BMW X3 Forum
BMW X3 Forum
Welcome to the ultimate BMW X3 community.
BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      01-18-2021, 10:42 PM   #1
spuntyb
Brigadier General
spuntyb's Avatar
United_States
4052
Rep
4,976
Posts

Drives: 2019 F90 Competition
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: USA

iTrader: (0)

I drove a buddy's tuned X3MC a couple times last year, but just around the neighborhood, nothing crazy. Didn't really get to open her up.

Finally had time to do a proper test drive in one today, and liked it a lot more than I had planned.

I'm looking for something to replace my F80, and it's come down to the F90, F97, or Macan Turbo.

I've been following this forum quite a bit over the last year or two, and have seen a number of folks who have come from the F80, but thought I would share some quick thoughts for anyone trying to make a similar decision.

—Good—
It's a fucking *hoot* to drive. Does it inspire the same confidence as my F80? No, and it never will. It's an SUV. But it's a blast, and the AWD system and rear diff do excellent work. I got that low-RPM lag in my friend's, but not in the one I drove today. Weird, but I'm not complaining.

Great seating position and visibility. Is that terribly important? No, but I'm a dad, so you'll get dad impressions here.

Road/wind noise wasn't nearly as bad as I had assumed it would be. It's quieter than my F80, but in a good way.

Good front seats.

Excellent tech. Great improvement over the F8x generation. Can't get into it all here, but was easy to use, and intuitive.

The reclining rear seats were a surprise. Angled as upright as they will go yields that much more boot space. A lot? No, but it could help make the difference in getting everything in there on your next Home Depot run without having to put the seats down (and take out 2 car seats, make the kids ride on the roof, etc. ). Very cool.

Value. Nobody in this segment can touch this motor or drivetrain, full stop. The lease rates for this car are very reasonable imho, and represent a bit of a bargain, particularly for what I'm comparing it to. A bit of utility, and a not-terrible cabin to boot make it a very good car to lease. I wouldn't buy one if you paid me in gold bullion, but that's a whole other discussion.

—Bad—
Sound. This thing needs an aftermarket exhaust. So did the F80 though...

Interior is a bit bland. Maybe they'll open up the Individual program with the LCI. Until then, it's kind of a letdown (other than the seats), and feels a bit downscale. Needs the full leather treatment at least.

Looks. Very subjective, but it just looks like an X3. To mod it otherwise, as we've seen in these forums, requires a good amount of $ at least imho. The car today was DG over Black/Midrand beige. No CF parts. Moonroof. Pretty blah.

—Equivocal—
Ride. A bit harsh. Does it need the MSS springs? Probably. Could I live without them? Probably. Do I care about the damping and my comfort? No, but I do care about being thrown around while trying to hold down a 2 ton car at...well, "highway" speeds. I could live with it though

The fuel tank is a bit small for a car this size, but I'm no engineer

—Overall—
I'm not totally sold, but I'm very pleasantly surprised, and could picture myself riding around in one of these for a few years. It definitely has some demons to deal with, and it's a bit of a mystery if or how the LCI will address them, but I'm a bit hesitant to pull the trigger on one of these when it's right around the corner. My lease matures in 3 months.

This comes from someone who generally hates SUVs and crossovers, so tbh I think my impressions say a lot for this car. I would normally just shake my head and tell you kids to get off my lawn, but it's a pretty good car.

Obviously, the F90 is costly, and doesn't offer any real utility over my F80, but it has proper BMW styling with a monster V8. The Macan represents perfect Porsche balance, but leasing a new one will cost about the same as an F90, while leaving me wanting in the raw performance department (even with a COBB tune). Will have to see how the F90 and Macan lease numbers shake out, but I might just join you F97/8 lunatics.

__________________
<b>2023 M5C SRG|Aragon || 2018 Macan GTS</b>

2019 F90 Comp MBB|Black (sold)
2018 F80 ZCP TB|SS (sold)
2015 F30 335 AW|CR (sold)
2015 F31 MG|CR (sold)
2011 E90 JB|Oyster (sold)
Appreciate 4
      01-18-2021, 10:52 PM   #2
AlexFL
Brigadier General
7833
Rep
4,607
Posts

Drives: BMW
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: South Florida

iTrader: (0)

Is your F80 stock? I will answer for you: probably not. Get the X3M for a good price, spend some more on mods (tune, springs, exhaust etc.) and you will have an excellent car. Don’t get caught up in dogmatic thinking. It is a seriously fun and practical car and it is a real M car.
Appreciate 2
car_fan381.00
      01-18-2021, 11:05 PM   #3
spuntyb
Brigadier General
spuntyb's Avatar
United_States
4052
Rep
4,976
Posts

Drives: 2019 F90 Competition
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: USA

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexFL View Post
Is your F80 stock? I will answer for you: probably not. Get the X3M for a good price, spend some more on mods (tune, springs, exhaust etc.) and you will have an excellent car. Don't get caught up in dogmatic thinking. It is a seriously fun and practical car and it is a real M car.
Listen, after my test drive today, "Just get an X3MC, mod it a bit, and call it a day.", doesn't seem like such a crazy idea.
__________________
<b>2023 M5C SRG|Aragon || 2018 Macan GTS</b>

