BMW’s mid-sizer adds a plug-in hybrid variant to ride the hybrid wave. It’s not the first plug-in hybrid X3, but this time BMW is putting in some real effort to let people know it exists.
Just a few weeks back we had the quickest G45 X3 you can buy right now, the X3 M50. It’s a ripper of a car – quiet, composed but also genuinely quick and huge fun to drive. So few complaints there. It’s mild hybrid so it uses a bit less fuel and things happen without the engine that otherwise would need the IC bit of ICE to being going.
But we don’t all want the fun stuff or, just as reasonably, we can’t all afford it. Even more nobly, we’d rather have something that can waft about on electrons but not worry about range anxiety when wanderlust takes over. Again, we had a BMW M5 recently that can do the same thing while also tear out your vertebrae. Except that’s nearly three hundred grand on the road and quite obviously not an SUV. But monstrously large.
Then there’s the problem of doing it properly and getting an iX3. Well you can’t have one – yet – because they’re still cooking that. But just to make sure, they’re cooking it on a completely different platform, the Neue Klasse, rather than the long-serving Cluster Architecture (CLAR) setup. BMW’s CLAR EVs are excellent despite their attendant compromises so the next-generation platform is going to be something else.
So we come to the X3 30e. It’s a plug-in hybrid with a claimed EV-only range of up to 91km. Which seems like a good start, don’t you think?
How much is a 2025 BMW X3 30e and what do I get?
BMW X3 20 xDrive: $84,500 + ORC
BMW X3 30e xDrive: $104,800 + ORC
BMW X3 40d xDrive: $109,600 + ORC
BMW X3 M50 xDrive: $129,600 + ORC
The 30e is the second of four current models in the G45 X3 range. Starting at $104,800, it’s a hefty increase on the X3 20 nearly twenty grand below but, crucially, nearly five large short of the 40d diesel. That’s pertinent because folks love a diesel for its thrift and sometimes for its towing. Diesel isn’t always cheaper than petrol and when you’ve got a hybrid, you’re using even less of the cheaper stuff, even if it’s 95 RON. And to find a five grand saving over a few years of ownership is going to be troublesome. Electricity, even at egregious Australian prices, is cheaper than diesel.
The standard equipment list is long:
- 20” M light alloy wheels
- 3-zone auto climate control
- 6-speaker 100-watt Hi-Fi system
- Acoustic glass
- Acoustic protection for pedestrians
- Adaptive LED headlights
- Adaptive Suspension
- Powered tailgate
- BMW Digital Premium (90-day trial)
- BMW Iconic Glow illuminated kidney
- BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant
- 14.9-inch digital dash
- 12.3” curved widescreen display with Operating System 9
- Comfort Access and Digital Key Plus
- Driving Assistant Professional inc. Steering and Lane Control System, Active Cruise Control inc. Stop&Go and Blind Spot Monitor
- DAB Digital radio
- Electric Seat function, front row
- Head Up Display
- M headliner in anthracite
- M Sport package inc. M Sport brake system with blue callipers
- M Sport leather steering wheel
- Mirror package, incl. anti-dazzle function
- Mode 2 & 3 Charging cables
- Parking Assistant Plus incl. Surround view camera, Reversing Assistant and Drive Recorder
- Panorama glass sunroof (fixed)
- Remote Software Updates
- Tyre pressure monitoring system
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Wireless phone charging
- Comfort Package:
- Active seat ventilation
- Heated steering wheel
- Cargo net
- Privacy glass
- Seat heating for first and second rows
- Sun blinds for rear-side windows
Often these lists are full of things like “seatbelts”, but given everything has gotten insanely expensive and also given there aren’t any silly inclusions in this list, that’s a lot of stuff. The six-speaker stereo as standard is a bit weak at this price point, but as you’ll shortly discover, you can improve that with the savings on the diesel.
The Enhancement Pack wraps up metallic paint ($2000 on its own), an alarm system and a Harmon Kardon speakers for a total of $4000. Not many people are going to go without metallic paint (the only freebie is white), so in all honesty, the extra two grand for the speakers is the real extra cost here and I think it’s worth it.
M Sport Pro adds a bunch of gloss black stuff on the outside, red brake calipers and M seat belts for $2000.
If you want to tow, you can add the tow bar for $2200, which works out neatly as $1.10 per kilogram of towing capacity. Before GST, anyway.
If you need to tow slightly more (2200kg) or for tow very long distances, this may be the only reason to go to the diesel. The long distance concern is because once the battery is out, you lose a fair bit of torque, which might be a problem if you’re on the hilly bit of your journey. Having said that, the battery never goes completely flat, so you know, just have a think about it.
This Arctic Race Blue metallic X3 30e came out at $108,100 with the Enhancement Pack, before on-roads.
Look and feel
I’m pretty sure Blake still doesn’t like it but I really don’t mind it. I’m not totally sold on the headlight-to-grille ratio, but I do like the geometric vibe of the design. I think this is probably BMW’s more successful recent car to date and it doesn’t look anywhere near its actual size.
The illuminated grille does rather remind you how big it is at night, too, but on balance I’m pleased it’s there because I do like a bit of lighting bling. The front end aside, it’s a pretty cohesive and convincing design and there’s something I really like about the rear lights that I can’t quite put my finger on, but I like them.
These wheels almost fill the huge arches, too, and I quite like the chamfered look of the arches at both ends, a kind of aerodynamic look that speaks to me.
No, it’s not pretty, but BMW is more interested in setting tongues wagging and, truth be told, doing pretty with all the regs and SUV mania is hard.
Say what you like about the outside of BMWs, the cabins are great. Again, you don’t have to like the look of them but they’re so well designed, even if the occasional material choice doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. The design is coherent, bold and inherently useable.
