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      02-06-2012, 11:08 PM   #1
S1000RRPilot
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'12 X3 M-Sport review from new owner (long)

Greetings everyone! I'm a proud new owner of a new '12 X3 M-Sport Carbon Black. First of all, I need to thank everyone on the forum for such useful information on owner experiences and just overall X3 and BMW information. You guys are awesome. I've been contemplating getting back into a BMW after some issues with my '10 Subaru STi requiring a new engine and lingering crappy gas mileage. After spending a lot of time on the forums and deciding what to get, I finally decided on the X3 for various reasons. I thought about an F30 335i also, but it really came down to an Audi S4 and an X3…yes, I know, different cars, but that's how it played out for me. I'm an AWD fan. Anywho, I'd thought I'd try to give a little back by providing yet another point of view from a new X3 owner to those who might still be looking for input on the X3. I've had the 3 for about a week and 700 miles so far…here are my comments about it so far:

Equipment: M-sport, technology, premium, premium sound, and cold weather I pkgs, and BMW Apps. Carbon Black, Black Nevada, Aluminum trim.

Color: I have to say that BMW shouldn't have called this exterior "black". My fiancee and I have paid close attention to this every single time we look at the car in all sorts of lighting conditions. Really, they should have called this color "Midnight Blue" or something like that. Sure, in some light conditions it does look black, but more often than not, it looks dark dark blue. I think all my co-workers and my ex-mother-in-law immediately called it blue. Interior-wise, the black Nappa with the white stitching and the alu trim is just pure sex…hard to say anything other than that.

Interior: Love the interior. Plenty of room for storage and back seat room is very good for it's class. Easily fits two kids and Grandma in the back. Like I said, the color combo is awesome and very sporty, especially with that white stitching. Don't know if that sounds funny, but to me it really makes the interior. Fit and finish are excellent and great quality…it better be, it's a $55K car (MSRP, anyway) Layout is logical, and all the displays and gauges are clean and easy to read, even in direct sunlight. Keeping in mind, I'm coming directly from a Subie STi, the 3 is very quiet. Two things of interest, many times you can hear the turbo and you definitely hear a hint of wind noise which I believe is coming from the panoramic sunroof, and when considering the amount of glass is up there, is acceptable.

Exterior: Love the looks of the car. The M-sport 19's look great, but personal taste would have loved to have them in a charcoal or gunmetal gray. Coming from the STi, the 3 is definitely bigger, but not immensely so. When you're right up next to the car, it does look kinda big, but a few steps away it looks smaller, more compact. Lighting-wise, HID's are great, but wish the fogs would illuminate a little farther down the road. I don't understand why BMW didn't put more LED lights in the rear…especially the brake lights, which with LED's would illuminate quicker for safety…oh well.

Handling: This is my first SUV ever, and I was concerned about this, but when I test drove the X3, I knew immediately it wouldn't be an issue. Amazing that BMW can make this compact SUV (or SAV ) handle as well as it does! And this is not even an M car. You can take turns and exit ramps at greater speeds as one might suspect, and do so with making this SUV feel so RELATIVELY planted. So having said all that, I am definitely not saying it's a 3-series car. I've had an E90 330 and E92 335 both with sport pkgs, and they handled very well and so balanced, at not to mentioned the 2 STi's I've had. The X3 handles very well, but you can totally tell you're still driving an SUV with higher center of gravity and more weight. I had serious pucker factor moment on an exit ramp where I took it pretty hot, expecting it to handle like a 3-series car…and got just a bit squirrely….eeek! Will have to say that I think the Goodyears gave up before the car was ready to. Wonder what a set of Pilot Super Sports would do to this car. Alas, I don't think they come in our size. So excellent handling SUV, for a non M car, but it's still an SUV.

Speed/Power: Jesus! the N55 just makes this car haul A$$. So I'm supposed to be in the break in period…but in my world, 500 miles is good enough break in This sucker is impressively fast for an SUV. Never did any timed runs, but I totally believe the 0-60 in 5.5 secs. I don't think as fast as the 335 or the STi, but still would not be too far off them. Guess I'll just stick in my fuel econ comments here too…. so far am seeing about 18.5 and 19.2 combined city/hwy. Also mixture of sport and normal mode, with mixed normal cruising with some hooliganism mixed in there.

THROTTLE: Ok, I know this is a hot topic here with various opinions. Here's mine: I totally feel the throttle delay, and even more compelling is my "I live my entire life under 4k RPM" fiancee totally felt it too, and is annoyed by it. It's definitely there, and annoying. If you are an aggressive type that likes to take off at lights, or pull out into the other lane because it's moving faster…be warned, you need to account for the delay! I did it once trying to jet out into the faster lane with just enough time in front of a car, eeeeeek the delay made it an uncomfortable situation…but really shame on me for taking the risk. However, I do believe this is totally by design for the sake of driver comfort and meeting the fuel econ numbers. I am just going to have to get used to it and learn work around it. Oh forgot to say this is in Normal mode. Sport/Sport + mitigates the delay somewhat, but not completely. But on the flip side, have you ever driven a G35? I've driven one and the initial throttle response was so annoyingly sensitive, it was so hard not to give everyone whiplash every time you hit the gas. That was a consistent complaint of that car, IIRC.

