BMW X3 review

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BMW reaches for mini-iX design appeal and lots of digital interior tech in renewing its best-selling model

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BMW’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 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 a publication still known as Autocar, we appreciate persisting with a moniker the popular lexicon has decided against.

The next-generation iX3 will take on a very different look from the X3, with a new and smaller retro-inspired grille, as seen on the Neue Klasse X concept.
James Attwood
Acting magazine editor

With typically Germanic efficiency of precise seven-year model cycles, the Mk4 X3 has arrived to offer fresh challenges to premium SUV rivals such as the Audi Q5 (which has just entered a new, hybrid-only generation), Porsche Macan et al.

The most significant change for this new X3 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.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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bmw x3 review 2024 13 design

This mid-sized upmarket SUV has become a car quite different than the one it replaces. The Mk3 BMW X3 felt like an expert in middle-market versatility; a car finally comfortable with its place in the showroom, with notes of old-school, ‘90s BMW maturity about its apparent quality and sophistication.

But the Mk4 (G45 for the chassis code fans) X3 has quite apparently had its priorities shifted. It’s a slightly lower, wider and longer car, if only by an inch or so here and there. It has a slightly lighter, stiffer chassis, overhauled axles with a wider rear track and an evidently more sporting dynamic agenda. 

For a while, BMW design tended to be quite fussy, so this cleaner X3 is a nice change
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

A familiar range of engines is offered, the highlights of which being more power for the range-topping six-cylinder M50 petrol and more electric-only range for the fleet-targeted 30e plug-in hybrid.

Both petrol and diesel four-cylinder mild-hybrid engines are offered besides (with 20 badging). Every model has four-wheel drive so carries BMW’s xDrive branding.

M Sport models (still by far BMW’s biggest-selling) tend to come with lowered M Sport suspension, 19in wheels and pacier ‘variable sport’ steering as standard, with adaptive damping an option.

It all makes for quite a familiar-feeling picture technically - if not in other ways.

The M50 will remain the range-topper until the full-fat X3 M arrives. With 393bhp and 428lb ft of torque, it features what BMW proudly trumpets as the most powerful straight-six petrol engine yet in an M Performance model, which sounds impressive if you don’t pause too long to ponder all those caveats.

You probably will notice the difference from the old model in terms of design. While the Neue Klasse models will usher in a fresh era of BMW design, this X3 seems to bridge the generations. So it gets a large, upright kidney grille in keeping with those features on the firm’s other recent models but also showcases BMW’s sustainability-driven ‘reductive’ pledge to cut back on design frippery.

There’s no chrome grille surround, for example: on M50 models (and optional on others), the kidneys are framed by a fancy LED light wrap called the BMW Iconic Glow. The bodywork also has fewer lines, although big wheel arches and a flat rear window play to SUV styling traits. The rear roof lip features a spoiler and there are side air deflectors, while you will notice new light designs at both ends too.

At the back, the exhaust pipes are hidden on all models bar the M50, which features four prominent ones, playing up its M-ness. There's a choice of nine standard paint colours and wheel sizes range from 18in to 21in.

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INTERIOR

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BMW X320 2024 Review dash 6988

The X3’s driving environment looks and feels quite different than it used to. You sit only medium-high, in a comfortable and widely adjustable seat, but in front of one of BMW’s latest-generation 'Curved Display' instrumentation and multimedia consoles, which brings a big extra hit of widescreen digital tech appeal.

Aside from the tech-forward style, there's quite a lot about this interior that wants your attention. The car’s multimedia system is flanked by BMW’s 'Interaction Bar’ multi-coloured, semi-translucent ambient lighting strips, which extend to wrap around bolder, feature-style interior door handles and air vents. The textured dashboard upholstery invites your gaze and your touch. Even the storage cubby at the base of the centre stack, with its integrated wireless device charging drawer, is patterned and framed with ambient lighting decoration. 

The coarse-knitted fabric on the dash and doors is great in a £30,000 Mini but less so in a BMW that costs more than twice that.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

When you look elsewhere, however, at places and materials to which BMW isn’t directing your attention quite so hard, you will find a few plainer-looking and feeling mouldings and less tactile heft and solidity than the old X3 offered. Your view on this is likely to depend on how much you like all that the X3 has gained, of course, and there’s plenty. But to us, BMW seems to have lavished that little bit too much time, money and attention on the car’s digital and material razzle-dazzle and not enough on the ergonomics and the markedly cheaper-feeling bread-and-butter content.