The big chunky wheel is great in the hand, the dashboard clear even if the graphics aren’t to your taste. The big sweep of the now-familiar double screen layout looks grand and techno-cool and in the newer cars is lower set so it doesn’t feel like they tower over you.
It’s very comfortable in both front and rear seats and the boot is huge, BMW choosing to sacrifice 15 litres of fuel tank space to hold on to most of the boot volume, which drops from 470 litres to 460. It’s a good flat space, too, with a slot to put the cargo blind under the floor when it isn’t in use.
The week we had with this car and the foul weather that went with it passed by in another universe. It’s really nice in here. Like, a segment bigger serene.
Drivetrain and Chassis
This is obviously the most interesting bit of this car.
BMW starts with the B48 2.0-litre twin-scroll turbo four-cylinder – confusingly dubbed TwinPower – spinning up a modest (for this engine) 140kW and 310Nm. The eight-speed ZF automatic sends power to all four wheels and that’s all fairly normal and straightforward.
BMW then adds a 135kW/250Nm electric motor fed by a 19.7kW lithium-ion battery under the floor. This knocks a very decent couple of seconds off the 0-100km/h time, down to 6.2 seconds and several litres off the pretty terrible ADR fuel figure, coming out with an official 1.6L/100km. That’s obviously very silly, but really the main story here is the 91km of claimed EV range which probably works out at about 70-80km in the real world.
That’s pretty good. You’ve probably heard this story before, but if you’re disciplined like a friend of mine who keeps his PHEV charged (an Outlander with not too dissimilar claims), you can get 3000km out of a tank of petrol if your daily use is pretty average (30-45km).
Riding on the CLAR platform means all the usual things like a multi-link rear end and struts up front with adaptive dampers all round. The 30e is a bit of chonk compared to the other cars, falling over the two-tonne mark to 2065kg, about 265kg heavier than the straight-six turbo M50 and 310kg more than the 140kW X3 20 (is the lack of i on 20 annoying you too?).
Battery and Charging
As I’ve already mentioned, the X3 has a 19.7kWh battery hidden away under the floor. That’s a decent size and is par for the course for non-Chinese brand PHEVs.
Charging is via a Type 3 cable (the car comes with Type 2 and 3 cables in a bag). As you can see from the image above, there’s no DC, so the fastest you’ll be going is 11kW. Don’t panic – with a 19.7kWh battery and an optional wallbox, two hours is all you’ll need.
Charging at home without an 11kW wallbox (which itself requires a three-phase electricity supply)(if you know, you know) will take around seven hours from nothing to everything, so that’s your classic, “Hi [insert affectionate term], I’m home!” to “See you tonight!” proposition.
Energy fiends wknow some retailers will offer an EV charging deal of around 8c in the wee small hours and that’s a bargain. If you get 70km out of your charge, that’s the genuine equivalent of covering the distance on a single litre of very cheap fuel, about $1.50. If you buy a plug-in electrified car of any type, it is very important you shop around for a better electricity deal.
Real energy fiends who use Amber (get a $120 bill credit for me and you, click here)(come on, you know you want to) will know that during many afternoons, solar feed-in is small and/or grid power is cheap, so that’s a good time to charge. If you’re on the cartoonishly evil Ausgrid network, some days your feed-in tariff goes negative, meaning you have to pay them for the privilege of giving them power they can’t be arsed putting into storage themselves, so that’s when to charge if you’re home.
Sadly the X3 30e doesn’t come ready with vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-home (both if which remain largely unavailable in Australia) so you can take advantage of that when it happens.
Driving
Having not long since driven the M50, I felt that this was going to be a good one. The X3 platform found its feet in the G01 guise (you may recall my love for the M40i) and every single one of them was eminently ownable. The G45 should probably be the last gasp for the CLAR platform in this form factor, but it doesn’t feel like BMW has given up. Not at all.
This really is a terrific thing. Swift, quiet and efficient, it goes about its business in excellent comfort, whether you’re bombing around town or firing up the freeway. The hybrid system is almost imperceptible most of the time, whether you’re in full EV mode or you’ve exhausted that and you’re in hybrid mode.
Energy recovery is smooth and seems to work well, pulling a kilowatt here and there out of downhill runs. The digital dash keeps you informed of how fast you can go before the motor kicks in and the theoretical maximum is 140km/h, which is an improvement on most PHEVs I’ve driven. I quite liked that and as with so many cars with meaningful electrification, you get to enjoy yourself a bit playing the energy game.
The steering is pretty light as you might expect and even in sport mode doesn’t do much to let you know what’s going on underneath. It’s handy fun, though, with a decently keen turn-in and body control that keeps everything in check, despite the extra weight.
Braking is strong but the pedal is a bit inconclusive. The transition between energy regeneration and physical braking is pretty good but the pedal feel is not confidence inspiring. It’s not awful, there’s merely a bit of marshmallow stuck in there somewhere.
I really like the cut of its jib, though. The Michelin Primacy EV tyres had a decent amount of grip and were excellent in the wet. The suspension is really quiet and that’s partly because these aren’t run flats. But the suspension feels really well isolated from the road. The trashed roads in Sydney give cars an absolute hammering but they were just distant thuds and clunks in the 30e. It really is quite lovely.
Redline Recommendation
This is the all-rounder in the range, so if you’re not going for the M50, this is the one to go for. Yes, it’s in the six figures but it’s so nice to be in and get around in you won’t begrudge the outlay. More to the point, everyone involved will be comfortable because it’s got that easygoing, serene vibe about it that hides its reasonably athletic capability.
I came away thinking a whole lot more positively about than when I went in, which as I said at the start, was already pretty positive.
