Introduction
we’ve got the bmw x3 and we’d like to thank portfolio by open road for lending us this vehicle we’ll tell you more about it in a second x3 one of the most popular small luxury suvs let’s get in go for a drive andrea do you know that bmw invented this whole category they were the very first ones to come with a compact utility from a luxury brand and what did they name it zach they called it the x3 they invented the name sav sport activity vehicle yes so we’re out for activities today but first of all andrea what’s under the hood a two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine with an eight-speed automatic transmission 248 horsepower and 258 pound feet of torque or you can offer the one i would choose which is the three liter inline six-cylinder with 382 horsepower there’s also a 30e plug-in hybrid with 288 horsepower
Standard Features and Technology
well first of all before we get into the hot topic uh questions coffee cars yeah fuel economy our competition price pause it’s all coming up we have to do our key standard features the x3 comes standard with a 10.2 inch touchscreen with bmw’s idrive apple carplay and android auto electric seats with driver memory heated leather wrapped sport steering wheel leather heated front sport seats automatic climate control driving assistant led headlights and taillights led fog lights and 19-inch wheels i see here in the center console that says eco comfort sport there’s another button what is that we got to put it in s for subscribe and if you can hit the notification bell you’ll get notified when the videos drop and then you can watch them and if you hit subscribe and the bell right after each other elves will wake up every single morning and wash your car they guarantee it
Social Media and Sponsorship
uh we also have as we mentioned question coffee cars and hot topic and that’s interactive with instagram follow andrea it’s motor mouth underscore andrea and for me it’s motor mouth underscore auto and the links are below if you missed that this video is brought to you by carcass canada get the dealer’s cost list of rebates plus discounted interest rates use the promo code motormouth to become an expert member and get extra searches the link is in the description below
Interior and Comfort
so we had a next five years ago and uh we are now in the x3 and you know what this x3 is the same size as our original x5 isn’t that weird everything has just gotten bigger now yeah by the way we did an x5 video just a week or so ago yeah you can click on the card here we talk about the x5 which is a wonderful vehicle but this one’s different it’s smaller um than the current x5 and you notice it most in the width right yeah it’s definitely narrower you can feel it in the seats the seats are narrower for sure and also the comfort level of the seats i found are quite different these are firmer what do you think considering you have a bad back i actually like a firmer seat so i don’t have a great back so this is totally fine with me now that x5 had the comfort seat that was an option which much more adjustment on those seats and they’re fantastic we had them in our seven series years ago and uh just beautiful but this is a different price point in a different grade and that’s the one thing i would say about this vehicle is the grade of the interior is not the same as the x5
Material Quality and Rear Space
no not at all actually zach and i were thinking that the seats were leather at i looked further into it they are leather seats but just not that high caliber that you would see in the x5 but i have to say it’s kind of nice that bmw didn’t do leatherette and they did do leather they used to have leather red yeah yeah their base interior used to be leathered there is some hard plastic throughout the vehicle on the side door panels a little bit at the center console and i noticed in the back seat which is quite spacious that behind the front row seats there are no storage pockets uh so let’s get into the backseat that’s one of the things i like about the x3 is it does offer quite a bit of legroom and headroom i’m really surprised by how roomy it is and as i mentioned this is bigger than the original x5 which is crazy
Packages and Customization
what i like about bmw is there’s a lot of a la carte items so if you don’t want to get a package this vehicle that we’re driving right now is the essential package and you get things like the panoramic sunroof wireless charging you also get keyless entry for the passenger and the driver so there’s some nice features within the package but if you want to go the a la carte wage you can get the piano black center console for 400. so there are some options there but you do need to get a package to get the panoramic sunroof so would you say this is kind of one up from the base like uh the base model with just that package yes it is actually it’s very nicely equipped
Competitors and Market Comparison
yeah and i think it it’s everything that you need but when you look at other vehicles that this competes against like for example the glc the interior is much more luxurious in it the interesting thing is that glc is on its last legs there’s going to be a new one coming later this year so so that will be uh definitely nice
Exterior Design
