Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/)

-   -   Dream come true | My Phytonic Blue BMW X3 (G01) xDrive 20d Luxury Line Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/243711-dream-come-true-my-phytonic-blue-bmw-x3-g01-xdrive-20d-luxury-line-review.html)

There are very few ownership/review reports of BMW X3 (G01) barring this lone one by @bj96. Thought of adding one more. I have driven the car more than 18000 kms now and comfortable to share my opinions about living with the car, how it behaves, about reliability, about maintenance and last but not the least - how I get treated on the run!

Things I rave about

• The drive quality! That smooth free revving engine and fast Zf unit is pleasure to use.
• The adaptive dampers offers just the perfect tune for our not so perfect roads.
• Extremely well controlled NVH!
• I absolutely love the Adaptive LED headlight units, they make a huge difference in night driving.
• The climate control works like charm! Offers great level of fine controls too.
• Looks, road presence and opulence. G01 X3 has the perfect mix of size, aggression and dynamics.
• 16 driver 600 watt fabulous audio setup by Harman!!!
• Wireless CarPlay works like charm.
• The iDrive unit is second to none. Plethora of input options - Touch Screen, Steering mounted controls and the best, Rotary iDrive controller.
• Just the right mix of Technology and Luxury, both not intruding to each other!
• Extremely well designed instrument cluster, to me, this is the best digital cockpit iteration.
• Reliability!! After 2 years and almost 20k kms, I swear by the reliability and fuss free ownership experience of G01 X3.

Things I crib about

• In a 75L + OTR car, missing Keyless entry is unbelievable. BMW does offer Comfort access for X3 in some markets but strangely not here!
• Service duration of 10k kms! Why BMW?
• No Lumber support adjustment at this price segment, really?
• Dummy buttons even at this price?
• No height adjustable seat belts?
• Too aggressive auto start/stop is on by default, it irritates me too the core.
• Gloss black panels in the centre console, accumulates dust and already prone to scratches!
• These Bridgestone RFTs are vocal at expressway speeds.
• No full screen CarPlay! It's a shame not to use that great 10.25" infotainment real estate.
• Noisy blower at full speed. Spoils the otherwise premium experience.
• Limited boot space. That parcel tray holder impacts luggage carrying capability.
• That constant chime beyond 120 kmph.

Coming from a very humble background, buying a bimmer was just a dream but a persistent one. Me and my wife have always dreamt about driving a bimmer and only a bimmer (not the 3 pointed star or not the rings, no offense to these brands, but they just never were obsession for me). We never really thought that it would ever be possible for us to buy any of these luxury trio as a salaried individual and just within 14 years of service!

We started our car ownership with a cute sparkling blue i20 Asta in 2010. In a blink, 2012 came and we had "Baby on-board" sticker behind i20 and realised the small boot size of i20 was limiting our luggage carrying ability and with a baby it soon became difficult to plan for road trip! We decided to buy a sedan and here came ANHC 1.5V MT in 2013. City fulfilled our needs till 2015 when I decided to switch company. Chose to transfer the ownership to one of my colleague instead of buying it as I was eying for an SUV for longer road trips.

In 2015 we bought a sunset orange XUV 500 W10 AWD. We had hell of an experience with this beast along with some crazy events ( broken clutch, twice :Frustrati ) highlighting what you get on a budget. We did a lot of road trips with the XUV, covered 70k+ kms in 5 years. We were thinking about buying a luxury car from 2017 but other commitments (like home) kept us away from the chase. Meanwhile we replaced our blue i20 with an i20 Active in 2016, this vehicle is mainly used for city commutes. In 2019, maybe around July, turn of events in both mine and my wife's career brought the opportunity to relook at the chase.


Although we were pretty determined to go ahead with the kidney grills, we wanted to ensure we are taking that decision both with heart and head. We took test drive of Benz GLA, GLC, C Class, Audi A4, Q5, BMW X1, X3, 3 Series Sedan, 5 Series and finally Volvo S90, XC60. Head forced us to give Fortuner and Endeavour a shot. I am not going into detailed feedback but a notable mention about S90, if it wasn't the low ground clearance, we would have seriously thought about Volvo S90. All other vehicles were good, but they were not my dream. The moment I sat behind the wheels of 5 series, it was an instant connect! However, low ground clearance played spoil sport again.

