2020 BMW X3 XDrive 30i

OVERKILL

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Ontario, Canada
This is my loaner while the Jeep is in the shop (don't ask please, it wasn't a collision). I was given the choice between an X1 and X3, so I chose the X3. Would have preferred an X5 or X6, but these are the only two bimmers he had.

I drove it up to the cottage on Friday, then back home last night, so I've got about 300Km of seat time in it, which I thought sufficient for a review.

Like with Audi, BMW's menu system isn't super intuitive; certainly not as simple as UConnect. It's not bad once you have things setup (CarPlay for example) and paired, but getting there seems a bit more complex than it needs to be, with a LOT of menus.

The dash is nice. Cluster very similar to what you'd find in an Audi where it is fully digital. No HUD on this model or perhaps just trim.

The seats are not leather, but were quite comfortable for the two-hour drive and had excellent bolstering.

It's smaller, and lower, than the Jeep, that was noticeable, but not a knock against it, it's just different.

Brakes are decent, definitely not M or Brembo's, but they get the job done.

Handling was surprisingly good for an SUV, I carved through a 60Km/h S-bend at 99Km/h with no issue, it felt just as confident/competent as the SRT and a lot better than the truck. No perceivable body roll (I had it in Sport) and it didn't feel like this was pushing it in any way, not even a little bit.

The little turbo mill is SURPRISING! That's one of the brightest spots of this vehicle. It just spools and goes and it goes far better than you expect it to for having 250HP. It appears to have the same ZF 8HP as the RAM and SRT, so the gearbox being awesome wasn't a surprise.

Gas mileage was also a bit of a shocker, driving it like I did, it took $90 to fill it from empty and I only went through 1/4 of a tank for the entire trip, which means close to 1,000km of range per fill-up with mostly highway driving.

The sound system is decent enough. I noticed that the drivers-side pillar speaker is pulling away a bit from the window trim, but this could have happened under the previous owner and may not be indicative of a QC issue with the vehicle. Otherwise, fit and finish seemed good.

Cabin noise is decent, not Audi quiet, but not intrusive.

The power steering however, needs a calibration or something, maybe an update? When you just had a tiny bit of turn-in/pressure on the wheel, it would "flutter". Changing the drive mode to Comfort significantly improved it and reduced the frequency of occurrence, but you could still get it to do it. Not an issue driving around town or heading down the highway, but when doing back roads at a decent clip, taking a slight curve would induce this.

Some pics:
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When you say that fuel consumption was "shocking", is that a good thing or bad?
Hard to tell from the way you wrote your post
 
When you say that fuel consumption was "shocking", is that a good thing or bad?
Hard to tell from the way you wrote your post
I drive an SRT and a RAM 1500, lol. My Jeep gets between 385-425Km out of a tank, which costs more than $100 to fill. So yeah, putting in $90 of 91 octane and still being at 3/4 of a tank after 300+Km, I was pleasantly surprised.
 
I wonder what it would cost to fill up if it was totally empty! I'm guessing you put around 70 liters back in on the fill. How large is the gas tank? I can't see a massive tank in that SUV. Maybe the fuel gauge is optimistic?
 
I wonder what it would cost to fill up if it was totally empty! I'm guessing you put around 70 liters back in on the fill. How large is the gas tank? I can't see a massive tank in that SUV. Maybe the fuel gauge is optimistic?

It was 65km to empty when I picked it up, so very close to empty.

The exact transaction was:
- $91.78
- 58.5L

The cluster is showing 572km to empty now that we've been driving in town, it was over 600 when I got home.
 
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Is your Jeep dealer also a BMW
dealer? What gives?

Nope! Though his buddy owns the one of the BMW dealerships in the GTA. He can't get stock due to the chip shortage, so he's been buying other vehicles to have stuff on the lot. He picked up this X3 as well as an X1 for some diversity.

Also, I fixed the pillar speaker today, looks like somebody pulled it out and then jammed it back in and failed at doing so properly.
 
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