbox, and the good visibility. Rear visibility is poor since the rear windscreen is quite small. But its manageable. Other cars too seem to give this a fair amount of respect, giving way and keeping some distance. The gearbox never hesitates or hunts for gears, and you feel no jerks. Auto hold is a boon in these conditions, saving you the trouble of keeping your foot planted on the brake. What is also nice is that once its in auto hold, if the stop seems longer you can just flick the gear level up to N without pressing anything else. Its not tiring at all nor cumbersome to drive this in traffic.

Parking too is taken care of, by the sensors all around, and the reversing camera. The camera is great in low light conditions too, and is very clear. It has dynamic guide lines which move with the steering and show you the projected position, and also the position if the steering is turned to the max position on either side. Also obstacles are marked on screen with squares which turn green yellow or red depending on the distance to the object. Makes parking very easy, and is something I'm going to get used to and miss in other cars.

Highway cruising is where this car comes into its own. Stability is mind blowing, and so is the NVH. Even people used to driving European cars will be surprised with the dynamics on the highway. Effortless is the word which comes to mind, the way it covers distance without the occupants feeling it. And the way you can cover gaps, or overtake with all the power available on tap. Keep the right foot even half way down and the speedo steadily climbs without a hitch. The car is limited to 230kmph. The 7th and 8th gear are nice to have in these conditions, keeping the engine at a lazy 2000-2500rpm at silly speeds. Cruise control is present, and works just fine from 30kmph onwards.

I haven't really taken the car for even mild offroading, besides the tiny patch of no road I took it on like mentioned earlier. I think the car will do just fine, but of course won't manage any extreme offroading. With the intelligent XDrive system, and other electronic aids like hill descent control, etc it can manage some amount of offroading, while keeping the occupants fairly comfortable. More on this once I can experience it in these conditions some more.

Next to the gearlever there are 2 buttons which can change the car from Eco Pro to Comfort to Sport to Sport +. This alters various parameters like engine mapping, throttle sensitivity, steering weight, suspension stiffness, and gearbox behaviour. So in Eco Pro the throttle feels dead, the steering is light and suspension comfortable, and the gearbox upshifts ASAP to conserve fuel. Its really not the best to drive in but is fine for slow to medium traffic when you can't really enjoy the engine. Also worth mentioning that Eco Pro messes with the climate control and reduces cooling in order to save more fuel. Move to comfort which is default mode, and the steering and suspension are light again, but the throttle is more sensitive and the gearbox is a tad bit more sporty. This is great to drive in a relaxed manner, and is good for a tiny amount of spirited driving. Sport mode stiffens everything up, the gearbox drops a gear and the throttle becomes quite sensitive. In this the engine is kept at higher revs in the power band, and the car totally tightens up and feels totally different and very nimble. It feels like a true BMW in sport mode, and you feel like you are in the ultimate driving machine. Sport + is similar to sport, except a bit stiffer and with traction control turned off partially. The tail slides out, trust me!

Some people wonder, if sport mode can be selected from this button, why have another sport mode with the gear lever. Well when programming the sport mode from the performance control button, you can choose whether to take only chassis, or even engine into sport mode. If you choose engine and chassis, then when in sport mode moving the gearlevel to the left into sport will make no difference. But if you choose only chassis, then only the suspension and steering is going into sports mode. The gearbox will still be in normal mode until you flick it into the left. This was you can have comfort suspension and sporty gearbox and throttle mapping. And you can have normal gearbox and throttle mapping, with sporty suspension and steering. Or you can have both with the flick of one button. So neither is redundant.

[Akshay1234]

So that's one part of the BMW, the driving experience. But while I'm driving I'm going to be spending all my time inside, so the interior is equally important as are the creature comforts -

The Interior
As soon as you step in, it is a typical BMW interior (which may be a good thing or bad thing depending on your view), with all the switch gear in familiar places and you feel totally at home. The red/brown Nevada leather feels durable and looks stunning. I think this interior colour makes the car, it looks sporty and luxurious at the same time, and it is helped with the white contrast stitching all over. Interior materials used are of excellent quality, and feel great to touch. The wood trim surprisingly looks just fine with the red leather, and the quality is the same as the 5 and 7 series. In fact the interior on the whole, feels the same level as the 5 series in terms of touch and feel. The look is a little understated, and the only negative (not for me) is the same ac controls as the 3 series. Though that has been fixed in the facelift, which I don't have.

When most people step in, they are quite surprised at the amount of space on offer. The car looks much more compact than it is from the outside, and the interior space especially the legroom is a pleasant surprise. The front passengers have more than enough of space, and the rear passengers have great legroom. I am 6'4" and I can sit behind myself with almost 2 inches of gap between my knees and the front seat. Under thigh support on the rear seat could have been better, but then I guess you can't have everything. The seats are supportive enough, and I would have liked sports seats in the front but they are not offered on the X3 in India.

