Introduction
this is the BMW X3 and it’s a little bit like a Hugo Boss tracksuit because it’s designed to be comfy practical and a little bit sporty plus of course it’s German now in this video I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about this car I’m going to talk you around the exterior the interior take it for a drive tell you what’s good about it nice what’s not so good about it and of course I’m going to launch it to see how quick it is from naught to 60 miles an hour because I’m at Watson and you’re watching Carl wow Buy sell car wow
Exterior Design
let’s start this video by talking about the design of the X3 so a couple of years ago BMW just gave it a mid-life facelift with some revised bumpers and lights and stuff like that not major changes I do quite like the 3d effect of the lights not so sure about the rear bumper though with this fake diffuser those exhausts are real though thank God they lead directly into the pipe that is good I like that let’s clean on this vape pen bit there anyhow wheel sizes start at 19 inches these are 20s although you can get 20 ones don’t think you need 21s 20s are fine moving down the sides it’s got like creases in the doors and this side skirt that pushes out slightly makes it look sporty and this being the M sport you get either blue or red calipers you choose this is less sporty though fake vent there it’s totally pointless moving to the front and it really is not a locker this being the end sport it has a more aggressive lower bumper other models slightly less so but yeah at least these vents aren’t fake I don’t know what’s going on there really it’s not the best looking car and its segment is it anyhow pricing it starts from 47 000 pounds now if you want to see how much money you can save on a BMW X3 through car wire or any car for that matter just click on the pop-out banner up there for the link in the description below to get a car wow now if you want to do that at a later date and need some help choosing which car to buy just simply Google help me car wow we will help you choose your ideal car and get it for a fair price from one of our trusted dealers
Interior and Infotainment
here on the inside the only major update the BMW made to this car a couple of years ago as part of that facelift was to upgrade the infotainment system with a bigger Central screen and fully digital dials though this now seems a little bit out of date compared to BMW’s latest and beautiful curved infotainment screens one good thing about this older system though climate control is controlled using buttons here easy access rather than having to dig around in the menus on the screen I like that I’d like that off as well there we go in terms of the design yeah it’s pretty nice you know it’s all right it’s functional not quite as interesting to sit in as a Genesis gv70 and if you don’t know what that car is then you definitely should click on the pop-out banner up there I’ll follow the link in the description below to see my review of it it’s basically Hyundai’s version of Lexus Genesis and it’s a luxury Korean SUV in terms of quality always good perceived quality in the BMW here in the X3 things only feel a little bit cheap when you reach lower down and you get well that’s not scratchy actually there is though can’t fault out screw together look the center console wobble test that’s a definite pass right here you have another control for the infotainment system so it’s a touch screen but you can use an old-fashioned swivel well if you want and then you’ve got your driving controls here with your nub in of a gear selector the driving position itself is pretty good usually it’s in BMWs and there’s plenty of adjustments look at this look at that in the steering wheel and the seats so big or small you will get comfy and I quite like these upgraded Sports seats you get with the M sport version as well as the M sport branded steering wheel and the M tricolor here on the seat belts adds a little bit of extra interest to the cabin
Practicality and Storage
in terms of the practicality it’s pretty good look largest Central cubby got USBC in there underneath here you have two cup holders look you have bottles and stuff like that wireless charging pad and then this is the holder for the key which is Handy there’s another USB there an old-fashioned one one for your mum glove box is an okay size but it’s lined with felt so things don’t rattle about in there door bins though they’d be big look huge oh huge fit and then there’s more space behind it so where’s the there it is the bottle I had earlier there we go plus down here we have another storage area there perfect for your keys or random things you might have with you we’re going to be losing that I’m never going to say again we’re going back to BMW anyway let’s check out the back seats well there’s plenty of Headroom lots of knee room you can stretch out underneath the seat in front the seat bases are quite deep which is good but a slight problem with this plug-in hybrid version is the fact that there’s some batteries underneath the floor here and that means the footwells aren’t quite so deep as on the normal internal combustion engine only x3s so your knees are a bit higher than they would otherwise be which means you have less under thigh support which for longer Journeys makes it slightly less comfortable now this isn’t a problem you have in the plug-in hybrid version of the Volvo XC60 that really is my only complaint though because there is lots of room here in the back you’ve got a big middle seat and while there is a hub to straddle there is enough room here in the back for three adults it’s not bad at all