Tranny: First lemme whine….this is my first auto in 20 years (almost my whole driving career). I LOVE manuals and how you totally control things. This was a major concession for me, and still may be enough from keeping it beyond 3 years. I would be perfectly content to keep this car 5+ years if it were a 6-spd manual. Oh well, having said that…WOW, this 8 sp is very smooth and very quick in sport mode. It bangs through gears so quickly, with an amusing muted backfire (i think) coming from the rear. Very impressive. I can't imagine the dual-clutch setups shifting THAT much quicker than this. This auto will still shift faster than people can in a manual….but it's just so many gears, it's going to take a bit of playing to get used to what speeds are appropriate for what gear. But I know this tranny is also an important part of the fuel econ numbers, so maybe a manual would knock the EPA numbers back down closer to the miserable STi economy. Also, the paddle shifters are just OK….Personally, I feel they should either be column-mounted or each paddle have a push/pull action to allow either paddle to shift up or down. if you have the need for shifting when the wheel is turned, I don't want to have to think about which paddle I have to use and where is it when the wheel is turned.

iDrive: Hands down, such a complete improvement over the 2008 and earlier versions. Not to mention the higher def 8.8" screen is far superior. The menus are more intuitive, and the extra buttons with the controller are much better to get to the main functions quickly. Actually, every function can be accessed quickly when you get used to it. Anyone who complains how difficult to navigate the menus is probably a technophobe. Navigation is solid and works well. really dig the exit view, nice. It also has a satellite view, but thats only good for when you're zoomed out to a mile per inch (or whatever)…either way, I don't see much value in this feature. I totally love the Google maps send-to-car feature, so useful! Premium sound is very good even without tuning the EQ and bass response is impressive for small subs under the seat. I'm a Trance and House music fan and the system can cleanly handle any track I throw at it. Bluetooth calling to an iPhone 4 and Samsung Nexus S works flawlessly with no issues to report. iPod connectivity to a current gen Nano and 2nd gen Touch work without issue. One gripe I have is that it's not very intuitive to access Podcasts which I listen to a lot. You have to select Genres -> Podcasts-> then further select like 2-3 for menu options just to get to the Podcast you want….SUX! The parking package stuff is pretty trick and I think necessary for SUV's. Backup camera and telemetry lines are great as are the audio cues, but I haven't found the top-down view to be of much value yet.

Misc: Just a few more various things. I forgot to mention that while the Black Nevada leather seats look really nice, they just seem to be lower quality leather. I had the same grip about the E92 leather, and since I special ordered it, I opted for the Pleather, and was perfectly happy with that. The leather and leatherette I feel were pretty much indistinguishable and I suspect the same with the X3. i don't buy the whole "leather breathes better" logic as I had leather in my E90 and i sweated my a$$ off in the summer just as much as the pleather. not saying it's horrible, but just underwhelming, especially compared to the silk nappa leather you can get on the Audi. Also, there's not a whole lot of available storage in center console or glovebox…but at least you can fit the owner's manual in the glovebox, unlike the E92. There's plenty of door pocket space but I don't like using those and things either rattle or slide around in those pockets and it's annoying every time you brake, accelerate, or turn. The climate control is OK, except for an issue with the heater. For some reason, if you have the temp set to anything less than 84 deg F, you get cool air coming through the vents. I've seen at least one other similar complaint when I did a search, but I think i'm going to ask service to take a look.

Ok well, I think that's all I have for right now. I hope some of you find my initial review to be of some value. Bottom line is that this is a GREAT compact SUV…the best on the market IMHO. I'm pretty satisfied so far minus the lack of a manual….now just waiting to see if they release an X3M soon so hopefully I can find a CPO one to buy in a couple of years

Cheers!!!
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      02-07-2012, 08:40 AM   #2
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S1000RRPilot, great write up!

It's nice to get feedback from someone who isn't a bimmer 'fanboy'.

I think your review will help a lot of potential buyers.
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      02-07-2012, 10:17 AM   #3
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Great review, I am considering to buy one of these 35i and it is really helpful.
May I know what is the discount you got below MSRP for your car?
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      02-07-2012, 12:02 PM   #4
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Great review, S1000RRPilot. Got pics of the new ride?
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      02-07-2012, 12:24 PM   #5
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Great write up. I agree with you that Carbon Black is a misnomer. It's not actually black unless you look at a flat spot at a perpendicular angle. At any glancing angle it's dark blue. Nice choice though.

I would also add that braking is the car's weakest point, but only relative to how impressive every other feature of the car is.

One caveat to the overall excellent iDrive is it's abysmal voice control. Especially to make a phone call. Example:

Telephone>pause>Phone Book>Pause>Name of person>Pause>Numbered entry>confirmation>dialing

That's just too laborious and misses the point entirely. I recently rented a Kia Forte and I could call my wife's cell phone from my iPhone simply by saying: call + "my wife" + mobile (in one sentence!) and it did just that. If anyone knows how to make iDrive do that I'll be forever grateful.

Last edited by renderfarmer; 02-08-2012 at 09:14 AM..
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      02-07-2012, 02:31 PM   #6
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Nice, unbiased, and thorough review.
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      02-07-2012, 03:56 PM   #7
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According to the X3 owners manual the rear brake and turn singles are LED lights if you have the adaptive Xenon headlights which come with the X3 35i. I have seen this statement before about the rear lights not being LED but all the BMW documentation states adaptive LED tail lights. I guess people get confused because BMW chose to diffuse the tail lights instead of making every LED show up like an individual light like most manufacturers.
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      02-07-2012, 06:07 PM   #8
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Great review, though I should mention that the seats are not Nappa leather, but Nevada leather. Nappa is much finer, less textured, and is offered on BMW's more expensive cars. The M-sport steering wheel may be wrapped in Nappa leather, but I wouldn't know as my sports activity package wheel is wrapped in Nevada leather.

And regarding your climate control issues, press the snowflake button so the green light is off. That button activates and deactivates the compressor, so if you have it on, you'll feel cold air almost all the time. If you're really needing some heat, use the RED-BLUE slider in between the vents to fine tune the air temperature.

Last edited by xDrive35i; 02-07-2012 at 06:13 PM..
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      02-07-2012, 11:17 PM   #9
S1000RRPilot
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Hi all, thanks for all the responses! I'm glad you all liked the review.

@Archmc: MSRP was 55,695, I got it for $52,900. I was shooting for $1000 over the $51190 invoice, but they threw in the $879 lease wear and tear ($5k allowance) for free, so that seemed to make it up for me. This option was handy for me when I leased my E90 when I returned it with a cracked windshield and bald tires and simply was able to walk away.

@nonagon: I definitely will post pics, but it I just got the windows tinted and couldn't wash the car for the pic. But I plan to wash this weekend and will return with pics too!

@Renderfarmer: Yeah, this 8sp tranny is really impressively responsive and that's why I went with it, had it been slower, I would have had to look elsewhere. And yes, you are right, my fiancee had the same complaint about voice dialing, but i made it up to her by programming the preset buttons to call me and her mum and sis. Now all she has to do is touch just one button to dial her most frequent people

@Colson79: So I may be mistaken here, but yes the 3rd brake light are LEDs, and the rear parking lights (the long illuminated bars) are LED too, but I'm pretty sure the left and right rear brake lights are standard bulbs...hmmm...I'm going to check on that later

@Juddholland: Thanks for pointing out...yeah, i did mistakenly called the leather "Nappa" somewhere in the beginning. Yes, I like the smooth leather on the wheel and wish they would put that smoother leather on the seats...or better yet, Alcantra, but us Americans seem to equate luxury cars with leather seats and anything short of that isn't right. ***THANK YOU MR. JUDD!!! You hit the nail on the head with the heater "issue" I had, while the compressor switch didn't do anything, the Red/Blue slider was all the way to Blue and when I moved it all the way to Red I now vary the heat at settings <84 deg. You just saved me an embarrassing trip to the dealership! Thank you again!!! This is why I love these forums, so helpful!

One other comment, the 3 seems to be turning my "I live my entire life under 4k RPM" fiancee into a little hooligan. She has told me she can't keep the car under 80 MPH, and she's learning the joys of going fast around turns...oh my!
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      02-08-2012, 08:37 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juddholland View Post
That button activates and deactivates the compressor, so if you have it on, you'll feel cold air if the climate control senses a need to cool the air.
Fixed that for you.

To the OP, give the wheel mounted shifters a chance - column mounted are a major step back. If you are holding the wheel properly they fall right to hand and there is no thought required. You shouldn't be pulling shifters in the middle of turns anyway.
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      02-08-2012, 10:04 AM   #11
S1000RRPilot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bren View Post
Fixed that for you.

To the OP, give the wheel mounted shifters a chance - column mounted are a major step back. If you are holding the wheel properly they fall right to hand and there is no thought required. You shouldn't be pulling shifters in the middle of turns anyway.
I knew that was coming I thought the same thing after posting. Yeah, I have a little bit to learn about driving an auto...and dealing with 8 speeds.
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      02-20-2012, 07:40 PM   #12
S1000RRPilot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nonagon View Post
Great review, S1000RRPilot. Got pics of the new ride?
Hi all, just following up and wanted to let you know I took many pics of the 3 after it was washed this weekend:

http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showth...5#post11386245
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      04-25-2012, 06:36 PM   #13
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Great review. The cars you've owned in the past are more in line with where I'm coming from, so it's nice to see that you're happy overall! I also looked at the S4 as an option. Makes me feel better for still considering an X3... but now you've also got me contemplating Carbon Black when I was almost certain Space Gray was atop my list.
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