Munich's decision to follow up the groundbreaking X5 with the smaller BMW X3 was a pivotal moment for a firm then best known for sharp-handling saloons and estates, paving the way for the subsequent huge expansion of its Sports Activity Vehicle – you know, SAV – line-up.
Now, 21 years later, BMW feels defined by such models as much as its saloons: the previous-gen X3 was its best-seller last year, with around 1000 sold each day. Really, the only thing BMW got wrong was the SAV tag it still insists on using, although as someone who writes for The Autocar, I appreciate persisting with a moniker the popular lexicon has decided against.
With typically Teutonic efficiency of precise seven-year model cycles, the fourth-generation X3 has now arrived to offer fresh challenges to premium SUV rivals such as the Audi Q5 (which has just been updated with a new-generation hybrid-only model), Porsche Macan et al. The most significant change for this new generation is what’s missing: an electric version. While the new model retains the same multi-powertrain CLAR platform as its predecessor, the successor to the iX3 will arrive next year as the production version of the Neue Klasse X concept, the first in a line of radically restyled EVs using a bespoke platform.
But that next-gen EV isn’t due until next year, so for now, let’s focus on the X3.
