The Redline

Munich’s new mid-size SUV has arrived and with it the M Performance M50. The old one was the best X3 you could buy, how does the new one stack up?

Words: Peter Anderson
Co-pilots: Blake Currall and Mark Dewar
Images: Blake Currall

The previous generation X3 was a really good car. From the entry-level 2.0-litre sDrive right through to the all-electric iX3 (a criminally underrated vehicle), that car managed to be all things to all people. That meant, of course, the S58-equipped X3 M was the daddy, right?

Right?

No. The (at launch) $99,000 X3 M40i was the X3 to have. The X3 M was a bastard of a car – fast, yes, but the ride was absolutely punishingly, inappropriately hard. Some could live with it, but I sent many a folk to drive both back-to-back and every one of them chose the M40i. It does everything, including not being very much slower than the X3 M. The X3 M is, thankfully dead, with BMW taking the M badge from the CLAR-based car and waiting to launch it on the Neue Klasse electric iX3 variant. Should be beauty.

But for now the quickest X3 is the M50. It’s not cheap – few cars are anymore – and some have criticised the looks (not me as it happens)(Blake, I’m looking at you) but it’s not that much more than the car it replaces. A lot is new though, so while it has big boots to fill, given how much has been thrown at this machine, it’s going to give it a red-hot go.

How much is a BMW X3 M50 xDrive and what do I get?

BMW X3 20 xDrive: $84,500
BMW X3 30e xDrive: $104,800
BMW X3 40d xDrive: $109,600
BMW X3 M50 xDrive: $129,600

When first announced a year ago, the X3 range was just the 20 and M50, but the gap between has since been filled by the 30e plug-in hybrid and the 40d 3.0-litre turbodiesel straight six. Never mind about that for the moment, though, we’ve got the B58-powered M50 at nearly $130,000, but it’s only a scooch more than the M40 was, so BMW has exercised some restraint. In fact, when it launched, it was the same price as the outgoing M40i give or take a few bucks. So the price rise since has been relatively small and in company it seems about right.

The spec is actually really good for the money and builds on the generous feature list of the 20i and 30e. There is a stack of stuff in here but the highlights are multi-zone climate control, panoramic sunroof, heated front and rear seats, ventilated front seats, excellent synthetic leather trim and a 15-speaker harmon kardon system.

• 21-inch alloy wheels
• Metallic paint
• M-specific kidney, mirror caps and aerodynamic elements
• Quad exhaust outlets
• M Sport Pro package
  • High-gloss Shadowline with extended contents
  • Radiator grille frame and struts
  • Tail light trim detailing
  • Tailpipe trims
  • M Lights Shadow Line
  • M Sport brakes with red calipers (blue also available)
  • M seatbelts
• M braking system with red calipers
• Fixed panoramic glass sunroof
• Roller blinds for rear side windows
• Heated steering wheel
• Power-adjustable front seats
• Heated front seats
• Ventilated front seats
• Heated outboard rear seats
• Privacy glass
• M Shadowline headlights and extended contents
• 15-speaker Harman Kardon premium sound system
• M seatbelts
• Run-flat tyres
• M Sport package
• Adaptive suspension
• Adaptive LED headlights
• BMW Iconic Glow illuminated kidney grille
• Acoustic glazing
• Power tailgate
• 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
• 14.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system featuring Operating System 9
• BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant
• Remote software updates
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• DAB+ digital radio
• Wireless phone charger
• Head-up display
• Tri-zone climate control
• Anti-dazzle exterior and interior mirrors
• Comfort Access and Digital Key Plus
• M Sport leather steering wheel
• Anthracite M headliner
• Veganza upholstery

Look and feel

The G45 X3’s cabin is something else. BMW has of late gone with a bit of a spaceship vibe as it slowly works its way through replacing its line-up. The previous car was pretty unadventurous inside and out which made sense for this middle-of-the-market offering. Yeah, screw that. I really like the new direction and while I love the simplicity of my tatty old E87, the X3’s interior (and the M5‘s and 1 Series/2 Series Gran Coupe) looks amazing.

BMW’s twin screen layout has been refined and moved off the top of the dash meaning a better view out. I really like most of the interior detailing but the success of the translucent and LED-lit surrounds on the doors and phone-charging cubby is debatable. BMW calls it the Jewellery Box but I’d be happy with a nice satin aluminium finisher around it.