We requested Navnit motors to get an X3 for a longish test drive. The sales adviser Joel promptly got the car on a Saturday and we went to a Cafe 30 kms away from our home for afternoon snacks. I got to drive the car for a good 60 kms covering city traffic and empty expressway. The test drive car was really well maintained and to our surprise it was an exact spec car that we were looking for - a Phytonic Blue X3 xDrive 20d Luxury Line.

Me, my better half and our little half (yes, our 6 year old son as of 2019) blissfully agreed to go ahead with X3.



We booked the car in October end and took some time to mobilise remaining funds. Navnit motors offered the best dealership experience, it was a pleasure to interact with the sales team. After this brief period of ownership, if we look back, we probably got the best car buying experience yet. The negotiation was quite straightforward, I wanted the car and just quoted a figure which I was comfortable with. After couple of weeks from the initial meeting Navnit motors offered their best possible rate which I couldn't resist.

We got a deal of 6700xxx OTR with the inclusion of BSI plus (5/80) and extended warranty till 5th Year. We took delivery of our car just before the 2019 year end, 3rd week of December.

Apart from the regular freebies, I bought BMW all weather mats (notice the interior pictures) and a case for the key(somehow I don't like the leather flip one, hence bought a rubberised case which snugly enclosed the side and back of the key. I bought the BMW perfume kit too, it works just fine and looks great too with BMW branding(no rattling sound what so ever).




Graduating from mainstream Korean/Japanese/Indian brands, the first thing which did hit us was the build quality along with fit and finish. We realised, what we were missing for so many years! Every individual components in the car is excellent in quality and integration.

The DRIVE

In one go - The ultimate driving machine! It can't be described...
To give a reference, for me, drive experience is defined by few non tangible aspects of feedback.

• First, how does the steering feel, can it sense your urge?
• Second, how does the A pedal feel, can it feel your rush?
• Third, how connected the car feel, can it be your extension?

BMWs, typically are cars for drivers who are passionate and skilful. Is X3 any different? YES, it is. Even if you are not skilful, this car is almost idiot proof! Although I am not a professional driver, I am not amateur either. From the experience I have with this car -

• Steering feel is wholesome, I know there are BMWs with better steering units, but for a car of this size, this feels just perfect!
• G01 is an example of how you make a "drive by wire" car without making the driver feeling over assisted by electronics. The A pedal offers almost a magical resistance to make you feel your action!
• The car is connected to the driver. almost magically!

The G01 X3 xDrive 20d has a turbocharged Inline 4 cylinder engine, Diesel motor. This engine produces a maximum power of 190 PS (187 bhp - 140 kW) at 4000 rpm and a maximum torque of 400 Nm (295 lb.ft) at 1750-2500 rpm. The power is transmitted to the road by the all wheel drive (AWD) with a 8 speed Zf Sequential Automatic gearbox.

The drive modes offered in X3 are COMFORT/SPORT/ECOPRO/ADAPTIVE. On top of these SPORT mode is completely customisable on these 4 aspects -
ENGINE, GEARBOX, STEERING and SUSPENSION. This helps the car transform characters and the difference is surprising. I absolutely love the gearbox - in it's implementation and how it's presented!

Claimed 0-100 timings by BMW for this spec is 8 seconds. I have no reason to not believe that. The car feels very agile. In SPORT it absolutely drives like maniac. Although G01 has great implementation of drive by wire, there is one thing I would like to know from experts -

When the SPORT mode is selected and in the individual/standard configuration Gear is left to SPORT, in instrument cluster the gear indicator still shows D1...Dn. However, when the Gear lever is physically shifted to M/S, the gear indicator shows S1...Sn. Both these modes have a significant perceivable difference.