Rear Seats and Comfort
to tell you the truth now brings you on to fitting a child’s seat there’s enough space back here to even maneuver a big bulky rear facing seating and the isofix anchor points are just so easy to get to look it’s enough of that other things I like about this car this I can recline the seat backs also check this out arm rest and you have cup holders that are covered so you don’t end up putting your wrist in them when you’re not using them there’s through loading as well so you can carry longer items and have two people either side well sorry one person each side two people in total you know what I’m not going on about you’ve got some storage there big door bins climate control here in the rear and two USBC ports and the rear windows they go all the way down which is Handy let some fresh air in I’m quite impressed but will I be as impressed with this car’s boot I’ve got a feeling I won’t be and I’ll show you why now you see the batteries for the hybrid are even more intrusive here in the boot because that’s where most of them are kept as you can see you end up with this Rich that makes it harder to get heavy items in and out because you just slide them off this Ridge and then maneuver them that’s not the biggest problem though this lump of batteries actually reduces the boot capacity on the X3 from 550 liters which is pretty good down to 450 liters for this plug-in hybrid now there are some things that are good like look 12 volt socket Little Hook to hang stuff off a few tie down points and when you fold down the rear seats look get a lot more space and it’s actually okay to slide heavy items in what’s annoying though is when you have to get them back out again because this Ridge from the batteries creates it a lip that makes it a real pain to lift heavy stuff over ah and that most certainly brings on to five or nine things about the BMW X3
Five Annoying Things
if you look here you will see the doors don’t quite cover the Sills fully that means that if you’ve been driving in muddy conditions and you get out because the cells extend as well you always end up just rubbing the backs of your legs over those cells and then the mud gets transferred onto your trousers which is not good the EV only range on this car is pretty pathetic it’s 31 miles on a full charge by comparison an Audi Q5 plug-in hybrid has a range of 39 miles a Volvo XC60 plug-in hybrid 48 miles and a Mercedes GLC plug-in hybrid 80 miles as if that wasn’t bad enough this particular car is pretty much almost 100 full of charge and it’s saying the range on electric only is actually just 14 miles one of the problems with extendable seat bases on the BMW X3 is that you can often tell if someone is been eating in your car when you’ve lent it to them look at all these crumbs who the heck has been enjoying almond covered croissants for some reason you can’t adjust the height of the seat belt in the X3 like you can in its competitors why not oh no look at this there is no little washer system for the rear view camera it means that when you’re driving along then it’s Mucky conditions this gets covered in Grime and the only way to get it off so you can see where you’re reversing is to wipe it with your finger
Five Cool Features
however it’s not all bad this does bring me on to five cool things about the BMW X3 for instance the surround View Camera you can get on the X3 is absolutely brilliant look at it it’s like playing a video game and of course you can control it we gestures oh there’s some other things this car can do it’s got something called a reversing assistant what that means is that if I drive forward like this oh maybe go this way if I put the car into reverse it’ll actually remember exactly where I went so I just control the accelerator and it’ll do the steering for me which makes it easier to get out of tight parking spaces because you don’t have to do anything the car will remember the way you came in and take you out exactly the same way you can preheat or pre-cool the car remotely using the key just set the temperature you will want out inside the car press this button and then it’ll just get it all set for you so it’s the right temperature when you get in it this is a load cover this is supposed under floor storage does the load cover fit in storage area it appears it bloody well does Bravo many automatic cars have paddle shifters so you can change gears manually yourself but most of them will automatically shift up if you rev it all the way to the red line not this BMW X3 though it may be a family-friendly SUV and it may be a plug-in hybrid but if you don’t change up yourself on time it’ll have your pinging off the limiter like a sports car oh yes a BMW is a true drivers machine
Driving Experience
