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Most cars see their sales tapering off when it's time for a generational overhaul, but the story of BMW's indefatigable X3 is a curious one: The model was the brand's bestseller overall for 2023. To the tune of 350,000 units in fact.
Admittedly, with one facelift in the bag - and crucially, the all-electric iX3 joining the fray midway - it's hard to remember that the third-generation X3 has already been around for seven years thus far. People clearly still seem to love the car, though, and for the modern-minded driver, it's not hard to see why. SUVs are already not a tough sell, but infuse them with the right amount of luxury and a surprising balanced drive, and they become even harder to deny.
As the automotive world shifts into a new era of electrification and sustainability, however, BMW thinks the time is finally nigh: To pull the covers off the fourth-generation BMW X3.
A quick primer before you continue: The X3, like the all-new 1 Series, is one of the first models from BMW to follow a new naming convention. In BMW-speak, 'i' should only refer to electric cars moving forward - and no longer 'petrol injection - so what you're looking at in these pictures is now known as the X3 20 xDrive. (Previously, you would have called it the X3 xDrive20i.)
And quite the sight to behold it is.
Kudos to its boxy silhouette and tall, upright nose, the car retains the same muscular aesthetic as before, but does so with a fair bit more visual bulk and visual bling.
There are unsurprising growth spurts - the new X3 is now 34mm longer, and 29mm wider overall - but the car, interestingly, has also had its height reduced by 25mm.
In person, these are virtually invisible numbers, so what will strike one more about the new X3 is its flashier outlook.
With circles no longer appearing to be part of BMW’s 'quad-headlight' aesthetic, the car gets twin intriguing-looking streaks that connect towards the kidney grilles instead. Speaking of which, the grilles now also get a new pattern as standard that fuses both vertical and diagonal lines, and - of course - can be optioned with the firm's Iconic Glow LED outlines. At the rear, horizontally mirrored L-shape light clusters and a readjustment of the license plate placement also give the car a bit more visual heft.
It's no secret that a large proportion of BMW's latest designs have polarised opinions, but the X3, even with its extra fanciness this rodeo, skews more towards familiar than flashy.
All that extra bling on the exterior only serves as a taster for what greets you when you step in.
There are the signature features that the BMW has grown to adopt as its brand hallmarks, especially for its larger cars. For starters, a gorgeous Curved Display housing two very high-definition screens, running BMW OS 9, takes centrestage. Lower down lies a flat centre console with an expensive-feeling glass rotary knob - whose fastidiously clean design is pleasing on the eyes and oozes quality, but inevitably sacrifices some intuitiveness of operation when you're on the move.
But here's where things really switch up.
Lighting has become more of a cornerstone to the BMW design philosophy than it's ever been, and while past mid- to full-sized models have already teased it, the X3 dials things up a notch still.
Its Interaction Bar is less an actual bar than an array of zones - not just cutting a path across the dashboard (a la the 5 Series and 7 Series), but also encircling the front storage tray… as well as functions on the two front doors. (Driving through a tunnel puts all this on exceptionally flashy show.)
The latter are particularly intriguing to take in for a first-timer. For the driver, the light bar wraps around a slider that manually controls the strength of his/her air-conditioning vents, as well as the the door lock/unlock buttons and memory seat functions. One of its most entertaining qualities is an optical illusion that makes the vents look like they're integrated into the door - when they're actually flushed all the way out towards the ends of the dashboard.
On the note of the dashboard, the X3 now comes with a leather-free interior as standard as well, with an optional recycled polyester trim even being offered to customers who want to extra-explicitly flaunt the eco-credentials of their car. To be clear, the material leaves one in no doubt about its robustness - but one imagines that buyers locked into more traditional conceptions of luxury will take better to the leather-mimicking Veganza instead.
When it comes to more objective strengths, however, the X3 continues to excel as mid-sized SUV.
While its wheelbase remains unchanged, the second row is still commodious enough for three adults (the central transmission tunnel has useful 'cut-outs' on either side for the middle passenger's feet), and tri-zone air-conditioning is now standard.
The car's 570-litre boot is also generous (a 10-litre increase over the previous car, which already offered class-leading space), and with the second row of seats folded down, the space expands to 1,700-litres - a good 100-litre jump from before. However one takes to the X3's fresh prioritisation of tech and sustainability, they'd be hard-pressed to complain about the stellar practicality it still offers.
But still finding perfectly balanced footing
And above all, it's hard to complain about the experience that the X3 offers from behind the wheel - which is where the car feels the most familiar.
By default, ride quality is excellent; it's cushy enough to make the drive from Garching to Maisach feel much shorter than its actual two hours, yet balances things out with just the right dose of firmness to retain the sporty edge expected from the nameplate. (Just don't put the suspension into 'Sport' if you opt for the M Sport package; handling doesn’t improve notably even with the ride getting more jittery.)
A notable upgrade that BMW has made this time is to widen the car's track widths - by up to 16mm on the front and up to 34mm at the rear.
For such a tall and raised vehicle (even with its newly-lowered height), the X3 holds itself with surprising grace around bends. Its already natural-feeling steering weights up nicely as you nudge the accelerator further inwards; the car following the line with remarkable sharpness where you point it. Equipped with all-wheel drive - that still retains a rear bias - grip levels are fantastic too.
With 48V mild hybridisation continuing to be offered as standard across the lineup, the X3 20 xDrive marks the entry point to the range, with its electric motor and turbocharged 2.0-litre inline-four working together to put out 205bhp and 330Nm of torque. Mated to this powertrain is a snappy eight-speed transmission whose breadth of capabilities is remarkable, too: Snappy and silky by nature, but willing to hang on to the revs in a genuine-feeling manner if you want it to (in Sport).
Though not particularly hair-raising, the setup packs satisfying punch and high levels of refinement in equal measure - to deftly take the strain out of both Autobahn runs and less frenzied ambling through smaller Bavarian towns.
Refining, rather than reinventing the wheel
On the surface, the X3's unabashed embrace of the ostentatiousness that has come to define recent BMWs may paint it as a starkly different car to the one it succeeds.
Peel back the most immediately visible layers, however, and one will find the same core qualities that have made the X3 nameplate so popular. It's still extremely well put together, boasts practicality in spades, and ultimately, is simply lovely to drive for something of its segment.
The passage of time dulls sensations of surprise - but it's worth noting that the leap between the second and third generation cars was actually far more drastic, particularly with the swap into a new platform.
Where no course correction is required - especially for a car that that had already become synonymous with the 'all-rounder' label - refining, rather than reinventing the wheel, is sometimes perhaps the better tack to take, and that is exactly what BMW seems to have done here. That the all-new X3 ultimately feels so much like the car it replaces may sound like a light indictment, but should really be regarded as high praise.