The multimedia system uses BMW’s Operating System 9.0 software and retains an iDrive-style rotary cursor controller with a selection of shortcut buttons around it. While we would normally welcome some physical buttons, in this case they are all on a single haptic panel, which renders them worse than a touchscreen. It’s hard to find the right place to press without looking, even with a few tiny ridges to aid your fingers, and the text is quite small to read at a quick glance.

The main screen interface is also optimised for touch input rather than the rotary controller, which would be less of an issue if the screen wasn't such a stretch away. It also has too many complicated menu structures, and while it's possible to configure some shortcuts, these are quite hard to access.

In terms of cabin size, the interior is on a par with the previous X3's and feels comfortable and spacious. There are a variety of useful cubbies, although the glovebox is on the small side. There’s a plentiful 570 litres of space in the boot too, so it ticks all of the boxes you would want for a premium SUV.

The M50 has various bits of M Sport-honed styling elements, such as part-Alcantara upholstery, while the entry-level 20 xDrive model features a dash covered in a material made from recycled polyester, which arguably makes the cabin feel lighter and more spacious.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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bmw x3 m50 2025 Review front corner 33

Four powertrains will be offered in the UK. The 20 uses a 2.0-litre mild-hybrid four-cylinder petrol unit tuned for 205bhp, while the 20d features a 2.0-litre diesel four, which also gets a mild-hybrid system and puts out 197bhp. The diesel returns an official claimed 43.5-48.7mpg, depending on spec.

The plug-in hybrid 30e is new, using the 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol unit and an electric motor that’s integrated into the eight-speed automatic gearbox. The combined system output is 295bhp and, depending on spec, it offers an official electric-only range of 50-56 miles, which is a step up on the previous X3. Its battery can be charged at 11kW and it offers favourable official CO2 emissions of 21-26g/km.

You only get a tacho if you select Sport mode, which is especially annoying in an M-badged BMW. Thankfully, Sport doubles as the configurable mode, so I selected it then set all the individual parameters to Comfort.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

So far, we’ve driven the petrol 20 and the more potent M50, which currently sits atop the range, with its output of 393bhp.

The 'B58' straight six in the M50 is arguably one of the best engines on sale today. It's found in everything from the plug-in hybrid X5 xDrive50e to esoterica like the Morgan Plus Six and Ineos Grenadier, and it’s just as adept in the big SUV as it is in the retro sports car. In the off-roader, maybe not so much.

In the X3, it gives ferocious performance in a straight line, feeling every bit as quick as its official 0-62mph time of 4.6sec would suggest. It’s not electric SUV fast, but then an EV doesn’t offer the distinctive and pleasing soundtrack and character of a straight six.

This is a responsive unit that syncs well with the eight-speed automatic gearbox and shifts the X3’s weight with ease. But it’s also smooth and quiet at a more relaxed pace, adding to the premium feel in more urban driving. It's also surprisingly economical, being capable of 38mpg at a motorway cruise. With some more spirited driving in the mix, we averaged 33mpg over the course of a week.

We did note a hesitance in shifting between drive and reverse that didn't use to be present on automatic BMWs.

The 20's engine obviously can’t match the M50's for power or theatre, but it’s also a pleasingly smooth offering that's responsive throughout the power range. The petrol unit is well-mannered even when working quite hard - and, thanks to the powerful electrification, it doesn’t struggle for accessible torque in the way you might expect. 

As entry-level engines go, it’s amply powerful and surprisingly well-suited (although, returning only about 35mpg on our test route, it’s not especially economical).

Sticking to an overhauled and improved model platform and engine range certainly seems to have allowed BMW to enhance the X3’s refinement levels. Both the M50 and the 20 M Sport that we test drove really impressed with their mechanical isolation, all-round smoothness and fine drivability.

The mild-hybrid system in both does allow the engine to shut down and restart a fair bit at town speeds, but it happens very smoothly and quietly indeed.

RIDE & HANDLING

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BMW X320 2024 Review pan 6975

While the X3 retains the same CLAR platform as the previous model, BMW’s engineers have been busy tinkering. As well as reducing the car's weight (although it still tips the scales at two tonnes) and increasing its body rigidity, they have worked on the strut front axle and the five-link rear in a bid to improve cornering. The M50 features sport suspension and steering, along with upgraded brakes and an electronic rear differential.

With the four exhaust pipes and copious M branding, you might think that BMW is laying the M-dressing a bit too thick for what's only an M-lite model, but on the road, the M50 feels surprisingly 'proper'. Point it at a corner and you will find the steering is very accurate, well-weighted and even communicative. It grips very strongly on its Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres, and yet there’s an obvious rear bias to the four-wheel drive system. If you relax the stability control with the excellent halfway-house DSC Sport Plus mode, it will happily wag its tail on the exits of corners. 

