[ppduck]

Originally Posted by ppduck

hi all,

just want to share my experience on my new X3 which picked up last tuesday from dealer in sydney ..... it is a Sept 2011 built car
in general, the car is great, and the service from the dealership is alright (overall); but the sales consultant for my order has done an excellent job, as i believe my experience with BMW won't feel as good without him.

anyway, back to the car....
1. start / stop engine function is good.... mine is the X3 20d model, and it is quite responsive when you step down the accelerator from stop at the traffic light.

2. Engine noise from inside the cabin - i hardly hear any noise from inside cabin except when i opened the window, i can hear teh noise, or when my wife drove the car home, i can hear the noise from outside of the car; if you want to comparing the noise from a 2.0 petrol engine (by subaru), then the X3 is definitely louder. but the insulation inside the cabin was good.

3. bluetooth music audio streaming - it comes as a standard in my x3 even though i didn't order the Sat Nav Professional and extend. bluetooth functionality.... so i was a bit of surprise and i like it......

4. driving experience - so far so good..... quite responsive, and didn't feel much lag from the moment of starting to accelerate.... corner handling and the suspension is quite good.... when i went over the hump, i dun feel the much bumpy movement inside teh cabin.... of course my speed is around 30km/hr when going over the hump....

5. fuel consumption - mainly driving in the city, probably stop and starting the car for every 20km. already driving 320km on the clock, still have more than half tank left, so i expect i can drive for another 300 km easy.... so for a full tank petrol, i should be able to make 600km+ for sydney city driving...

6. internal craftmanship - something i felt disappointed by BMW even though they agreed to fix it....(1.) as 2 internal panel (fabric panel) are scratched and got some oil mark on them, as the dealer has agreed to replace them once the new parts arrived from USA in 2 weeks time....; (2) just yesterday i realise one of the interior trim (wooden trim) on the transmission gear panel has separated and came loose... so i drove teh car to dealer to inspect, and they said that can be easily fixed and just go to the repair centre, i can see this is not a major, but on the otherhand, i see all the wires running behind, just not feel comfortable, and doubting about the quality of the carftmanship from BMW.

7. the option of alarm feature has added to the car (cost me $8xx), however, i still don't know how it works, and no beep sound or indicator after you lock the car, how do i know it is working or is it there?

8. vibration from the steering wheel - just happened once when i drove the car up the ramp inside the shopping centre, i remember there are no hump and the ramp is quite smooth.... other than that, i didn't realise any vibration at all.... still under monitoring.....

9. after 1 week driving with my X3, i love the car, and gave me a different driving pleasure and experience.....
for anyone who are planning to buy the car, here are some options which i think worth to consider to include them...
1. bi-xenon light
2. top view camera & folding mirror
3. leather seat
4. sun-roof
5. dynamic damper control
6. rear pull up blind
7. Tire and Rim insurance.....

hopefully the above sharing will help others, please feel free to drop me some words of your experience on X3...
cheers...

ppduck

hi all,

further to my previous post, i found another craftmanship issue on my X3, the air-vent on the back seat at the driver side is broken..... just realise when i sat at the back yesterday.....
so far, there are 3 craftsmanship issues, and some missing items... (triangular hazard sign and the first aid kit)
aparts from these issues, the performance of the car is good.... i like it, and the fuel consumption is quite good.... all city driving and finished the 1st tank of diesel, gave me around 680km / 65L tank on 2.0L diesel engine..... not bad....

cheers,

ppduck

[Nayook]

ppduck your car should be doing much better than that for fuel economy.
I assume you are in Sydney.
If so, get out onto the M4 in the weekend, zero your journey computer and then drive to the mountains and back at a steady 100km per hour, since it is an almost level road you should be gettting below 6 litres/100km under those conditions. I am getting 5.8 for that drive even though that is more consumption than the car is claimed to be able to do.

My daily drive is about 15km of local traffic (including M4 traffic jam in the morning) and 40km crusing the freeway, I average 6.6 litres/100km all round.

[Bimar]

Originally Posted by ppduck

the fuel consumption is quite good.... all city driving and finished the 1st tank of diesel, gave me around 680km / 65L tank on 2.0L diesel engine..... not bad....
ppduck

You are only getting 10.5kms per liter on the 20d in city driving? Seems high consumption or maybe engine needs to break in.

[ppduck]

Originally Posted by inamik75

You are only getting 10.5kms per liter on the 20d in city driving? Seems high consumption or maybe engine needs to break in.

HI inamik75,

You probably right as the car is still new and only the 1st tank.... but i admitted that i have always stop and starting the car as driving in city and also always doing a few kilometer a trip .. therefore, it uses more petrol that usual..... will keep monitoring it to see what will be the best outcomes....
cheers

ppduck