so you have these digital projected speedo and tachometer and the stuff below that built in around these chrome inserts it’s strange how they do it it’s very different i do like the sport steering wheel on this it’s super comfortable on the hands soft shall we get into the exterior a little bit now before we do that andrea i want to talk about portfolio by open road they lent us this car for a day or so and that’s the great thing if you want to test a bunch of different brands and do it for one monthly fee you can do that with portfolio yeah it’s uh it’s basically you can swap your car twice a month or even once a week yeah yeah they have different packages that you can do that whatever you decide there are different levels and the insurance is included insurance is included and the people at portfolio are just so wonderful and kind i mean they’ve been so easy to deal with so we’re continuing to work with them one thing i like about the exterior of this x3 is the designers haven’t gotten a hold of it yet to say let’s get a bigger the big snout yeah this grill is quite nice i think it suits the x3 and it’s just an all-around pleasant looking vehicle
Driving Experience
you know what i think this vehicle is perfectly calibrated for everyday city use the way the engine delivers the power it’s great for low speed and mid-range torque which is what you use in the city traffic light to traffic light however i find on the highway for passing speeds it can run out of breath a little bit but as an everyday commuter they did a really good job yeah i agree with you you know this x3 has less horsepower and torque than some of its competition but it works so well together that you don’t feel that lack of power the steering is so responsive that’s the highlight of the vehicle right it’s just incredible it takes corners with ease the turning radius is excellent i applaud bmw just for the driving dynamics of this x3
Competitor Comparison
if you can afford it do yourself a favor you get all of that with the inline six-cylinder engine that’s called the the x-340i that’s the inline six cylinder that engine is nothing short of a masterpiece and when you take that engine in this product with the handling now you’re on to something nice let’s have a look at what else is out there in the market for your consideration four categories and four vehicles for you to consider here are four different competitors the mercedes-benz glc has a two liter inline four-cylinder turbo engine with a nine-speed automatic transmission it has 255 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque it has a starting price of almost fifty thousand dollars next up is the audi q5 it also has a 2-liter turbo 4-cylinder engine and a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and it’s 261 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque with a starting price of just over and a half thousand dollars and the q5 is the best selling compact luxury suv in the country the third competitor goes to the porsche macan it has a two liter turbo charged inline four with a seven-speed pdk dual clutch transmission it has 248 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque it has a starting price of 57 and a half thousand dollars now the japanese alternative goes to the acura rdx it has a two liter turbo 4-cylinder engine with a 10-speed automatic transmission it has the most power of the bunch at 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque and it has a starting price of 44 and a half thousand dollars
Hot Topic Discussion
so there are four vehicles for you to consider now in each review we take one or two questions from questions coffee and cars and expand on it we call it our hot topic what’s up andrea have you noticed a shift in buyer behavior away from bmw towards audi of the q5 and x3 in your opinion which of the two offers better overall value as far as the owner experience now that is a really good question what a great hot topic so the q5 is less expensive than the x3 it’s 46 and a half thousand dollars as a starting price and this x3 starts at just over 52 000 so there’s good value there for sure but keep in mind bmw offers its free scheduled maintenance for four years and for some people knowing that they don’t have to pay anything for four years might make a big difference to them well that six thousand dollars difference regular scheduled maintenance over four years isn’t going to cost six thousand dollars so do the math on that now andrea the one thing about the q5 it is the best-selling uh premium small suv in canada in my opinion is the best all-rounder yes it does everything really well it doesn’t really excel in one area where this excels in handling for sure but i think that they both drive really well i mean they’re both good performance vehicles and they handle well i don’t think that you would be disappointed with either of them
Pricing and Final Thoughts
well while we’re at it we’re talking about pricing why don’t we get into our price pause for this the x3 starts at 52 550. price as tested fifty eight thousand three hundred and forty five dollars while we’re at it let’s do the fuel economy the x3 gets 11 liters per hundred kilometers in the city eight liters on the highway and 9.3 liters combined the towing capacity is up to 4 400 pounds okay andrea final thoughts on the x3 i am so impressed by this x3 for its driving dynamics its precise steering it’s really good it’s a great everyday commuter once again thanks again to portfolio by openroad for lending us this vehicle for the day thank you very much this video is brought to you by carcass canada get the dealer’s cost list of rebates plus discounted interest rates use the promo code motormouth to become an expert member and get extra searches the link is in the description below
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