2016 BMW X3

Not for everyone

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 3 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 3 Reliability Rating: 4 Safety Rating: 4 Technology Rating: 4 Value Rating: 19

There are a lot a good features about the BMW X3, but overall if I had the decision to make all over again I would choose something else. First the good things. 1) The power from the 3.0L turbo is very good. It is refined and the transmission shifts smoothly. 2) The active stop and go cruise control is worth the extra cost. When you are sitting stop and go traffic it is a wonderful feature. 3) Back seats and cargo capacity are very good for this class of SUV. 4) I-Drive is easy to use once you get the hang of it. 5) Heads up display is a great feature. I have it on another car and think more vehicles should have this as an option. Now for the things that I am disappointed with after having this BMW for a few months. 1) The upgraded Harmon Kardon system sounds just OK. I had a Harmon system in a Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit and it rocked in comparison to this system. At louder volume levels the sound is a bit harsh. 2) The keyless entry system can be a bit flakey. With the key in my pocket I have issues opening and locking the door. I have to take the key out of my pocket to make it work. I don't have this issue on my GM with a keyless system. Plus for a vehicle of this price point, I think its kind of cheap to not have them on the rear doors too. 3) Both rear tail lights have flaws from the molding process. I have looked at others and you can barely see the injection points in the lens, but mine stand out like sore thumb. They look like white dots on the tail lights. The dealer says they are in spec. Again for the price of these SUV's is seams these could be made better. 4) Went I got it I thought the interior was nice and was fitting of the luxury brand. But over time, some the materials feel cheep. Even with upgraded leather, the ruff texture makes it feel like fake leather. It was not until I got in my friends new Cadillac XT5 did I really notice the difference. The Cadillac is light years ahead on interior quality. I can feel the ruff seam on the top and bottom of the turn signal stalk where the two pieces of plastic meet. 5) No vented front seats and power tilt/telescoping wheel. A miss on this class and price point. 6) Auto Start/Stop is poorly programmed. Many times it stops the moment you stop. There should be a couple of seconds delay. When coming to a stop sign or switching gears while pulling into a parking space, I have had the engine shut off just to restart again while it was shutting off. Then there are times when you think it should shut off and it does not. I have stopped and put it into park and it won't shut off. The only plus is you can disable the feature. I highly recommend this if you have the A/C on. 7) Front parking sensors are slow to engage. Don't pull up to something quickly and expect them to be active. 8) Having to hit the Start/Stop button twice to shut everything off is annoying. Once to stop the engine the second time to turn off accessories. If you don't the accessories stay on even after you open the door. It will timeout once you have locked the door, but I don't trust it. You should only have to hit it once to turn the engine off. Then when you open the drivers door it shuts off the accessories. 9) It was not until I a took a long trip and my left leg started falling asleep how bad the comfort is on the bottom of the front seats. They are not good. The cushion is too short on the front and sides. 10) Just got the recall notice about the rear child safety seat anchor. Give this vehicle is been on the market for a while I am surprised that this has come up this late in the product cycle. What concerns me how they have to fix this. They need to remove the rear seats and carpet, send it out a body shop to have a support bracket welded in. Not liking the sound of welding something in a brand new vehicle. ***UPDATE*** I traded the BMW in after 6 months. When you spend this kinda money on a car and are not happy with it you need to go with something else. The something else is a 2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport with under 25K miles. This is an amazing car. Can't wait to get into it each day and drive. This is what a luxury car should be.

Fantastic Driving Experience

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

Visibility is so good. The overhead camera is fab for letting you know when you are in garage/parking space! We drove from tn to Florida and experienced no stiffness. Love the leg extender in the msport.

