BMW X3 – Observations From the Driver’s Seat

With automotive technology as good as it is these days, you stereotype a car at your peril.  Truth is, I’d always thought of the X3 as a ‘girl’s car,’ bolstered by the fact that my wife loved the look of the one the neighbor owns.  She kept bugging me to get one as a test car so she could drive it, and when I finally did, the results were both predictable and unexpected.

The predictable part is that my wife loved it just as much as she thought she would.  Loved the elegant looks, the size (not too big, not too small), the elegance of the light, airy, interior, the useful functionality of the backup camera with those little curving lines that help you not scrape the tires on the curb when parallel parking.

The unexpected part was that I really liked it more than I thought I would.  With the “Mario Andretti button” (BMW Driving Dynamics System) set to ‘comfort,’ the ride is pool-table smooth, the steering light and precise, the acceleration perfectly suited to puttering around town on errands.  With the button set to ‘Sport,’ the X3 becomes a much more snarly sort of vehicle, the ride stiffer, the cornering capabilities enhanced, the engine more ‘peaky’ and eager to rev.  It felt like driving a sports sedan that just happened to have a really big trunk.  And I loved the feel of the panoramic glass sunroof that makes it feel like a convertible without the wind.

The X3 is a world-class multi-purpose vehicle that’s equally adept at pleasing the Mrs… and the lead-footed kid-in-grown-up-clothing that she’s married to.

Summary

The BMW X3 is a world-class multi-purpose vehicle with both style and utility.  Depending on what you need, it can be a people-hauler with room for five and all their gear, a fuel-sipping, smooth-riding commuter vehicle, or a high-performance sports sedan that just happens to have a really big trunk.

Visit the Braman BMW Jupiter website for more information on the BMW X3, and all other BMW models available.