Storage spaces are aplenty, absolutely the opposite of my 3 series. There is a nice cubby hole on the centre console with 2 cupholders and place to keep phones/wallet. The front doors get big storage pockets, with another section which can take a 1 litre bottle. The glovebox is a decent size, as is the storage space below the centre armrest, but neither are cooled. The rear seats too get an armrest with 2 cupholders, and the doors have decent sized pockets though I'm not sure if they can hold a 1l bottle. The boot space in the X3 is great, it can hold a couple of suitcases easily, and that along with the 60:40 folding rear seats means you can move a house inside if you so desire. There are hooks in the boot, and some rails on the floor, and nets and more adjustable hooks for the rails so you can secure pretty much anything from an in car fridge to a dead body lol.

The panoramic roof adds to the feeling of openness in the interior. It is quite large, as much as the competition, and unlike the Audis it gets a proper cover on the inside which blocks out light totally. The Audis make do with a net kind of a thing, which lets in some amount of heat. This cover too is automatic. Only the front half of the sunroof opens, and the rear bit of glass is fixed. What is nice is that the front part can be opened or vented, where only the rear parts sticks up and allows some fresh air in. In the evening, or on an overcast day leaving the cover open feels really nice, with all the natural light coming in. Though in the afternoons or on a sunny day far too much heat and light comes in and can be uncomfortable. This is one of my favorite things about the interior.

The Features
Finally the features, the little things which make you feel good about the car. Where do I start? The X3 has all the basics you would expect from a car of this price bracket, it has auto everything - windows, seats with memory, mirrors, lights, wipers, etc. Both the exterior mirrors dim too, and are heated. Like the other Bimmers, seat and mirror settings and iDrive preferences are saved to the key you use. So with another key you can save separate settings, and the moment the car is unlocked with either key it will revert to the settings saved for that key. Makes it very easy if different people use the car. One more auto feature I forgot to mention is the boot, which is electric. You can even close it from the key which is a nifty little feature.

The iDrive with its 8.8" screen is the centre of attention, and also the control centre for the car. This car has the new 2014 iDrive, which has a faster processor and better graphics. It really does seem faster and smoother than the older ones and the graphics resolution is far better. In terms of media there is the CD/DVD drive, USB, aux, and bluetooth audio option. Other than that you can stream internet radio of Connected drive, more on that shortly. There is also navigation included, which seems to work well, though I haven't really used it much. Voice control is present too, and is accurate in understanding commands. One cool thing when even playing through bluetooth on the iPhone is that the full playlist is available to be viewed on iDrive, and even in the little screen in the instrument panel. The iDrive comes with a remote for rear seat passengers to control playback and volume and even browse through the iDrive menus.

Then there is connected drive, with which you can connect an iPhone through USB to the car, and load various apps on the iPhone to connect it to the car. You can get facebook, twitter, news, weather on the iDrive screen, and stream internet radio as mentioned above. There are other cool apps like M power Meter which displays things like G forces on screen, and can record laps or certain routes of driving and play then back in real time giving accelerator and brake inputs, and G forces. So lots of cool things.

Apart from this iDrive also gives you the service schedules, and updates what may be needed when in real time. Eg. it tells you when the engine oil change is due in time and kms, and when the brake pads will need changing in km, it also gives me my engine oil level, and tells me if there are any faults with the car. Even for things like low washer fluid.

There are also sport displays, where the idrive becomes 2 meters, which show how much bhp and nm is being used at that instant. And another efficient dynamics meter which gives you a bar graph of the recent fuel consumption, you can choose the duration from last 5 mins to 8 hours.

So all in all its got a few show off features.

Why not the facelift?
The facelift just launched a day after I got delivery. Thanks to a BHPian (you know who you are) I got details of it well in advance, and learned there would be no 3l offered in the beginning. Also the updates to features were minimal, and only really noticeable exterior change was the bumpers and the headlights. Those along with the nice discount and the 3l engine, meant this made a much better choice.

Why not any other car?
Well we did TD a q5 2.0tdi a couple of months ago, and while it was smooth and comfortable, the car felt smaller inside and the prices seemed very high. The model we were looking at, at that time didn't have the adjustable damping which was only on the top end. Also the panoramic roof cover had a translucent net kind of a thing which let in a lot of heat.

The ML250 was in our budget, but it had a clearance of only 176mm. We were put off by that, and anyway it was lethargic to drive compared to the other 2.

Upgrades, you ask?
Wellllll, not really. I have immediate plans to get black grilles for the car, and then paint the rims gloss black. I think it will look quite nice. I also want to get interior LED lights which BMW sells, which will look better than the boring yellow lights now. Besides this I plan on getting some very light window tint. Oh and also a donut spare tyre, since this car will be taken on bad roads a little bit.

So that is about it guys, sorry about no pictures and I will definitely add pictures in 2-3 days once I get time to take them. Hope you enjoyed this long write up, and do ask me anything else.

