2024 BMW X3 Review: Focus Shifts To Tech

Hard to believe the BMW X3 is already in its 4th generation! The new model drives in with just ICE options for now. There are many, as you can see – though India won’t get all. Especially that plug-in hybrid which would be nice to get. All variants come with xDrive or all-wheel drive as standard.

BMW X3 Review: Design

They call the new colour Tanzanite blue. It looks smashing in bright sunshine. You pick up this nice blue metallic little shimmer from it, but otherwise, if you don't get bright light, it looks almost black. Now, it's a brand-new generation, so there's always going to be new stuff to talk about. But, new design language, we're seeing it across BMW cars, and so, why not on the X3? You do see some of the little hints and elements you saw on the Neue Klasse. That was a concept, but like I said, the design details from there have travelled on to this car, and of course, on some of the other newer cars, like the new 1 Series as well. The huge grille, your attention goes straight to it, not a surprise. The fact that it is big shouldn't be a surprise to you anymore as well but look at the grille. The vertical elements that you're used to from BMW, now are complemented by the diagonal ones, so you get two separate looks. Slats, let's call them. And why that's significant is because they're not really slats at all. It's just a design detail, more like what you're seeing on the electric side of things, and so that's interesting. The same incongruent lines, which sort of clash with each other. You also pick them up inside the headlamp cluster along the side. It's a very small detail, but it's a nice one because you also have it inside the car. And like we saw on the 7 series; this huge grill has a little outline done in LED lighting. It lights up, you can't really see it in the bright sunshine, but at night, it looks pretty striking. Now, don't forget the new DRLs. Here's where things get a little bit crazy for me because BMWs always had twin rings.

Now, the designers are just pretending like the element was just a twin element and twin lights, not twin rings. So, you're seeing the rings have been unravelled across all model lines. On the X3, though, you get a very distinct L-shaped, double L, if you want to call it, DRL. So, LED lights, lots of little options there. You do get the matrix LEDs as well. Wheels up to 21 inches, that’s the size you can go for. Of course, in India I'm expecting 19-inch probably will be the standard size and then you could opt for 20. These are, of course, 20 inches as well. Now the last thing I want to quickly mention about the design. It's very simple and it's very very almost sort of block-like. That's intentional, says the design team. They're calling it a monolithic design. So as the word suggests, you see a lot of straight surfaces and not too much contouring in the metal except in the centre just to emphasise the BMW logo. So, it certainly isn’t going to make anyone weak in the knees but looks well-built and robust. 

BMW X3 Review: Platform

It's nice to see BMW still doing a whole range of different engines on the ICE side, but I can tell you that there is, of course, an iX3 that's already under development, and the only thing is that it won't share – a platform with this car. It's likely to be based on the Neue Klasse platform. And so, obviously the dynamics would be quite different on that car, though the shape, size and looks might be similar. When it comes to dynamics, I wasn't really expecting this fourth generation to be wildly different from the previous car, primarily because it's a derivative of the same platform as that third generation. The CLAR architecture, that's what this car is also based on, it's a derivative and an improvement. So, the idea is to make it sharper, it's to sort of modify it and try and hone it down a little bit. And I can tell you that has been done and it is pretty obvious.

The X3 20 has decent figures. Remember the 48 v mild hybrid system boosts performance and so you get about 18 bhp more. The torque band is wide from 1500-4000 rpm. And that makes quick response pretty satisfying. 

BMW X3 Review: Ride & Handling

Where the X3 always scored was on its handling. This is a car that you could put into sharp corners, this is a car that wouldn't have body roll despite its bulk and its size. And I have to tell you that it does live up to that again because the specific focus of the work done on the car has been more in the space of trying to make the handling a little bit sharper. So, the suspension setup has been worked on and the most important takeaway for me is the new steering. There is a lot of work that's gone into that and again, it's something that you pick up on straight away, just minutes into driving.

The car maintains its composure even at high speeds, you really feel a lot of surety in driving it. It also goes where you want it to and so it's very comfortable and reassuring. The only thing I will say is that at slightly higher speeds, if you go onto an uneven or a bumpy road surface, it does tend to feel a little bit floaty, but no body roll. It really maintains that nice sort of tightness throughout, despite the conditions. Even the shape of the steering is new, and honestly, it looked like it was gimmicky right from the first time BMW started doing these not-round steering wheels. It is comfortable, it's also thick and it's got this real sort of sense of control on it. I like it. Works well. Looks great too.

Getting to drive the new X3 across highways, country lanes, and in city traffic was good. That’s thanks to its suspension. It has a five-link axle setup in the rear and a double-joint spring strut axle in front, made of aluminium. 

