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18,000 km with my BMW X3 xDrive 20d: Ownership Review

10th November 2021, 07:15 by Rahul Nagaraj

We test drove a number of SUVs before shortlisting the X3, even giving the Toyota Fortuner & Ford Endeavour a shot.

BHPian worldcrawler recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

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 for more than 18,000 km now and am comfortable sharing my opinions about living with the car, how it behaves, about reliability, about maintenance and last but not 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 a pleasure to use.
The adaptive dampers offer 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.
Climate control works like charm! Offers a 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. A 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 on each other!
Extremely well-designed instrument cluster, to me, this is the best digital cockpit iteration.
Reliability!! After 2 years and almost 20k km, 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 km! 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 to the core.
Gloss black panels in the centre console accumulate dust and are 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.
The 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 km/h.

The Dream & The Journey

Coming from a very humble background, buying a bimmer was just a dream but a persistent one. I and my wife have always dreamt about driving a bimmer and only a bimmer (not the 3 pointed star or not the rings, no offence to these brands, but they just never were an obsession for me). We never really thought that it would ever be possible for us to buy any of this 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 a "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 a 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 companies. Chose to transfer the ownership to one of my colleagues 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 a hell of an experience with this beast along with some crazy events (broken clutch, twice) highlighting what you get on a budget. We did a lot of road trips with the XUV, covering 70k+ km 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, the turn of events in both mine and my wife's career brought the opportunity to relook at the chase.

The Moment

Although we were pretty determined to go ahead with the kidney grills, we wanted to ensure we are making that decision both with heart and head. We took a 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 for 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 the 5 series, it was an instant connection! However, low ground clearance played spoilsport 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 km away from our home for afternoon snacks. I got to drive the car for a good 60 km covering city traffic and an 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 at October end and took some time to mobilise the 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 a 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 an extended warranty till the 5th Year. We took delivery of our car just before the 2019 year-end, the 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 whatsoever).

The Ownership

The car looks drop-dead gorgeous from almost any angle and in any surroundings. Jungle, Tarmac, Hills, Sand/Grass - the car fits every surrounding!

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 component 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 a 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 does 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 an amateur either. From the experience, I have with this car -

The 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 feel 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 an 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 its 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 a 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 stand out 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 km/h+).

The Cockpit

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.

The heart of the cockpit is the BMW digital instrument cluster which in my opinion is the best iteration of BMW's take on the digital Instrument cluster. It retains the classic layout ( can say an analogue template ) on which information is displayed digitally. This provides the best utilisation of a digital interface on an analogue template. It can display navigation, visual status/warnings can leverage different themes to elevate the driver's 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 are used by a 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 fall 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 km still feels hard. The indicator stalk on the left and wiper controls on the right are very intuitive to use. The switchgear is made to outlast the owners.

Climate Control

AC and heater work 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. The blower at max is loud! ( really ). Auxiliary ventilation can be set up using time triggers. Rear passengers also get a separate zone.

The Audio

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 the internet, rather I will share how it feels and what's not available readily on google. Before getting into this, one disclaimer, the 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 have 3-way components (Midrange driver + Tweeter + Woofer) and in the middle of the 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 a 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 simulations off as it distorts the stereo imaging.

Other significant bits

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! The tyre size of 245/50/R19 just fills the arc adequately and is probably the best compromise between ride and handling. It looks great too! However, the Bridgestone RFTs are really noisy. Maybe within another 10k km (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 18,500 km!

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 a fake lookalike, they are metals!

One of the most interesting and freaking pieces 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 a single piece of metal/plastic. When you press one side, another side comes up. This is really cool, you can just touch the slab and move your finger towards one of the sides ( vertical or horizontal) and press!

Coming to the interior lights, X3 is a 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 colour options. Refer to the photos for illustration, taken at full brightness and exposure compensated to simulate exactly how the occupants feel.