2019 F90 Comp MBB|Black (sold)
2018 F80 ZCP TB|SS (sold)
2015 F30 335 AW|CR (sold)
2015 F31 MG|CR (sold)
2011 E90 JB|Oyster (sold)
Appreciate 1
AlexFL7833.00
      01-19-2021, 05:16 AM   #4
allinon72
Brigadier General
allinon72's Avatar
United_States
4892
Rep
3,783
Posts

Drives: 20' M2C, 23' X1
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Indianapolis, IN

iTrader: (2)

The X3M is the best kept secret in the performance world. People barely know it exists, much less give it the attention it deserves. IMO I think it will become one of those iconic cars as people start to realize that it is essentially the G80 power plant with the F90 drivetrain.
Appreciate 2
sd306378.50
DASm337.00
      01-20-2021, 09:49 AM   #5
08mojo
Private
77
Rep
86
Posts

Drives: 2018 M3
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Atlanta

iTrader: (0)

Coming from an F80, the only things I miss are the gas mileage and looks. The X3M has good power and it handles well. I put 12k miles on my M3 over 2.5 years of ownership, while my X3M has 5k miles over the past 6 months. I can use the X3 for everything, whereas the M3 was limited.

If you have no use for an SUV, I'd stick to a coupe or sedan. If you do have use for an SUV, then don't think twice about it.
Appreciate 1
spuntyb4051.50
      01-20-2021, 09:52 AM   #6
AlexFL
Brigadier General
7833
Rep
4,607
Posts

Drives: BMW
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: South Florida

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by 08mojo View Post
Coming from an F80, the only things I miss are the gas mileage and looks. The X3M has good power and it handles well. I put 12k miles on my M3 over 2.5 years of ownership, while my X3M has 5k miles over the past 6 months. I can use the X3 for everything, whereas the M3 was limited.

If you have no use for an SUV, I'd stick to a coupe or sedan. If you do have use for an SUV, then don't think twice about it.
I kind of agree about the looks. Drop it and put some nice concave wheels with spacers, and it will look much better. Give it a hot hatch look
Appreciate 1
spuntyb4051.50
      01-20-2021, 11:01 PM   #7
justmill
Enlisted Member
justmill's Avatar
53
Rep
44
Posts

Drives: X3MC
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Texas

iTrader: (0)

I've said this in other threads, but I think X3M makes sports sedans obsolete.

Few people (if anybody) are going to eke out the performance difference between this and a sedan or coupe of similar stature. It's also more fun to smoke American muscle in an SUV. Even if it's just keeping up with the high end engine models, it's gotta hurt not being able to ditch an SUV in your brand new camaro or mustang.

I also think the X3 is one of the best looking SUVs out there. I prefer it over the sedans, but of course, that's all highly subjective.
Appreciate 0
      01-21-2021, 05:31 AM   #8
spuntyb
Brigadier General
spuntyb's Avatar
United_States
4052
Rep
4,976
Posts

Drives: 2019 F90 Competition
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: USA

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by justmill View Post
I've said this in other threads, but I think X3M makes sports sedans obsolete.

Few people (if anybody) are going to eke out the performance difference between this and a sedan or coupe of similar stature. It's also more fun to smoke American muscle in an SUV. Even if it's just keeping up with the high end engine models, it's gotta hurt not being able to ditch an SUV in your brand new camaro or mustang.

I also think the X3 is one of the best looking SUVs out there. I prefer it over the sedans, but of course, that's all highly subjective.
That's a very specific fetish, but I'm not one to kink shame. I dig it man

__________________
<b>2023 M5C SRG|Aragon || 2018 Macan GTS</b>

2019 F90 Comp MBB|Black (sold)
2018 F80 ZCP TB|SS (sold)
2015 F30 335 AW|CR (sold)
2015 F31 MG|CR (sold)
2011 E90 JB|Oyster (sold)
Appreciate 2
      01-21-2021, 06:32 AM   #9
AlexFL
Brigadier General
7833
Rep
4,607
Posts

Drives: BMW
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: South Florida

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by justmill View Post
I've said this in other threads, but I think X3M makes sports sedans obsolete.

Few people (if anybody) are going to eke out the performance difference between this and a sedan or coupe of similar stature. It's also more fun to smoke American muscle in an SUV. Even if it's just keeping up with the high end engine models, it's gotta hurt not being able to ditch an SUV in your brand new camaro or mustang.

I also think the X3 is one of the best looking SUVs out there. I prefer it over the sedans, but of course, that's all highly subjective.
That’s what I’ve been saying. A happy man needs a BMW M SAV as a daily and a Porsche/Lamborghini as a weekend toy.
Appreciate 0
      01-21-2021, 01:38 PM   #10
08mojo
Private
77
Rep
86
Posts

Drives: 2018 M3
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Atlanta

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexFL View Post
I kind of agree about the looks. Drop it and put some nice concave wheels with spacers, and it will look much better. Give it a hot hatch look
I should have been a bit more clear. I actually like the way the X3M looks, no real complaints. I just happen to a bit partial to the f80 I had, the alpine white with carbon roof was hard to beat.

That said, I was okay to by a non-comp X3M with the 20" wheels as they are on the list to be swapped for something more aesthetically pleasing.
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:29 PM.




xbimmers
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST