[FastRedPonyCar]

I took a few minutes on Friday to talk about my thoughts after owning the car for 6 months.

If I'm being 100% honest, I think I would be just as happy with the X3 M40i but I have zero regrets getting the M and never saw an M40i with the options/paint/etc that I really wanted so I would have had to buy new which would have cost as much or more than what I paid for the M.

[AndyX3M]

I happened to be watching your video while browsing the forums - funny to see this post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts; surprised to hear about the self-driving working better than Tesla.

Interested to hear your thoughts on X3M vs Golf R. Mainly wondering about ride quality between the two.

[FastRedPonyCar]

Night an day difference vs the Golf in a few ways but not so much in some others.

The Golf is built to a much lower price point BUT the fit and finish inside the golf are nice and they do use above average quality materials and stuff in the car vs other cars in it's segment (Civic R, Corolla GR, BRZ, WRX, Scatpack/dodge, etc) but it still sits squarely in the "pretty nice for what it is" interior.

The X3M has leather everywhere, real carbon fiber, real metal vs painted plastic to look like metal, etc. The soft touch points are softer too and the X3M gets real vernasca leather vs the synthetic stuff in the Golf. Also black only in the golf sucks in the summer here in the south east.

The performance of the two cars really can't be compared. The X3M is faster but that shouldn't be a surprise and gas mileage is about the same. I was kinda shocked at mid 20's mpg in the golf on the highway.

The exhaust sound of the two cars is also kind of a toss up. The X3M can be somewhat fixed with an unequal length midpipe but there is nothing you can do to fix the ratty sound of the EA888 and the S58 only really sounds bad at low RPM's and on cold starts. Once it's over 2500 or so RPM's it sounds incredible but the EA888 sounds bad all the way to redline.

AWD vs AWD is also very different. The BMW is mostly RWD and the Golf is mostly FWD. I took the Golf to Deals Gap as well as a couple trips up to Highlands NC to drive those twisty roads and it definitely wants to understeer (though this has been somewhat addressed with the new differential in the MK8 R) and the X3M wants to oversteer.

I've read on VW Vortex that the MK8 lane keep assist/auto pilot is kinda iffy and most people just end up using the adaptive cruise control and handle the lane keep assist themselves. I did this a lot in the Tesla because of how much of a pain it was to always be turning auto pilot off and then back on just to change lanes on the highway.

Ride quality I would have to say goes to the Golf. While my X3M isn't uncomfortable (and moving to the different size tires made a big difference), it's still not as soft as the DCC in the Golf and also in the Golf, the different settings feel very different. The softest setting is SUPER soft and nice on bumpy roads and the firmest setting is nice and tight but not uncomfortable. It was honestly one of the best aspects of that car.

I was seriously considering a MK8 R but between the obscene price gouging by the dealers and simply needing a bit more room these days with a bigger family now and more music equipment to haul around, the X3 made more practical sense. Could I have made the Golf work? Probably. But working around the smaller space aside, there was no getting around the $7000+ markup on the MK8's and I ain't about that.

To be honest, the Tesla felt like a nice upgrade from the Golf in basically every way (ignoring the whole charging thing). The AWD on the Tesla is absolutely incredible and when it slips, it is able to cut and apply power where needed at a speed normal internal combustion cars can't even comprehend and because there's no gas tank, it has a huge area of storage in the trunk below the main section which can hold a full size suitcase and the frunk is handy too.

The interior, as sparse as it is, does feel better a tad better than the golf but not by much. Despite not having buttons, the infotainment in the tesla is really well thought out and no matter what is on the screen, there's always a row of shortcuts across the bottom of the screen to quickly access common things like AC, heated seats, etc.

Like I mentioned in the video though, when you turn on auto pilot in the Tesla, they FORCE you to use the auto-high beams and the auto wipers and both are absolutely terrible and you can't disable them. It used to not be that way but they pushed that change via an over the air update.

When I got my Tesla though, no one else had one and it was a cool conversation starter but about 2 years into the lease, EVERYONE had them and they are so common now it feels like the vanilla ice cream of cars. It used to be special and then it wasn't.

I've yet to see another X3M driving around town. I saw 1 at the dealer in that tennis ball yellow and the guys at our local cars & coffee said they've seen a satin black wrapped one but that's it. No has a car like mine and I like that kind of exclusivity.

A Golf and a Tesla won't turn heads like the X3M.

[Th3Walrus]

Originally Posted by FastRedPonyCar

The X3M has leather everywhere, real carbon fiber, real metal vs painted plastic to look like metal, etc. The soft touch points are softer too and the X3M gets real vernasca leather vs the synthetic stuff in the Golf.

Did you mean Merino? Or did some color options come in Vernasca? My 2020 X3MC with Sakhir Orange interior is Merino leather. Or were you referring to an X3M non-comp without the sport seats which is then Vernasca?

[FastRedPonyCar]

Originally Posted by Th3Walrus

Did you mean Merino? Or did some color options come in Vernasca? My 2020 X3MC with Sakhir Orange interior is Merino leather. Or were you referring to an X3M non-comp without the sport seats which is then Vernasca?

Oops. It's the Tartufo Extended Merino Leather.

[Mike02z]

LOL! That car looks familiar😂

The ER mid-pipe is the issue IMHO. You should have heard it prior to putting the Dinan exhaust on. The Dinan was a big improvement in rasp.

[M4Lou]

Got through about 11minutes - then realized it is 47min!!

