[GoCubsGo]

The wife and I picked up our new 2013 X3 35i yesterday and overall we are thrilled. We had a few problems from the dealership upon our arrival. A financing snafu (which we worked out) and our brand new X3 had door dings on both the driver’s and passenger's side front doors. Pretty much unbelievable given our X3 was delivered straight from the factory just 4 days prior ( http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=808433 ). Our Sales Associate was even more ticked off than I was when I pointed them out to him. In addition the center console had noticeable scratches on it as well. The dealership is going to fix the door dings (they can be popped out, no need for in-depth body work) and polish out the scratches on the center console. It goes without saying we were NOT happy about those specific occurrences. This is the 3rd BMW we have purchased from our Sales Associate at said dealership and we know he is going to make it right.


Anyway, on to the first impressions (sorry for the long post in advance, the pictures are at the end in case you just want to skip ahead and avoid my babbling on ).


Our History:
The wife drove a 2009 E90 335i xDrive (the X3 is replacing the E90) and I drive a 2005 E46 M3. The X3 is our 5th BMW between us.

Build Quality:
The build quality is very good, excellent fit and finish. We did not notice any rattling or squeaks so far. Panel alignment is exceptional and in line with what we have come to expect from BMW. Materials are again on par with the high expectations we have for a BMW.

Power:
Very good power, actually great power as far as I can tell since we will be keeping it under 4,500 rpm until we hit 1,000 miles. More on this after 1,000 miles.

Brakes:
I am biased here and I know the X3 is a much heavier automobile than the E90 and the M3, but it seems to me the brakes could be a bit stronger. Maybe it is just an adjustment I need to make moving from a track inspired M3 to a family SUV. The brakes just didn't bite as much as I expected. I'll follow up once I get several more miles under my belt.

Convenience:
We are both thrilled with the options and the user friendly functionality. The iDrive command center gets better and better. We absolutely love the fact that the majority of the settings can be tailored for different drivers. We love the display, the panoramic roof, storage layout in the back, the updated iDrive system and of course...the cup holder placement. We are soooo thrilled to be able to stream Pandora through Bluetooth or BMW Apps and the sound quality is plenty good enough for us, we noted no discernible difference between a local radio station and the streaming Bluetooth/BMW Apps audio.

The only gripe we have is that there are shadows/glare on the navigation screen when in direct sunlight. Coming from the E90 where navigation screen sat back in the dashboard, this was never an issue.

Ride:
The X3 really does feel like we are in the E90 335 aside from obviously being higher in stance on the road. I will say that I personally did notice slight differences in terms of road feel (noticeable “truck-like” characteristics – ex. very slight rolling type feeling at times) after driving a few miles. I attribute this to the fact it is a higher in stance SUV and not a sedan or M3 so comparing the 2 is not a fair assessment and I am being very, very picky here. Overall we absolutely love the ride and comfort.

Overall:
We are very, very pleased and happy with our choice of the F25. We looked at the Mercedes Benz GLK, the Audi Q5 and the Range Rover Evoque, but came back to BMW in the end. The power, the ride, the convenience factors, the aesthetics, the warranty/maintenance program and our history with BMW all made our final choice pretty easy when it came down to it. We would highly recommend the F25.



On to the pictures (NOTE: I possess no photography skills so pardon the somewhat non-inspiring shots and background ).
































Thanks for looking and comments/feedback welcome.

[Briant73]

Congratulations! Odd it was dinged and had scratches but glad the dealer is taking care of you and making things right. Thanks for the review.

[noka]

Nice ride! I like the key FOB cover (... just found it in bmwusa.com accessories).

[Booty]

Great looking car. Congrats.

[woodchuck1]

Beautiful car. You're going to love it.

About the flaws, I'm glad the dealer is correcting them, but I feel strongly that they should have seen and corrected them before you even laid eyes on it. The dealer does the last quality inspection before delivery, and apparently they didn't do it.

[Chitown-Irish]

Very nice and I will wish you good luck with it even though your are a Cubs fan. Which dealer did you buy it from?

[lbjgh]

Black on black. Very nice.

I too would be "beside myself" if I took delivery of a new car with door dings!