What makes G01 standout here is the inclusion of adaptive dampers. This made all the difference in my TD experience as well. The damping when set to SPORT almost makes this car unshakable. With reduced vertical movement, body roll is minimal, still the drive is pliant on expressway speeds ( 80/100 kmph + ).



The cockpit has been designed by keeping the driver in mind, in a classic BMW way. Everything that needs to be accessed by the driver has been designed by keeping ergonomics in mind. The touch and feel of different controls are distinct and can be felt, this is something which I have not seen in many cars.

Heart of the cockpit is BMW digital instrument cluster which in my opinion is the best iteration of BMW's take on digital Instrument cluster. It retains the classic layout ( can say an analog template ) on which information is displayed digitally. This provides the best utilisation of digital interface on a analog template. It can display navigation, visual status/warnings, can leverage different themes to elevate the drivers mood.


Look how the speed limiter function displays the limit marker! It almost feels like part of the speedo...


Every switch in the surfaces that's used by driver can outlast the owner. Made of brushed metal, these are pure joy to touch! Be it steering mounted controls, or on the dashboard. The steering is just great to hold and has well designed thumb contours. The paddle shifters are also lovely to use and falls perfectly under fingers ( My palm size is not large, but people with smaller palms may need to stretch for the shifters. The horn pad even after driving so many kms, still feels hard. The indicator stalk on the left and wiper controls on the right very intuitive to use. The switchgear is made to outlast the owners.


AC and heater works just fine for our tropical condition. The cooling pattern can be configured ( to me it's a first! ). X3 G01 comes with 3 zone climate control and thankfully you don't have to fiddle with any touch screen unit! All the knobs and buttons feel great to use. Blower at max is loud! ( really ). Auxiliary ventilation can be setup using time triggers. Rear passengers also get a separate zone.


This is also very important for me as we love road trips. There is nothing like good music on sweet sounding speakers that doesn't induce fatigue even after hours of listening. I will not get into specifications as that's readily available over internet, rather I will share how it feels and what's not available readily on google. Before getting into this, one disclaimer, quality of a sound setup is a perception and it may vary based on the listener.

The spec says it's a 16 speaker unit, however, to be technically correct, it's a 16 driver unit.
Fonts has 3 way components ( Midrange driver + Tweeter + Woofer ) and in the middle of dashboard one midrange driver + tweeter - In total - 8 drivers
Rear has 2 way components ( Midrange driver + Tweeter ) and each sidewall of the boot has again one midrange driver + tweeter - In total - 8 drivers

The soundstage is excellent and only second to the B&W setups in this range of cars. In my opinion, this Harman setup blows the Burmeister setup in Merc GLC, no comparison. The Harman setup has fully customisable equalizer. Additionally it also provided Logic 7 simulation, but I would say, if you are playing from good quality CD source or streaming CD quality music over Airplay, keep this logic 7 simulation off as it distorts the stereo imaging.


The lights! X3 G01 comes with full LED units and they look fabulous. Not just the looks though, the headlights are BMW adaptive LED units and super bright in all weather conditions.


These alloys are just the right for my preference! Tyre size of 245/50/R19 just fills the arc adequately and probably the best compromise between ride and handling. It looks great too! However the Bridgestone RFTs are really noisy. Maybe within another 10k kms ( after completing our next road trip to Leh in May 2022, will change the types to Michelin. I am not going for Run-flats for sure...

I got the car ceramic coated to seal the paint and the gloss panels. I can happily say even after taking abuse from cold, harsh sunlight, not so good water quality, dust, heavy sand the paint and gloss back exterior panels are almost new after 22 months and 18500 kms!

Another thing to highlight is the consistent panel gaps and paint quality. It's quite a level up from Hyundai, Honda and Mahindra. Metal parts are not fake lookalike, they are metals!


One of the most interesting and freaking piece of this G01 X3 is the active kidney grills. They are designed with a lot of passion and precise engineering aspects. They are perfectly shut units when the louvres are closed.