It’s really good fun to drive, this X3 M50, but with that comes quite a challenging ride. Even in Comfort mode on the optional adaptive suspension (£625), it rides very firmly. It’s quite well damped and not harsh, but it never really settles down, even on the motorway. You wonder why there’s both a Comfort and a Sport mode when the former is already too firm for the road.

The X3 20 M Sport gave us a similar impression but with less of the M50's sports SUV verve. It surprised our testers by how much firmer-riding it felt than its forebear. Our route admittedly included plenty of fairly uneven surfaces, but our test car (on optional 20in wheels and adaptive dampers) had a busy, restless and quite irksome ride on any surface, even with its suspension set to Comfort mode.

It certainly has outright grip, body control and handling precision beyond what the average family SUV buyer would expect; but on a car this size and type, you wonder how much all of that would really add to the car's ownership appeal, even for a brand like BMW.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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bmw x3 m50 2025 jh 41

The petrol 20 starts at £48,375 in base xLine trim, rising to £50,175 if you opt for M Sport.

The diesel 20d is offered with those two trim levels, priced at £49,785 and £51,585 respectively.

When it arrives, the plug-in hybrid 30e starts at £57,245 in xLine trim and £59,045 in M Sport trim. It's likely to be the one that company car buyers will gravitate to, given its lower official CO2 emissions of 21-26g/km (compared with up to 189g/km for the M50) and electric-only range of 50-56 miles. We will have to wait until we drive it to determine how achievable those figures are in the real world, though.

Even the xLine package is well equipped, offering 18in wheels (19s on the 30e PHEV), an electric tailgate, tri-zone air conditioning, LED headlights, parking assistance and a raft of connected and online services.

M Sport adds 19in wheels for the 20 and 20d, along with high-gloss trim elements on the exterior, sport seats and Alcantara/Veganza combination upholstery. The upgraded M Sport suspension is also included.

The M50 is priced from £66,980 and comes in a single trim level that's based on M Sport. As well as the upgraded suspension and brakes, on the outside it gains 20in wheels, a quad exhaust and the illuminated grille surround. Inside, there are extra aluminium flashes on the interior trim, M Sport seatbelts and other elements.

Four option packs will be offered, including two Comfort Packs that include a Harman Kardon audio system and a Technology Pack (£2275 for the M50) that adds a head-up display and Driving Assistant Plus.

VERDICT

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bmw x3 m50 2025 Review static 28

It may not be a technically radical departure, but the X3 has certainly taken some bold strides for its fourth generation. But, like its new interior tech and exterior styling, its ride and handling seem to be working hard to carve out an even clearer selling point for a car whose proven popularity didn’t really need fixing. The sales figures may well prove us wrong, of course, but we're not convinced that this was quite the right direction to go.

Both the exterior and interior makeover give the X3 a fresh new look and some extra character. As ever BMW's recent design work has the ability to be divisive, although to our eyes the X3 avoids the worst of the kidney grille excess. The interior has the sort of usable space you would expect and looks quite fresh, but regresses significantly from the previous generation for build quality and user-friendliness.

To drive, the 20 M Sport struggles for ride comfort on more challenging UK country roads, pitching and fussing busily in a way that some SUV buyers won't expect of a functionality-first family car. The performance oriented M50 suffers from the same, but does add a a clear sense of dynamic edge.

Having been a more versatile, moderate, rounded and self-assured kind of SUV, the X3 has morphed into something bolder and more youthful, energetic and thrusting. It still has plenty of premium-brand refinements, of course. But our concern would be that the idea of living with such a car might be more appealing than the reality.

Illya Verpraet

Illya Verpraet Road Tester Autocar
Title: Road Tester

As a road tester, Illya drives everything from superminis to supercars, and writes reviews and comparison tests, while also managing the magazine’s Drives section. Much of his time is spent wrangling the data logger and wielding the tape measure to gather the data for Autocar’s in-depth instrumented road tests.

He loves cars that are fun and usable on the road – whether piston-powered or electric – or just cars that are very fit for purpose. When not in test cars, he drives an R53-generation Mini Cooper S.

James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar’s associate editor, and has more than 20 years of experience of working in automotive and motorsport journalism. He has been in his current role since September 2024, and helps lead Autocar's features and new sections, while regularly interviewing some of the biggest names in the industry. Oh, and he once helped make Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.

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