Ergonomics could be better throughout as it’s not amazing once you’re off the driving controls. There are some baffling parts like the vent controls and there are too few physical buttons. BMW would counter with voice control but I’m not a fan.

Some have complained about the iDrive’s depths and lots of clicking about. I will always defend the iDrive system but that’s because I’ve used it since almost day one and can only say it has got better over time, so…you know.

I really like the steering wheel, which is a gentle evolution of the old M wheel and the cheek of the 12 o’clock marker made me laugh. It’s chunky in the BMW way, but not too chunky.

My wife isn’t a fan of the angular dash graphics – and it would be nice if a set of classic dials were available Mustang style – but they’re clear and concise as is the excellent head-up display.

The big 14.9-inch screen is lovely to look at and use and the X3 has retained an iDrive controller, unlike the 1 and 2 Series. Blake and I had a long debate about the door handle/seat memory/vent units in the door that are sprung to stop them shattering but Blake felt that it made for a flimsy effect as they move when you prod them. The lengths we go to ensure you’re up to speed on things.

The rear seat is great for adults, super-roomy in all directions and the seats are well-shaped and comfortable. Even the middle seat looks bearable although the transmission hump is consequential to comfort. The boot is massive at 570 litres/1700 with the seats down, well shaped and behind a powered tailgate.

The thing is, it feels a lot more expensive than the old interior and so your money feels better spent.

As with all BMWs these days, there has been the usual chorus of disapproval. The company is damned if it does and and damned if it doesn’t, so I’m kind of pleased it’s just decided to do whatever.

The rear three-quarter view of the X3, both close-up and at a distance is where it looks best. This design you’ll be shocked to learn is polarising as every BMW is. Blake despises the lit outline of the grille but I like it. The grille itself is a bit out of proportion to my eyes and could have done with being a touch smaller. Those who don’t like it will be pleased to discover that the Neue Klasse cars will have tiny bonces by comparison.

In person the X3 looks smaller than it is and I think that’s a good thing. Too many cars are big and designed to look it so it’s nice to see some effort made to reduce the visual bulk of an SUV. I am also a particular fan of the taillights, they just really work for me. I’m also a fan of not being able to see the radiator supports like you could in the old car.

For the record, Blake hates most of it, I don’t. This colour really works.

Drivetrain

I am unashamedly on the record as a fan of a straight-six BMW. I have owned three petrol straight sixes (two N52s and an N55) and one diesel (an M57 I think). Glorious. The B58 turbo petrol, however, is an absolute ripper of an engine.

BMW has persisted with the confusing TwinPower nomenclature to refer to a twin-scroll turbo. It doesn’t matter because it spins up an impressive 293kW and 580Nm. Peak power is available between 5,200 and 6,250rpm while peak torque is smeared across 1,900 and 4,800rpm. That’s a properly flexible range.

Power goes to all four wheels via the indomitable ZF eight-speed automatic resulting in a 0-100km/h time of 4.6 seconds, two-tenths quicker than the M40i. It’s also a mild hybrid, so fuel economy on the freeway is mighty impressive and mildly improved in town. You really notice the mild hybrid at work around the burbs and it’s quite well integrated with the drivetrain. It won’t save the planet – heck the car can’t move under electric power – but it certainly reduces consumption.

Chassis

Despite looking smaller, the G45 is bigger in every direction. Starting with length, it’s 34mm longer taking it to 4.755 metres. Which is big. It’s wider at 1920mm (up 29mm) and 35mm lower, which is by far my favourite statistic. A downward migration is always good and given this car will never go off road, sensible. Coupled with the wider 1636mm front track (up 15mm) and 1681mm at the rear (up 45mm!), it looks a lot more purposeful and promises even better handling.

For reference, the length now falls between the first-generation X5 and second-generation X5. The first-generation X3 was almost a foot shorter in length than the G45.

BMW says the body is lighter (which is also promising) with an overall kerb weight of 1980kg which seems slightly lighter than the M40i depending on where you look. The double-joint spring strut front end and five-link rear end has been modified (BMW uses words like kinematic and elastokinematic to describe the bits they’ve changed which isn’t super-helpful). Caster angle is up by 19 percent to improve straight line stability, or so the press release says. Basically, the adaptive M suspension has been tweaked and is better and it’s not because the wheelbase is much longer. Because it isn’t.