One very interesting aspect is every operation that’s just the counter of another operation for example volume up/down, lock/unlock, blower speed increase/decrease, track next/previous are all made out of single piece of metal/plastic. When you press one side, other side comes up. This is really cool, you can just touch the slab and move your finger towards one of the side ( vertical or horizontal) and press!


Coming to the interior lights, X3 is new age in every aspect. Nowadays a new craze is ambient lights, X3 has a lot of oomph in this regard. The light sources are superbly integrated to elevate the senses when needed. The lights can be dimmed or switched off completely and there are 12 color options. Refer to the photos for illustration, taken at full brightness and exposure compensated to simulate exactly how the occupants feel.

BMW has ensured X3 is not just great to drive but an opulent contender as well. This is visible from the choice of materials to the way different materials has been integrated together. Varnasca leather just feel premium enough to remind you the money you have spent. So does the stitching!

Look at how the doorpads infuses lacquered wood, leather and brushed metal.


Rear seats, they are very comfortable for long trips and provides good support for average adults and kids.


X3 has been proved to be a perfect companion for road trip. The door pockets can swallow multiple bottles. Additionally, it offers good usable space below the armrest. The cup holders are also perfectly adaptable for slender or fat cups.


The PDC and reversing camera module offers great functionality even at low light. The sensor data is overlapped as obstacle contours on-screen. The system offers great precision as long as you don't hurry. The lag in live feed is also pretty acceptable.


All windows offer one touch up/down. The door base where all the window and ORVM control switches are, has a strange rubberised feel, not to complain about but it's different. The switches feel great to use and constructed of brushed metal.


Although not very important for me personally, but crucial aspect to share as part of ownership. Got a combined mileage of ~11 in Rajasthan road trip from Bangalore of 6500 Kms. This included a lot of spirited driving ( Can't disclose the insane speeds officially ), hours of idling ( pandemic time, had to prepare tea/coffee inside car to avoid road side stalls where branded cafes were not available). Note that I haven't tried ECOPRO back then. Recently when I tried ECOPRO and maintained constant speed around 100 kmph, I did see a mileage of 14 + kmpl.

In regular city runs, I get around 8-9 kmpl which I feel is decent considering traffic density of Bangalore. I do drive with sudden acceleration and deceleration, this has a huge impact on the fuel efficiency.






Touchwood, no problems whatsoever except a small squeaking sound from the parcel tray initially. I guess G01, G20 are really examples of how far BMW has come in terms of reliability.






The car has gone to service centre 3 times. 1st and 2nd service, then again to replace the front brake-pads and wiper. As I have taken BSI plus, till now all this visits were free and the bills are only cost price to the dealer. Still sharing some details if it helps.







Some playful moments

Thanks for the X3 thread, yes there weren't that many here in tbhp. I too got my blue X3 in September, a petrol one though, and loving every bit of it. Well maybe except the Harman Kardon, which I find little underwhelming. Wonder why a subwoofer wasn't included in this. Mighty pleased with fuel economy though. I took a 200km trip (90% highway) last Sunday in eco pro mode and got almost 14kmpl. Even my tiny beater Brio doesn't give me that! :)

Great and honest review! You seem to utilizing the touring capabilities of the car perfectly.
I believe these two things can be rectified easily . Go through this thread

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...ml#post5116074

Congratulations on the lovely car! And a great detailed review with good photographs! Thank you for sharing this.

I have a 320d with the same engine and the gearbox. And I could relate to a lot of your points (although of course I do not have the adaptive dampers).

Wish you many more happy miles on this car.

I agree 100% on this based on my experiences with the same engine and gearbox combo. It is just brilliant.


I am not an expert but let me share my experience anyways. This is how it is supposed to be. When you select the Sport mode using the button, it is the engine, the steering and the suspension that changes to sport setting. But the gearbox still remains in D, unless you specifically put it in it's own Sport setting by physically moving the gear lever to S.

So when you leave the gear lever in D, but change the mode to Sport, the instrument cluster shows the label "Sport" to indicate you are in Sports mode, but the transmission is still shown as in D. Then when you move the gear lever to S, the transmission changes to S1, S2 etc.

