No-nonsense made in SA BMW X3 shows how its done
Wow, it’s so good to get our hands on a proper thoroughbred German SUV after so having so many Chinese choices on test. This entry X3 may still be more expensive than most of those, but it certainly makes you understand why.
This baby petrol also competes our series of tests across the current X3 range. So being, we suspected we may find it the junior petrol rear drive version wanting versus all those hybrid, sportier petrol and turbodiesel all-wheel drives. No such thing. Maybe that was helped by those unrefined and quite crass Indians and Chinamen we’d had since the last X3. But still, the baby impressed.
X3 20 beats all BMW’s claims about it
Powered by BMW’s 2-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol, it’s a couple of kilowatts stronger then the next up the line X3 20d. But ninety Newton-metres down. That peaky petrol character however comes back to benefit it in the end. The data also shows this rear-wheel drive car loses a little traction off the mark but it will ultimately catch the AWD diesel. It’s aided and abetted by BMW’s default 48-volt mild hybrid system in the nose of its default BMW 8-speed automatic transmission.
BMW claims 0-100 km/h in 8.5 seconds. But strap our VBox to it and run it down the Auto Test strip, and as we’ve come to expect from BMW, it’s a second quicker. Same goes for petrol consumption. They promise 6.2 l/100 km, which albeit ten percent off that turbodiesel, still delivered a little better than promised in our relatively country daily cycle.
Smooth and refined, as ever, with an effortless demeanour, while the mild hybrid system seamlessly contributes to all that, the 8-speed auto is as slick as ever and the rest of it is quite sublime in probably the best looking X3 yet. Step aboard to a splendid, minimalist, tech-focused cabin dominated by a single sweeping curved display. Unfortunately that’s where the trouble started.
A complete conundrum of control
Starting this year, Euro and other NCAP safety authorities require all vehicles to have real buttons and knobs for essential functions in order to qualify for a top five-star rating. Even China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will mandate physical buttons from 2027. Yet like many others, BMW seems to have ignored this vital safety requirement and deleted several more crucial physical controls on X3.
At least this ninth generation iDrive still retains its bezel and one or two other trivial buttons. But the need to rely on its 15-inch central touchscreen is not only distracting and frustrating to use while driving, it’s also downright dangerous. It is illegal to operate a mobile phone when driving. Yet your mobile is far less complicated to operate than the overwhelming menus in that BMW screen. And you are compelled to use the screen to operate this car? Why do these dots not join in our minds?
It’s totally counter-intuitive. Demanding you look away from the road ahead to concentrate on tapping deep into cyberspace. To perform even the most basic adjustments that previously used a single button. Which you always knew where it was, and how to use it. In fact, you will quicker draw cash from an ATM than stumble through multiple digital layers and windows in this daft BMW system. Or its impossible to figure Interaction Bar. Why?
Otherwise is X3 20 great to drive
Climate control is also entirely via the touchscreen. Never mind how often it accidentally activates another function you least wanted it to. Or getting back from that mistake. Just in case all of that isn’t enough, they also removed a pile of multi-functions from the steering wheel. Don’t get us going on voice control. Most people don’t want to talk to their cars. Makes us look mad. Grandma used to warn about talking to yourself. If you do talk to it, it chances are it won’t understand your Saffer accent. And just in case, the CarPlay pairing was also tricky. Go figure.
Point is, BMW is not alone in this senseless, buttonless distraction. So let’s just hope NCAP and the rest have the balls to finally stamp this knobless nonsense out for once and for all. It’s a great pity. Because the X3 is otherwise a wonderful car to drive and be in. From the cool vegan leather and recycled polyester fabrics to improved rear legroom and the big enough 570 litre boot. Internal combustion, too. But that buttonless nonsense drops it into a gutter it shares with knobless Chinese cars that are even more difficult to live with.
Getting back to the rest of the BMW X3 20, there’s still more than enough positive to help you forget, and hopefully learn how to operate it as those Bavarian geeks intend you to. In fact this base model does just about anything its bigger, more expensive siblings do, just as well. The junior X3 certainly has very clear senior BMW aspirations! – Michele Lupini
Images & testing: Giordano Lupini
ROAD TESTED: BMW X3 20
Engine: 148 kW 310 Nm 2-litre turbo petrol I4
Drive: 8 speed automatic RWD
TESTED:
0-60 km/h: 3.26 sec
0-100 km/h: 7.60 sec
0-120 km/h: 10.36 sec
0-160 km/h: 18.46 sec
400m: 15.3 sec @146 km/h
80-120 km/h: 5.21 sec
120-160 km/h: 8.09 sec
CLAIMED:
VMax: 218 km/h
Fuel: 7.5 l/100 km
CO2: 171 g/km
Range: 865 km
Warranty/Service: 2y unl./5 y 100K km
LIST PRICE: R1.07M
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