Now as if the work on the steering wasn't impressive enough, just the level of refinement you get from this engine is staggering. It's really smooth in every sense of the word. And the other thing is that the 8-speed gearbox just continues to deliver. Man, it's so precise and it really gives you incredibly quick downshifts. So much so that when you slam the gas, the car responds instantly. And even though this isn't a big engine and you're not going to get electric or well, that's the wrong word now, isn't it? Electrifying performance or exhilarating performance as compared to say a 3-litre and there is that version of course with the larger inline-6 engine. It's still great.

And you know what? It also sounds good. The paddle shift also works quite well. It's all very effective, but really you're not always compelled to use it even when you're in comfort as I said the gearbox will respond pretty instantly depending on what you're doing the inputs. You're giving the car, makes it fun to drive.

So yay, it drives like a BMW – but yeah a little more power would have been nice – and so I am keen to drive the more powerful variants. But today I wanted to focus on this variant as India will definitely get it. 

BMW X3 Review: Tech & Interior

New design for the cabin. Again, it's really minimalist because that monolithic thing, well, it travels inside the cabin too. So, you see a lot of plain surfaces. I have to question that because it looks very plasticky and bare. Now, that's intentional, it's going to have people who are going to love it or not. All the functionality goes into the screen now and so, you know, while that may be a good thing for some people, it also leaves these kinds of bare elements which are again very plasticky. You could have had maybe some shortcut buttons here or a touch panel. Below that you do have what BMW now calls its interactive light bar. So, lots of different ambient lighting elements including things like emergency braking or even blind spot, etc. We've showed you that on the 5 Series, it all starts to show up here. It's also dynamic in terms of sort of mimicking or mirroring the drive modes or the personal modes that you're in. The big screens, the curved display, we've seen that again on lots of BMWs, so I don't need to get into it. It works really well, it does have a lot of functionality but again, that whole incongruous line thing, well you see it up here in the vents, you see it showing up in little bits and pieces in different areas including here inside the wireless charger. It's a really big bin of sorts here with two USB-C points. And also, two cup holders, it's again surrounded by an inlit element, so this whole focus on lighting seems to be a very big deal on this car. And again, the designers say that is intentional. There is the big focus when it comes to the cabin on being simple with clean surfaces, No buttons and lots of lighting elements. You also see it surrounding what's being called this new control panel. That's up here. It's a little gimmicky because you can control the vents using that touch sort of panel. It's also a little distracting to be honest, but the lock/unlock and you know, even the door open handle is integrated into this triangular shape. It's different. I can't say I love it. But yes, the lighting detail again is a nice one. And you know, finally, I have to say that the car is very contemporary. But the thing that really grabs me is how spacious it feels.

The dimensions haven't really changed from the last generation too much. It's just marginally bigger, but you get a sense of space in here. Which is definitely a lot more and that's something buyers are going to love. There is going to be a long wheelbase. In fact, there is one already for China, but that's left-hand drive. Will we get a right-hand drive long wheelbase? I don't think that's going to happen in a hurry, but it might happen with the facelift a few years down the line.

Well, we’ll see if we even need it. I am also interested in knowing if India will get the Econeer trim which has recycled PET seat upholstery as standard. 

All of the tech here is driver oriented, sort of like a cockpit feel. So, you've got the head-up display, you've got the two screens of course that I talked about and let me tell you that it all runs on BMW's latest OS, that's OS 9 coupled with a really familiar iDrive system. It's familiar alright but still a lot of this is all new.

The new trend of AR or augmented reality enhancing the car’s navigation. BMW is also adding more country-specific and third party apps to the iDrive interface. And luckily iDrive still has the rotary controller in the central console. 

The rear seat is comfy and roomy, but it would be nice if the India spec gets some tech back here too. The car comes fully loaded on safety. This means up to 9 airbags, a full-on level 2 ADAS suite, crash capability, disc brakes and more as standard. 

BMW X3 Review: Design Details

Of course what I am not doing today is any rough or off-road driving. New style of badging from BMW it says X320 if you remember earlier It was just the model name and then the variant would be along the side near the fender or near the door low down It would say 20d or whatever Xdrive. Xdrive badging isn't up here and like I said now you see the little designation right next to the model name. This tells you that it's the 2-litre petrol engine the D would of course be there if it was the diesel. Monolithic design we're talking about it earlier the windscreen sort of blends into the metal and again It's really simple very straight, the boot, the door travels all the way down till here. And so this is how you open it from down here, which means not the logo not up here and even the licence plate moves down to make it look sort of simplistic and bring all your attention to the taillight which is brand new design again. It's almost tri-arrow-like, like what Tata does But, inside, you again pick up that little detail of those lines going against each other. Nicely done.

BMW X3 Review: India Launch

The X3 will get to us in the first quarter of 2025. But you can expect an India debut at the Auto Expo’s new avatar – Bharat Mobility Show, in January.