These two sports modes are independent of each other. I can keep my engine in the comfort mode and yet put the gearbox in S mode. In that case, my engine and steering (I don't have the adaptive dampers anyways, so in my car the suspension setting never changes) remains in comfort mode but still the gears displayed in the instrument cluster will be S1, S2 etc. And vice versa.

For me, I typically drive with Engine+Steering in the Sports mode and the gearbox just in D mode. I have not yet felt a need to put the gearbox in Sports mode much (except on a couple of occasions where I did this just to have some fun and try out some special things). The car is quite fast as it is and the gearshifts are butter-smooth and quick even in D mode. However, I love how the steering feels in the Sports mode (as compared to comfort mode), and that is the primary reason I always use Sports mode in all my highway drives.

A short and crisp review which covered the elements of a Bimmer. That too to find a review of an X3 in a sea of 3/5 series and X1s is a breath of fresh air.

Congrats on your new steed and wishing you many blissful miles!

Thanks mate. I wanted a 30i initially but a tentative wait time of 4 months was too long for exited us!

I don't miss a subwoofer really, under seat placement of the woofers provide tight kick bass. With good quality source like CD and recently Apple Music Lossless/Digital Master ( High res doesn't make much difference as Airplay can't stream such bandwidth, may be ) it sounds great!

Thanks! Yes, we absolutely love road trips and X3 is a great companion. The perfect size for any trip. Would have completed 30k Kms if not pandemic caused such havoc.

I have been following such threads even in international forums. My only concern is if it affects warranty. I may try to do this myself with an ENET cable and bimmercode.

Thanks a lot Dr :)

My confusion is when I choose SPORT Individual, the GEAR parameter in the configuration is already set to SPORT, in fact I have configured all 4 parameters to SPORT, still the gear selector shows D mode. If X3 has drive by wire, shouldn't it select sport mode for the Gearbox too without me doing it physically?

Thanks friend!

Congrats on the BMW. Excellent review. That blue color makes the car look extra good, gotta say!

Shame about the Carplay nonsense though. If cars at 1/5th the price can do it, I'm sure a big marquee like BMW can do it as well. Us Indian buyers still value QOL features such as these.

Use an ENET cable but please do not use Bimmercode. Learn and use Esys only if you respect your car. Although the fullscreen carplay cannot be done directly through these, needs an FSC/ Patch.

As for the warranty, it's only affected if you change the FA/VO of the car and it no longer matches the one saved with BMW. As long as it's same, nothing to worry about. Good explanation by a fellow bhpian here

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post4449714

I believe changing the Gearbox setting from drive modes would change only the speed of the shifts, and if you put the Gearbox into S mode , it would also change the shift points. At least that is what i felt in my X1, you could check in your car

Thank you!

Thanks for the details. I will check with some tuner soon.


Yes, possibly the reason and that's why it requires to be engaged manually.

Congrats on the new X3... Good detailed review and can relate to my journey of buying the BMW (Omni->Corsa->Cruze->X4) ... We got our X4 30d (G02) last year around this time, much after pondering/going back and forth on the decision for 3 months (started with the legendary 3GT, which was on its way out, and then finally stretched to X4 - always loved the coupe design).
Our experience with Navnit was not too good and, hence got it from Deutsche Motoren; though both offered more or less the same deal.
Have not tried to tinker around with the 80/120 chimes (after a couple of mins, it doesn't bother me any more/fades away to the back ground)
Both these G01, G02, are awesome cars. (Makes me smile :) every time I take it out to drive).
Congrats again and happy many more miles!

Congratulations. BMW is indeed about joy! Luckiest person is your son :-)

I believe 10K service interval is required in India to prevent potential serious engine problems beyond 100k kms, etc.

Congratulations for X3. Fantastic review. I too own a BMW X3 bought in November 2019. I personally relate to most of the points you mentioned in your review. It's absolute joy to drive and enjoy each and every moment behind the wheels. :thumbs up

Fantastic review!! I too purchased X3 late 2018 and I fully concur with your feedback. If I have one additional grouse, it is not having a 'mute' button the steering wheel.