I always park to avoid unnecessary damage. (the lazy people that damage others cars can't be bothered to walk another 30secs. )

I've noticed the wood finish on the console is very susceptible to fine scratches.

[Amber]

Just love the black on black, I have the same and just enjoy the look every day

[BeeMdblU]

congrats on your ride, I had one on order exactly the same then I changed to an M-sport since I couldn't get your wheels up here.

[kozzi]

Let us know how you feel about the power after the break-in. You already have an E46 M3 so no excuses on getting any tickets!

[GoCubsGo]

Originally Posted by Briant73

Congratulations! Odd it was dinged and had scratches but glad the dealer is taking care of you and making things right. Thanks for the review.

Thanks. It is baffling that the dings and scratches weren't noted and addressed prior to our pick up. That being said they are being properly addressed by the dealership in the best manner available to them at this point.

Originally Posted by noka

Nice ride! I like the key FOB cover (... just found it in bmwusa.com accessories).

Thanks! The FOB cover was a toss in from the dealership prior to us noticing the dings and scratches, maybe we should have asked for more swag .

Originally Posted by Booty

Great looking car. Congrats.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by woodchuck1

Beautiful car. You're going to love it.

About the flaws, I'm glad the dealer is correcting them, but I feel strongly that they should have seen and corrected them before you even laid eyes on it. The dealer does the last quality inspection before delivery, and apparently they didn't do it.

Thank you and I am right there with you on the last quality inspection. We were floored that not only were the issues there, but the fact we had to bring them to the attention of the dealership was mind-boggling.

Originally Posted by Chitown-Irish

Very nice and I will wish you good luck with it even though your are a Cubs fan. Which dealer did you buy it from?

Go Cubs and thanks. We purchased it from a Chicagoland BMW Dealership. Our Sales Associate at said dealership has gone the extra mile for us on more than one occasion in the past so I don't want to post anything negative on a public forum. As I said, he was even more upset about the dings and scratches than we were and they are doing what it takes to make it right.

Final note......Michigan Alum here as well as a Cub's fan so.... Go Blue !!

Originally Posted by lbjgh

Black on black. Very nice.

I too would be "beside myself" if I took delivery of a new car with door dings!

I always park to avoid unnecessary damage. (the lazy people that damage others cars can't be bothered to walk another 30secs. )

I've noticed the wood finish on the console is very susceptible to fine scratches.

I'm right there with you. The wife is used to me parking the M3 far from the closest available spot (and she is now following suit with her new X3 ).

Originally Posted by Amber

Just love the black on black, I have the same and just enjoy the look every day

There is just something about black on black. The wife and I are big fans (the E90 was black on black and my M3 is (carbon) black on black as well ).

Originally Posted by BeeMdblU

congrats on your ride, I had one on order exactly the same then I changed to an M-sport since I couldn't get your wheels up here.

Thanks! We test drove the M Sport, I loved it, but the steering wheel was too big for the wife's liking.....that was painful to hear from my end .

Originally Posted by kozzi

Let us know how you feel about the power after the break-in. You already have an E46 M3 so no excuses on getting any tickets!

Will do. So far I am a huge fan of the 35i's performance. Once I can get it into the higher power bands I will definitely post some feedback.


PS- I'm heading Spartanburg this weekend for the M Driving School on Sunday and a factory tour on Monday so hopefully I'll have somewhat decent feedback...and the V1 is always with me .


.

[KingX]

Congrats sounds like you had an initial bump or two but now you're back on track. Enjoy the driving school experience.

[Nahoa]

Brakes

Interested to see how you feel about the brakes after a bit more driving. My impression was very similar to yours above in the early days. After a couple situations that required fairly hard braking, I came to consider it a different feel more than a different capability. Something like there is a broader "light" or "soft" zone, but if you really want to stop you get BMW brakes if press further. Certainly the numbers must not be as good as a sedan or an M3, but I think it stops like a BMW and far better than I thought from the early days. Definitely a different feel to the vehicle as it does it, though. The movement makes the stopping feel more dramatic and less controlled than it did in the sedan. I think some of that is real, but a big part of it is just the different perception/sensation the greater movement creates.

Interested in what you find.