I've got the ER midpipe and M performance and yes, noisy on startup. Heck, the GF M40i is a bit rowdy on startup. I honestly am fine w/ noise, if I am somewhere (rare) where sound is an issue - then I put in gear immediately.

Gas mileage - yeah, weight of vehicle and 500+HP. The mileage you want comes in the M40i. My M4comp is 23.8 average (lighter).

I leave the trunk cover in the closet.

I bought my 2024 week before T'giving - I've yet to close the sunroof liner (keep it like you have in video).

Thanks for posting - just didn't get though it yet!

[blinkme323]

One of the few people I guess that have owned an MYP, X3M and a Golf R. Can't go wrong with any of them, but truth be told, I do the think the new MK8 R probably hits the sweet spot in terms of price, performance, fit and finish, etc. (helps that I also wanted a 6MT).

The X3M is an incredible machine, but is horrifically outdated now, especially on the interior. 95% of the interior is identical to what I had on my 2015 M3.

The MYP is a different animal altogether, basically an electric X3M, just really tough to describe. But I know the electric thing is a non-starter for some. The thing is just cavernous though. Probably double the cargo capacity of the Golf and X3M combined.

In the end though, I could only keep two out of the three and ended up keeping the MYP and Golf R... for now

[FastRedPonyCar]

Originally Posted by blinkme323

One of the few people I guess that have owned an MYP, X3M and a Golf R. Can't go wrong with any of them, but truth be told, I do the think the new MK8 R probably hits the sweet spot in terms of price, performance, fit and finish, etc. (helps that I also wanted a 6MT).

The X3M is an incredible machine, but is horrifically outdated now, especially on the interior. 95% of the interior is identical to what I had on my 2015 M3.

The MYP is a different animal altogether, basically an electric X3M, just really tough to describe. But I know the electric thing is a non-starter for some. The thing is just cavernous though. Probably double the cargo capacity of the Golf and X3M combined.

In the end though, I could only keep two out of the three and ended up keeping the MYP and Golf R... for now

I rented a MK8 GTI for a week to see if I could live with the infotainment and haptic buttons but I really didn’t like it. Everything felt a bit sluggish vs the Tesla.

The cheapest MK8 R near me was almost $9000 over MSRP and I just couldn’t do it….especially knowing that (at the time) there were at least rumors of a refresh with physical buttons.

I honestly like the interior of the X3M. It does feel dated vs the other LCI cars with the big screen but I prefer it. I think I would have been ok with the Tesla controls if they let me disable auto wipers and high beams when auto pilot is on. ..or they could just make them work better.

To be totally honest, I miss my Scatpack Charger more than any other of my old cars. It was hilarious, sounded amazing, wildly unsafe and looked awesome but the offers I got during Covid for that thing were too good to pass up (I got $7k under what I paid for it and I had put 50k miles on it hahaha)

[FastRedPonyCar]

Originally Posted by Mike02z

LOL! That car looks familiar😂

The ER mid-pipe is the issue IMHO. You should have heard it prior to putting the Dinan exhaust on. The Dinan was a big improvement in rasp.

I figured. I'd like to try the AA equal length mid pipe but don't really have $2 grand burning a hole in my pockets right now.

[Kevin_The_Clean1]

No offense, but the moment you said all non-NA BMW in-line 6 engines sound like crap was the very moment I had to gladly turn your 47 minute rant off. Had you been a little more articulate & had something better to offer in terms of some real professional automotive feedback, maybe I would've invested a few more seconds.

Click on this at your own risk...

[FastRedPonyCar]

Originally Posted by Kevin_The_Clean1

No offense, but the moment you said all non-NA BMW in-line 6 engines sound like crap was the very moment I had to gladly turn your 47 minute rant off. Had you been a little more articulate & had something better to offer in terms of some real professional automotive feedback, maybe I would've invested a few more seconds.

Click on this at your own risk...

I didn't say ALL, I said twin turbo BMW straight 6's, which is internet fact. N54's, S55 and S58 all have a ratty low rpm sound.

Had you continued watching, you'd have heard me explain and go into detail that it only sounds bad on a cold start for a short period of time and only in a certain RPM range and beyond that, it sounds incredible (like the other TT 6's)

[Kevin_The_Clean1]

Originally Posted by FastRedPonyCar

I didn't say ALL, I said twin turbo BMW straight 6's, which is internet fact. N54's, S55 and S58 all have a ratty low rpm sound.

Had you continued watching, you'd have heard me explain and go into detail that it only sounds bad on a cold start for a short period of time and only in a certain RPM range and beyond that, it sounds incredible (like the other TT 6's)

Well, then I stand corrected about some of the details. And you're right about TT engines. Guess just the length of the video & some of the basic words used to describe some simple things wasn't my cup of tea. Glad you're enjoying X3 M though & are sharing the experience with us. Simply stating that a more condensed version next time might appeal to a bigger audience. Cheers man & happy motoring!

[M4Lou]

Originally Posted by Kevin_The_Clean1

No offense, but the moment you said all non-NA BMW in-line 6 engines sound like crap was the very moment I had to gladly turn your 47 minute rant off. Had you been a little more articulate & had something better to offer in terms of some real professional automotive feedback, maybe I would've invested a few more seconds.

Click on this at your own risk...

One man's rasp is another man's growl...

...I've got an ER on my S58 M4 and *because of how it sounds, I put an ER on my (S58) X3M.