What I can say for sure is that the X3 M50 rides on quite attractive 21-inch alloys with Goodyear Eagle F1 rubber all round. Not sure if that’s the only tyre you’ll see on this car. The front tyres measure 255/40 R21 and the rears a hefty 285/35 R21.

M performance brakes – the calipers in red rather than blue in this instance – weigh in at 328mm at the front and 320mm at the rear, with 28mm thickness up front and 22mm at the back. The red calipers come with the standard M Performance Pro package and are four piston fixed calipers for’ard and single piston floaters aft.

Driving

One of the great things about testing a BMW is that as soon as you leave the pick-up location, you’re in deeply annoying traffic on poorly-maintained urban roads. This means you get yourself into a good position to understand the kind of car this is. I was not expecting BMW to fall into making it more like the old X3 M – the criticism was vast and wide of that car’s liveability – but a new car sometimes means someone can go rogue.

In the plushest mode, the X3 is firm but fair, with just a little bit of aggro at the rear on the worst surfaces, but that’s really only between about 20 and 40km/h. As you build speed, that melts away. I take the back way home, bombing through Surry Hills, Waterloo and Botany. The roads through there are varied and irritating and the X3 got through them without any molar-mashing drama.

You have to frame that, however – it’s on 21-inch alloys. That’s a lot of wheel and tyre for a car even this size so the ride will fidget and fuss on, as I say, the low-ish speed stuff. Sport mode obviously throws away most of the pretence and is only for the smoother stuff, at least when you’re just driving around.

Like its forebear, however, this really is the complete package. Comfortable and (mostly) very refined, it’s the kind of mile-crusher that few cars can genuinely be. I said this about an Audi Q8 over at Drive (well, I will have said that when it’s published) and the X3 is not far from being as comfortable as that big ol’ air-suspended beast from a segment higher. That’s high praise from me because the Q8 is a continent-crosser I’d cheerfully point at Perth and go.

Anyway.

The other thing the M50 can do is go fast and be very enjoyable. I may have mentioned in passing earlier in the review that the turbo straight six might be a good engine and good gracious it’s fantastic. It’s a happy revver and so much nicer than the high-powered fours that sometimes end up in performance cars. While Mercedes’ M133 is an incredible engine producing prodigious power, it never feels as together as BMW’s straight-six. It kills me to think this engine will never grace a 1 Series again because BMW went front-drive for the small hatch. I get why they did it, but let me mourn it.

Working up the modes, the steering becomes much better weighted and it’s a joy to fire the X3 into bends. The big brakes easily haul it down to a sensible speed and the weight does not seem to trouble them. With a little blip of torque from the mild hybrid system (up to 200Nm and 13kW), the turbo lag effect is well minimised and so corner exits are brilliantly rapid.

The left paddle features a boost function to ensure electric and combustic worth together to give you full whack and it really moves.

The car doesn’t feel anything like its size when you’re on it and that’s quite an achievement, one mirroring the M40i. Yes, I keep mentioning it because yes it was that good.

It turns in obediently, is largely unruffled by mid-corner bumps and defies physics the way the SQ5 first did all those years ago. Cornering is remarkably flat and composed and you’ve really got to be going for it to feel like it’s as tall as it is.

The brakes are very strong and have great pedal feel, which is impressive given the energy recovery built into the system. While I wouldn’t send it too hard on a track day, fast road use will not rustle the M50’s jimmies. The grip from the Goodyear’s is excellent and you only bemoan these tyres on a coarse motorway run because they’re a bit noisy. Not quite Pirelli P-Zero, but noisy enough for me to mention.

Redline Recommendation

I have no hesitation recommending this car. I’ll be keen to see how the new Audi SQ5 stacks up against the M50 because that was also an absolute ripper of a car that lasted longer than it had any right while still being enormous fun to drive. This M50, though, will take a lot of effort to match let alone beat – it’s fast, quiet and safe for a family hauler. But it has a little bit of a sense of humour, too – it knows it’s a vaguely ridiculous car and loves being ridiculous when you’re on a road that invites sit.

So yeah, if you have to own an SUV and have this kind of cash, put it on the list.