2012 BMW X3: The American Solution

"... they drive in weather even more fraught than ours in plain old cars."

"... a minivan concept until sport-utilities got popular in the middle of its development cycle so it got dressed up in SUV clothes."

IMO these are the two most important statements here -- a lot of people who drive SUVs are buying them for the imaginary improvement in all-weather traction (it's really your tires and your driving skills that matter) and the perceived image based on the "clothes" they are dressed in.

Certainly each person should buy a vehicle that makes him/her happy, but delusions can easily land you in a snowy ditch, wondering how that happened when you are driving an all-weather SUV with the latest technology bits. At least they'll look good sitting in that ditch.

The right CUV for the right moms.

you almost need a CUV in Los Angeles these days the roads are that bad. This seems like the perfect blend the size,power.

"so far it doesn’t seem like it’ll find the ditch when it snows."

This kind of crap, based on absolutely nothing other than the author's guess, is what makes blog posts like this worse than worthless — they're an active waste of your readers' time.

After sliding off the road and destroying the neighbor's mailbox, I came to the realization that AWD only keeps you going in a straight line on ice or in snow.

Outbacks of my vintage ('05) have a nasty habit of the rear end sliding out. Of course, my stick shift OB has the most rudimentary AWD system that Subau offers. My sister's mid-nineties Legacy wagon did not have this bad behaviour, probably because it had narrower tires and an automatic transmission with a more sopthisticated AWD system.

Car and Driver just spent 4500$ in tire / wheel repairs and replacements on their LT 5-series. Soft wheels + run flats = $$$.

Hit potholes with the X3, please.

From all the northern LT drives of recent Bimmers, it seems the sport pkg is a must avoid option.

Previous X3 and X5 offered manuals, making them more worthy of their badge.

I have an '11 Grand Cherokee with the stock GoodYear tires and it does horrible in the snow, go's sideway's and stopping is a joke. We also have an BMW M3 with Blizzak snow tires and it does unbelievable in the snow and ice to the point I am more comfortable driving it than my Jeep, at least in 1-5 inches, then ground clearance becomes an issue.

I'll second the tires and skills/abilities sentiment - I was thinking the same thing as I read the article. If you're serious about winter driving you wouldn't do so on most factory spec'd tires and you'd get some practice, enough to know AWD is good for starting on ice/snow, but not stopping or cornering (well maybe a little when cornering).

Also, much of the USA has weather comparable to, if not harsher than, Germany's, something the southern CA based IL writers seem to forget regularly.

I can't remember another long term car that has inspired more hateful comments than the new X3. Every time something is posted about it the hate comes out. The post says what a decent vehicle it is and the comments come out to say how horrible it is. Night and day.

Hatorade. Haters going to hate. If you don't like the X3 then don't read the updates. Stick with the Kia Optima or minivans. We have a 2012 X3 35i on order! Keep the blogs coming! I want to make sure it's the right car before we turn in our 2011 535i xdrive!

this is a classic case of h8ers going to hate. Its a BMW and it was loaned to edmunds.

From being around here for years there are tons of cars that edmunds gets for free for these reviews.

IMHO, unless it has an impact on other cars being reviewed I see no problems with it. IE, I'd rather them review a car (any) then not reveiw because it was 'free'.

Seems like there are one or two people who have decided to just post hate comments on every single X3 post. I wouldn't be surprised if its really just one person with multiple accounts. I'm glad to see X3 posts, its on my short-list of cars to buy.

@jaguar36

I think people have a general disdain for these kinds of "reviews" when they read more like a free advertisement for BMWs latest mommy mobile.

"Or the first Mercedes-Benz ML, which was (please don’t tell anyone), a minivan concept until sport-utilities got popular in the middle of its development cycle so it got dressed up in SUV clothes."

That's not just the ML - that's all crossovers. They're all just wagons with a too-high center of gravity or minivans without convenient sliding doors. CUVs are formerly practical vehicles with a significant chunk of goodness removed in order to accommodate the purchaser's insecurities. Nothing more, nothing less.

Well - I am no X3 lover, but I have liked products coming from Munich and have a BMW engineered 2005 Range Rover and a 2011 128i in the garage...

I'll say this - the haters, or whatever you call them are spot on when they say that sliding in the snow is less about 4WD/AWD and more about the tires that your car has on.

Lets say you are braking - as you try to come to stop at an icy intersection. How exactly does 4WD/AWD help you? Not one bit... and if you are going around a corner, a sophisticated AWD system can selectively brake the wheels to keep you going where you intend to, but minus the traction, it is of limited use. Good winter/snow tires will win every single time. OK - the best option is to have AWD + Winter tires, but if I had to choose one, I will choose the better tires with 2WD - i.e. I will spend my $1000 - 1500 on a second set of rubber, than on the AWD option - where it exists (Audi, BMW x drive, Honda... etc.) At the end of the day, AWD is a questionable option, unless you have the right rubber.

And I prefer my 128i here in Chicago, because it has a good winter set on... rather than my Range Rover, which rides on all seasons. Sure, I could go places in my Rover with the right tires... but I am not going to risk it, given my perception of its reliability.

Based on purely the "quiet, nice and yet speedy" comment, it seems the X3 is a wonderful vehicle. I'm not sure I see any X3 "hate" here.

I personally think the "all-weather wagon" designation is simply overly optimistic (for ANY wagon or SUV). Show me any vehicle and I'll show you an idiot that will find that snowy ditch.

An excellent AWD/4WD wagon/van/CUV/SUV with improper tires for winter driving still drives terribly, as jeepsrt mentioned, when compared to a "non-all-weather" car with proper winter tires (and some common sense).

@hackmeopen : "I can't remember another long term car that has inspired more hateful comments than the new X3. "

See Volt, Chevy.

