Engineering Ex3llence
Big enough to cope, small enough to park. Matthew Parkinson plays Goldilocks to find out if Bowker BMW’s new X3 is ‘just right’. Photography: Paul Currie
The clocks have gone back an hour, the temperature has dropped like a stone, and as I write, my sinuses are conspiring to cut off my airways and finish me off once and for all. Winter has arrived, and like many of you reading this, I’ve been struck down with a vicious bout of what those in the know call ‘man-flu’.
I knew as well as any of my fellow sufferers that the only place I was going to find sympathy today was somewhere in the dictionary between silt and synonym, so when Bowker BMW offered up the chance to test-drive its brand spanking new X3, it was time to stop moping and get on with the job at hand.
Sitting between the X1 and X5, the X3 is BMW’s latest iteration of its popular mid-sized SUV. With a fresh face and fully loaded with the latest technology plucked from the BMW range, the X3 remains a car that’s big enough to be practical, without being ungainly or intimidating behind the wheel. It also has heated seats, and today that’d be enough of a deal breaker for me to layer up, scoff as many cough-drops as my mouth could hold, and venture outside.
With my eyes streaming and my throat like sandpaper, I hardly felt the part when I arrived at Bowker’s immaculate Preston dealership. There, I was met with a warm welcome, coffee, and an equally exquisite car.
BMW has sold around 1.5 million X3s since it launched the car back in 2003, so instead of reinventing the wheel, each new generation has been a carefully crafted evolution of its predecessor. Following this trend, the new X3’s lines have been sharpened up, the sides tapered to produce a more curvaceous rear, and the interior tweaked to envelope the occupants in a mixture of high-quality materials. With its 40:20:40 split-folding rear seats, infinite storage possibilities and standard specification that includes LED headlights and park assist with rearview camera, this latest model enables you to pursue your passion, whatever it may be.
All this began to sink in as I climbed inside and noticed the distance the car had covered: three miles. “That’ll be from the factory,” I was informed, before learning that this very car was being used for the magazine photos before becoming a display vehicle in Bowker’s dealership.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I slotted myself behind the wheel. Keyless entry meant just having the keys somewhere inside the car would let me start the engine, before moving the car’s eight speed automatic gearbox into ‘drive’ and quietly slinking out of the dealership.
Like other BMWs I’ve driven, the wealth of technology on offer doesn’t overwhelm or intimidate, and there’s usually more than one way to use it. Take changing gears as an example. You can let the car slip effortlessly between each of the eight gears, move the gear selector into manual mode and change sequentially, or you can use the paddles mounted on the steering wheel. Want to reprogramme your route? You can use BMW’s familiar and intuitive iDrive system, or (new for this generation of X3) you can use the touchscreen display to input your destination.
My car for the day, fitted with BMW’s exceptionally quiet two litre diesel engine, put me in mind of the 5 Series I drove earlier this year, so I was keen to know how it compared when the roads got a little twistier. I wasn’t expecting much, having driven other SUVs and found that the higher ground-clearance means that they often pitch and roll around corners like ships in a storm, but the X3 was a surprisingly sure-footed when I needed it to be, despite being remarkably smooth and comfortable when cruising.
In the all new BMW X3, honed driving dynamics and BMW xDrive all-wheel-drive provide the perfect balance of on and off-road practicality. Here in the UK, you might never need the clever off-road technology and stability control, but when you’re next greeted by a frosty morning, you’ll have one hell of a safety net.
Even if temperatures never drop as far as expected, you’ll be glad for enough space for a family of six-footers, frugal fuel consumption, and enough go-anywhere grunt to take you wherever you want to be. BMW’s one-size-fits-all SUV is a lifestyle vehicle that doesn’t bully its buyers into a lifestyle they couldn’t care less about, instead it offers up options so you can mould it around your lifestyle, come winter, spring, summer, or autumn.
The all new BMW X3 is ready for more. Are you?
Bowker Preston BMW
Channel Way
Preston PR2 2YA
01772 766070
www.bowkerprestonbmw.co.uk