all x3s have all-wheel drive and an 8-speed automatic gearbox but which engine Choice should you go for and which trim level well to help you out I am going to configure my ideal BMW X3 using the car wire configurator if you want to find out what the model is and the saving through car wire just click on the pop-out banner up there or for the link in the description below to get a car wow now I’m going to drive it let’s start off this drive in town so I’ve put the car into electric only mode silent as you’d expect they’re all silent aren’t they they’re plugging hybrids when you’re just cruising along one thing that is a bit annoying about this particular car is that it doesn’t have one pedal driving so if I lift off the accelerator the region effect has slowed me down really isn’t there it’s quite unusual I wonder if you can actually increase that I’m not sure but a bit disappointed it’s just rolling forwards almost like a normal internal combustion engine car definitely no one pedal driving you will have to use the brakes so let me just tickle the brakes if they feel natural bit spongy actually at First I’m going to just turn around test out the maneuverability so the Turning circle on this is 12 meters not quite as good as a Volvo XC60 in fact if you click up there on the pop out Banner you can see my full in-depth video review of that car now though I think I’m going to have to engage the cameras to see where I’m going come on cameras I’m not going to make that round no chance I mean that was quite a big ask anyway but here we go three-point turn thankfully the steering is quite light in town it’s not bad at all and visibility is pretty good as well Dormers are fine if you hit the back window is okay it’s not brilliant but it’s not bad either and general Comfort levels when you’re just pootling about are fairly decent this particular car is fitted with the upgraded adaptive dampers it’s worth noting the plug-in hybrid doesn’t feel quite as comfortable as a standard X3 because it’s heavier so it just doesn’t go over bumps quite so well speaking of which if you’re going for an M sport version of one of the normal combustion engine models they have stiffer suspension and that does affect the Comfort yet again so be warned do you want maximum comfort from your X3 go for a basic petrol engine car with smaller wheels and the normal suspension setup it’s a little tip from your friendly motoring journalist
Performance and Handling
anyway let’s try this thing on slightly faster roads so here we go I’m going to floor it slight delay kind of thing that you expect with these plug-in hybrids no better no worse than the competition and then it took off pretty well in fact decent performance I’d say the engine they can be a little bit on the noisy side especially the Diesels when you accelerate this plug-in hybrid with the two liter turbo petrol isn’t too bad and when you’re cruising along it’s all quite relaxing I’d say the only thing that I’m noticing is quite a bit of road noise I don’t think this car is quite as relaxing to just cruise on the motorway as a Lexus NX that is a bit of a left field choice but if you want to see my full in-depth video review of that car and why I think it is actually one of the very best hybrids click on the pop-out banner up there I’ll follow the link in the description below to go watch my video As for the economy well this thing is supposed to do 109 miles to the gallon but I’m getting just over 33. yeah if you’re doing lots of Motorway miles get a diesel really you have to be driving quite a bit around town and charging the car regularly to to get anywhere near BMW’s claim figure for the plug-in hybrid anyway I’m really going to the efficiency now because we come to a twisty Road and I’m going to go into sports mode with extra boost which means maximum power from the electric motor right let’s see how this thing handles a BMW it’s supposed to be fun regardless of whether it’s an SUV or a sports car yeah I can feel that extra boost now the throttle response is actually really really good it’s like the turbocharged engine and that electric motor just working so well together I can go to manual mode for the gearbox change gear myself using these paddles and generally the gearbox seems pretty quick it’s not a dual clutch system like you’re getting an Audi Q5 but for this type of car yeah the changes are fast enough it also handles pretty well plenty of grip when you go around the corners it doesn’t lean too much that said because this guy has the Adaptive dampers they are stiffer in the sporty setting but yeah it goes where you point it it grips around corners very very BMW like it’s a fine handling car though I should point out yet again the plug-in hybrid handles the least well of the x3s because once again all of that weight the best handling versions are the m40i and the m40d because they have special sporty suspension plus they have six cylinder engines with loads of power they’re my favorite ones sleep however that does bring us on to how quick this plug-in hybrid version is when you launch it BMW says the plug-in hybrid version of this X3 should do not to 60 in 6.1 seconds and to find out the reality Now using my specialist timing gear I’m going to launch it says launch control it has a launch control did it help 6.35 Ah that’s a shame that was slow than claimed I actually wasn’t expecting that especially with launch control I wasn’t expecting that either but yeah it didn’t help
Final Verdict
so then what’s my final verdict on the BMW X3 should you avoid it should you consider it should you shortlist it or should it just go right ahead and buy it well for the internal combustion engine BMW X3 I’d say shortlisted it’s a good car for this plug-in hybrid though I’d avoid it and instead get the Mercedes GLC plug-in hybrid it’s just got way more electric range anyway I hope you all enjoyed the video if you did give it a like click on those windows there for more videos and on that box there it’s got a car wow to sell your car the easy way all you have to do is upload some photos of your car give a brief description then dealers all across the country will bid on your car pick the highest offer they’ll come to your house take the car away and put the money into your account it’s easy
Leave a Comment