Good SUV for the money

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: Value Rating:

Overall a very good SUV. The right size when you are limited by the parking space. Got basic xDrive28, just added leather, camera and 19" wheels. Unfortunately the car is missing some basic options in base trim as for that price. I understand that you can get all that as packages, but then price will jump too high: 1) LED/HID headlamps 2) Intelligent key less entry (when you just touch the door handler). 3) No lambda on front seats. Even headrest is only up-down now (used to be 4-way adjustable, it's still 4-way adjustable in 3-series in base trim) . I'm lucky the seat is comfortable for me, but you don't know until drove a long distance. Test drive won't show that. 4) Blind-spot detectors. Other considerations: 1) You will not like electric steering at least for a few weeks if you used to old-school BMW with power steering (I guess prior to 2012). After all it's not bad but definitely gives less steering feeling. 2) I still don't like sound of turbo-4. However it drives good, with adequate acceleration and fast shifting. And it doesn't loose power on high-way speeds. Complaints - I had certain lease issues with the dealership. Unfortunate BMW customers service didn't help me. I constantly was redirected between BMW and the dealership. I have to rate the BMW customers service as the worst I had to deal with.

Very very nice car

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 4

Put on about 8700 miles so far. It is such a pleasure to drive. Our other car is a 2010 Acura RDX, and while it isn't completely fair to compare the two due to age difference, it is amazing how much more fun it is to drive the X3. The car handles like a dream, cornering is a blast. The acceleration is good but maybe a little too many gears for my taste. Build quality seems great. The interior is very lovely. We got all the bells and whistles - favorite parts are the blind spot notification (which causes the steering wheel to shake when a car is in a blind spot and the turn signal is activated) and the overhead view that makes parking a total joy. I HIGHLY recommend getting the overhead view add-on(friends are totally blown away when showing them this feature - it looks like a drone is flying over the car sending the video so you can see the parking spot lines) Car is expensive, sure...iDrive system blows, sure... but good golly is it a joy to drive. Likes: Cornering acceleration Interior design Exterior looks(xline package) Technology(driver assistance packages) Dislikes: iDrive system - not fun to use - wife hates it - I would rather have touchscreen Rear seats don't fold flat limiting cargo space I wish there was an option to have the idlestop feature wait a second or two before shutting the car off - for when making left turns where you only have to wait a split second Would also like the ability to make the ECO PRO mode be the default. Having to turn it on every time you start the car is downright silly.

So far so great!

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 4

I was considering the Audi Q5, Lexus NX200t and Range Rover Evoque before deciding on the BMW X3. I was almost seduced by the Evoque, but reading all of the owner horror stories scared me away. I took delivery of my X3 in December 2015 and have already put about 7500 miles on the vehicle. Thus far, the X3 has performed flawlessly and has not disappointed! Initial build quality appears to be worthy of the price tag. I've found the xDrive system to work very well on the road during inclement weather (heavy rain, light snow), although I did not have to put it to the test in deep snow. I do not have the Dynamic Handling Package, but given how well the X3 handles the road without it, I'm not really sure how much of a difference I might notice with it. I've read other reviews where some felt the ride was too harsh, but I don't share that opinion, although I do like to feel the road perhaps more than some might. The vehicle handles and accelerates so smoothly perhaps with the exception of the auto start/stop feature which can be noticeable at times. I leave it in the "Comfort" drive mode most of the time. I put it in "Sport" mode, when merging onto a freeway or needing to get through busy intersections when I need the extra burst of acceleration. I rarely use ECO Mode. I've found the gas mileage between ECO and Comfort to be relatively negligible and the gearing is just too dulled down for my liking in ECO mode. I've been averaging just over 23 miles per gallon for which probably 75% of my miles are highway. I find the interior of the X3 to be nicely appointed and up to standards of fit and finish for the class of vehicle. I find the seating to be comfortable and the climate control system to work very well. The Infotainment system menu is fairly intuitive and with a little playing around with it, you should be able to figure out most of the functions and settings in relatively short order. The iDrive controller is easy to use to navigate the control panel, but some of the buttons on the passenger side of the controller are hard to see from the driver's seat. The one function I haven't really used much is the voice command system, so I can't really comment to how accurately it works. The buttons and controls on the dashboard and steering wheel all seem to be well placed with proper tactile feel. In my opinion, there are a few "must" have packages to avoid buyer's remorse: * xLine or M Sport Package: I think either of those significantly enhance the aesthetics of the vehicle. I went with the xLine. I'm happy with it, but wish the Sport Seats that you get with the M Sport package was an available option. * Lighting Package: Recommend going with either the Xenon or Full LED. Either the Xenon or LED seem to throw a much brighter light and I personally think they look much better than the yellowish Halogens. I opted for the Xenon lights and am very happy with them. * Dual-Pane Moonroof (either as standalone option or part of the Premium Package). About as close to the convertible feel as you can get. As far as the other options go, I opted the following: Premium package, Technology package, Driver Assistance package, Driver Assistance Plus, Harman Kardon Sound System and Heated Front Seats. Unfortunately, in order to get certain features, you have to opt for entire packages. For example, if you want Lumbar Support on the front seat, you have to get the Premium package. If you want the Head Up display, you have to get the Technology package. The safety features are spread out between the Driver Assistance Package and Driver Assistance Plus. If you only want rear view camera and parking sensors, you can just opt for the Driver Assistance package. However, of all the available safety features, Active Blind Spot detection was most important to me so I had to select the Driver Assistance Plus package which also requires you to select the Driver Assistance package. I've found the surround view camera feature that is part of the Driver Assistance Plus package to be very useful as well. I'm hardly an audiophile, but the HK sound system sounds good to my ears. The Heated Front seats have 3 settings and heat up quickly. There are a few features missing that I would have liked to see available on the X3: * Full size spare or at least a temporary spare. This is my biggest gripe. My X3 came with run flats. There is no hole in the cargo area for any type of spare nor under the vehicle. I've seen aftermarket temporary spares available, but unless you put it on your roof rack, you have to put it in the rear cargo area which then leaves you with little cargo room. * Cooled front seats. I have black Nevada leather and would really have liked the option to have cooled front seats for the hot weather. * Auto-Folding Side Mirrors. The side mirrors do fold with the press of a button on the driver's side door, but why not fold automatically when the vehicle is turned off?

