[Ant Man]

I was fairly sure before driving it that the X3 will be my next car as I want to change to a 4x4 SUV vehicle but wanted to see what the family thought first.

Today I had a test drive (as the title states) and also to see if it fitted in the garage, could I open doors and get out etc. Luckily it did.

I liked the raised driving position mostly and only real problem was the complete lack of steering feel. I could not feel the tyres at all, truly awful IMO and given they are the most important safety aid after the driver, I was not impressed.

Not much wind noise at 70mph and the 30d is very quiet, much nicer sounding than the 20d and actually sounds good when giving it the beans in Sport mode.

8sp auto - now I driven the new 3 series with it and it is much smoother than with the X3. I could feel the shifts in the X3, whilst I could not in the 3. Both must have been running the latest g/box software so I can only assume this is due to the xdrive system?

Brakes - felt underpowered but perhaps I needed to press harder, though on the brake tests the X3 doesn't score well in comparison tests from the reviews I've read.

Some cheap plastic in a number of places compared to M3 but no big deal.

Overall a fantastic SUV and looking forward to get into one. I just need to sell the M3 (very hard decision as such an amazing car), hire out some cheapo cars for a few months so that I don't compare the X3 to the M3 and feel disappointed.