"The right idiot with the wrong tire can get anything stuck."

Or in this case in a ditch.

I am not fond of the X3 or really any of the so called "Performance CUV's" but I will admit that most of these posts seem a bit canned.

Either way I hope that the handful of the above commentors that either planning to get an X3 or have one will spend the money on good snow tires or at least mountain\snowflake AT's before hitting the road.

Such a pointless, bland "blog entry"... Look, I understand that you MUST write something, but at least write something that can be informative/entertaining/amusing, preferably with some concrete data, not just pointless armchair musings which can apply to just about any other vehicle of same class.

@mfennell

I liked reading about the Volt because it was bringing something new to the table in terms of alternative drivetrains, even though I didn't care for the Volt at all.

The thing is, I really love BMWs and enjoy reading about them, but this BMW is just a stupid, over priced, jacked up station wagon.

The only kind of real testing that Edmunds has done on this thing is the RTI ramp test, which showed its true "wagon on blocks" roots by failing laughably bad. I do look forward to further tests however and hopefully they'll venture off-road with it, do some handling tests etc.

AWD does make a big difference for traction on snow/rain (assuming for now you just have 1 set of all weather tires). When we had a lot of snow I was able to get up the hill with AWD while many got stuck with FWD (and RWD is much worse). Not everyone switch to winter tires and is prepared in advance.

Sure braking is not any different and you need to know how to drive under these conditions but overall it's better than FWD on most surfaces.

I'm not so sure Germany on average has worse weather unless you compare it to LA. SUV's don't sell that much in Europe and you wouldn't buy one unless you really need to have it given the very high fuel prices.

Is that the North American solution? Oh great then! Yeah right.

Audi allroad vs X3 vs XV70 comparo NOW! make it happen! take these cars to ALASKA!

@bassrockerx

Throw a Subaru Forester XT in there for good measure while you're at it. Similar performance for about half the price and none of the pretentiousness.

To be fair the top of the line Forester that gets close to the X3 in features is $30K and gets about same EPA mpg. Not saying the X3 price is cheap though but if you add cost of base features in this class then the cost difference becomes lot smaller. And fit and finish is typically still step above.

What really kills this are the pricy additional options. But most of these options you might do without (haven't read which options Edmunds got). Regardless the base price is not that much higher than any of the competitors in this luxury segment.

"Or the first Mercedes-Benz ML, which was (please don’t tell anyone), a minivan concept until sport-utilities got popular in the middle of its development cycle so it got dressed up in SUV clothes."

I'm sorry, but that simply isn't true. The M-Class was never designed to be a minivan, it was initially designed to be a kind of wagon-hybrid that offered the comfort/flexibility of an E-Class wagon along with the all-terrain capabilities of a G-Class. The initial feasibility study for the M-Class occurred in late 1992 when SUVs were just starting to become popular. Mercedes saw a potential market here and the opportunity to retire the G-Class in favor of something much more modern. Hence is why the M-Class was designed from the beginning as a body-on-frame platform (not the unibody that would have been favored for a minivan).

Halfway through the design process modern SUVs boomed and Mercedes did change course, but made the M-Class less rugged, not more. They discovered that the primary complaint with SUVs was that they were unrefined and bad to drive. They saw an opportunity to bring an SUV to market that drove just like a car. As a result, the production M-Class was far more car-like and subdued than the AAV concept that bowed in 1996 (which was closer to the initial idea).

I totally agree that the W163 was absolute crap and the new German crossovers are finally hitting the sweet spot, but it wasn't ever a minivan.

Would be interesting to see a comparison between this X3 and the much cheaper, but wonderful RAV4 V6.

Also, I don't question the LT choice of an X3, it's interesting enough, but isn't this engine going to be replaced in just a few months with the 2.0L turbo?

"since they drive in weather even more fraught than ours in plain old cars"

Who are you speaking for? People from Southern California?

I drive in weather more fraught than Germany and I do it in a plain old car. Believe it or not, while there are a lot of SUVs where I live, there are even more plain old cars.

@miraa - no. The 3.0 turbo will be the upgrade from the 2.0 turbo.

"2012 BMW X3: The American Solution"

Are you kidding me? I didn't think IL was this silly provide "free" publicity for a free. Without even testing the car you're already calling it the American Solution? I guess you're getting "paid" through getting a free car. Very sad.

IL - please stop selling out and pay for every car you test. All of a sudden your reviews will hold more water. Especially when you make decisions based on testing rather than free-bees.

Kevin

"IL - please stop selling out and pay for every car you test. All of a sudden your reviews will hold more water. Especially when you make decisions based on testing rather than free-bees."

I'd rather they NOT do this. The other mags get "free" cars too for their long term tests and it allows these guys to get a lot of cars we wouldn't otherwise read about. This is a free site with a staff of paid journalists, I doubt their budget allows for too many purchases of LT cars like the A8, M3, R8 and other fun reads.

"I drive in weather more fraught than Germany and I do it in a plain old car."

Have you ever been to Germany in the winter? They get snow/ice/sleet/fog and have mountains with treacherous weather too. They survive with RWD cars - the AWD models and SUVs have largely been driven by demand in the U.S. market.

@lucien4

The X3 they have with the inline 6 starts at 42k and only goes up from there. Adding a few options put it well into 50k territory.

A Forester XT fully loaded tops out at about 32k.

"Like the very first BMW X5, which was a spectacular hot rod, but had a passenger cabin smaller than a BMW 5 series wagon and a tendency to find a ditch whenever it snowed."

Hahahaha, find a ditch eh. Is this because Californians can't drive? Put a good set of all season or dedicated snow tires on an X3 or X5 and they are absolute tanks in the snow.