[Eddy]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

[JoseVijay]

Congratulations on the new car and a nice review about the car.

Common, such a long review but no pics. I would love to see the complete set of pics soon.

[Amarendranath]

Congratulations Akshay! The all black stealth combination should look killer. Wish you miles of safe and a niggle free ownership. Thanks for the comprehensive write up. Please add more pictures as soon as possible, can't wait to check out the beautiful color scheme on the interiors.

[ecclipse78]

I believe formal Congratulations are in order ! Your review is spot on and I might just end up getting the facelift 3.0d (it might be available towards the end of the year).

Happy Motoring !

[dean5545]

Hey
Congrats for the X3 once again. It's a wonderful car.
What music system do you have in this car ?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

Congratulations on the new car and a nice review about the car.

Common, such a long review but no pics. I would love to see the complete set of pics soon.

Thank you. Haha the pics will be added in a couple of hours, bear with me till then.

Originally Posted by Amarendranath

Congratulations Akshay! The all black stealth combination should look killer. Wish you miles of safe and a niggle free ownership. Thanks for the comprehensive write up. Please add more pictures as soon as possible, can't wait to check out the beautiful color scheme on the interiors.

Thanks buddy, I think it will look nice. Though some of my friends have wondered why I want to become a rapper.

Originally Posted by ecclipse78

I believe formal Congratulations are in order ! Your review is spot on and I might just end up getting the facelift 3.0d (it might be available towards the end of the year).

Happy Motoring !

Thank you my friend. Missing your old X3 so much eh?

Originally Posted by dean5545

Hey
Congrats for the X3 once again. It's a wonderful car.
What music system do you have in this car ?

Thanks Dean. The music system is the hifi system, which has 12 speakers. Its not branded as such, but the sound quality isn't bad at all. Its actually good enough to not make you want to upgrade. Sure the HK systems on the newer cars would have been better, but then again the facelift surprisingly doesn't get the HK speakers.

[GTO]

Sweet ride, congratulations! Pleasantly surprised to hear about the space & ride quality, I'd have thought otherwise. Completely agreed with your comments on the engine & transmission. Both are absolutely fantastic!

Did you get the BSI Ultimate? Guess they're now offering 6 year packages?

P.S. Who about the Accord? That guy sure got a nice car. How much did she go for?

[drmohitg]

Great car Akshay. Totally drool worthy stuff. Its a perfect alternative to the Yeti. And the deal you got is mouth watering. Eagerly waiting for the pics. You have to better your 3 series review pictures this time .

I personally feel that you should have opted for the blue colour that you mentioned was also available.

A stupid question : How does it feel to drive in comparison to the 3?

[Akshay1234]

Here are some teasers of the interior, and some iDrive function shots -

The instrument cluster, showing 900 odd kms done. Simple and typical BMW. Also the bottom bit is an LCD screen, which gives various information


The centre console with the various buttons, the gear shift, etc


The steering wheel with its cruise control buttons on the left, and media/phone/voice command buttons on the right hand side. The left cruise control toggle wheel also adjusts the hill descent speed when active.


The passenger seat, the red looks great doesn't it?


The iDrive screen, 3 series AC controls, DVD drive and iDrive shortcuts, and the gloss black panel around the AC vents (I've not seen it on any other X3 lol)


Navigation screen on the iDrive. Very clear.


Sport displays on the iDrive, these are a neat party trick.


The centre console cubby, showing one side with its bowl kind of thing inside, and the right side without the bowl thing becomes a cup holder. Notice the space behind it for wallet, cellphones, etc.


The drivers door, the red leather, white stitching, black plastics and wood go really well together. 5 series interior quality, no doubt.


The iDrive again, showing how you can configure the split screen to display various things like Navigation position in this picture. It can also display efficient dynamics info, trip computer, entertainment details amongst various other things.


Drivers screen showing the song selection, this is available with CDs, USB, even on bluetooth.


The reversing camera display, with dynamic guidelines and obstacle marking. Very useful and neat.


The speedo console at night turns a nice reddish/orange colour. Typical BMW again.


That's all for now. Will upload much more detailed pictures of the interior, and many of the exterior very very soon.

[iliketurtles]

I love the black and red combo, but I couldn't help but remember you saying just how much of a pain black was to maintain and now you go and get a black beauty

That engine/transmission combo sounds fantastic, hope you enjoy her (him?) to the fullest.

[Octane_Power]

Congratulations Akshay! So finally you got it. I remember you writing that you were in the market for such an SUV.

The red black combo is one of my favourites. Looks great definitely.

Wish you thousands of happy miles ahead

-Bhargav

[harsh.m06]

Brilliant stuff Akshay! Waiting for the detailed pics. Lovely interiors. Probably a dream car for many bhpians

I really like the 530d M Sport since the day I saw it in person but then the practicality of an SUV is unparalled. Happy mile munching