[Jordster]

I officially ordered a new car yesterday (An Accord 2.0T Touring) and I'll be saying goodbye to my Space Grey 2015 BMW X3 xDrive 28i.

After 3 years, here are my pros and cons:

Pros:
- Controlled and predictable driving behaviour
- Engine is excellent - low end torque makes it feel lighter than it is
- Sport auto trans is excellent - can pop off gears with vigor when called on
- Excellent in the snow (when shod with Blizzak WS-80)
- Enough rear-seat room for car seats
- Useful, plentiful cargo space
- HK stereo is still awesome despite much abusively loud listening
- Highway fuel economy is good for a vehicle this size and format

Cons:
- Fuel economy in the city and/or when the engine isn't fully warm (which takes 30+ minutes on a cold day) can be as bad as 16-17 mpg! Worst tank was 15. This got tiring!
- 28i engine is pretty fast on the line, but isn't that fast at highway speeds
- Rattles! Rattles! Rattles! I finally got my pano roof fixed after 3 years and 5+ tries, but there are still some other minor rattles.
- Minor issues with interior fit and finish - the aluminum piece around the shifter pops up out of place all winter long!
- iDrive system reset twice while driving, resetting everything including the clock, made me worry about electronics problems. Twice in 3 years isn't a lot, but it still spooked me
- Still kind of ugly, especially from some angles
- Runflat tires are cancer. I replaced them with Conti DWS06 (non-RFT) and never looked back, but now I'd be stuck waiting for roadside assistance if I had a flat. Never happened, though.
- BMW greed (and me not realizing there was a $300 "storage option" that I didn't have) left me with nowhere to keep my change. I put it on the pad behind the cup holder. One coin managed to enter the underbody of the car and now rolls around. I didn't even notice until the BMW tech noticed it and offered to go fishing for it, but warned it could cost many hundred $$$ or more. In short, accidentally missing a $300 option on my car and there was no better place to keep change.

I had intended to keep it longer, but I've decided that I'd rather NOT own a German car out of warranty. Still, it was fun while it lasted. All the best with your X3s!