I survived!

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 4

I was hit on the driver's side door by an '01 Chevy Impala travelling at 45 mph ... and I walked away without a scratch! I was driving my 2015 BMW X3, so when I needed a new car it was a no brainer ... I bought a new 2016 BMW X3. Handles beautifully and is a real pleasure to drive.

Love this vehicle

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

Shop around. Visit a couple of dealerships first to get your best price. Packages can increase the cost quickly. Lighting package a must: headlights are phenomenal; Technology and Premium package a must. You do not need the rear camera or the blind spot package (unless you have small children at home)because the x3 has very good visibility on it's own. Very, very comfortable on long road trips. Love this vehicle. Very pleased, and fun to drive. The only thing: I wish it had a 5 star crash rating for the front passenger - it has a 4. This is my second bimmer. (My prior BMW was a 328iXdrive sedan with the M Sport package. Loved this one as well. I almost cried when handing it in at the end of the lease!.)

Off to a great start

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 4

I have a little over 600 miles on my 2016 X3 xdrive28d. So far, I'm very happy with the vehicle. I spend about 2 hours a day commuting and the X3 is a great place to be. The 2L turbodiesel is not for racing, but it's plenty quick and accelerates to 70 mph effortlessly. The computer is pretty accurate and mpgs are climbing, currently at 34 mpgs. After adjusting the seats I find them very comfortable (Nevada leather). The interior design is classy, although some of the buttons are difficult to see from the driver's seat. The engine is not as quiet as my Q5 TDI, but you don't hear it cruising down the highway. The car came with 18 inch wheels with Pirelli P7s and they are quiet so far. The idrive infotainment system is complex, but most functions work by voice command and it works well. The build quality is excellent and there are no rattles, even from the panoramic sunroof. The suspension is firm, well composed and comfortable. The auto Stop/Start works well and definitely saves fuel at those long traffic lights. I do disable Start/Stop in sections where I know the stops will be brief. I can't comment on reliability this early on. I always look forward to driving this car.

Great ride but snug

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 4 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 4 Value Rating: 4

Super smooth suspension and torquey 4 cylinder 240hp. Great handling on curves and visibility. The cabin space is a little tight (I'm only 5'8" 150#) due to the wide console. Rest of vehicle decently fits family of 4 with car seats. But, happy with fuel economy and most convenience features. I would recommend it.

BMW needs to learn to design seats

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 1 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 3 Reliability Rating: Safety Rating: 4 Technology Rating: 4 Value Rating: 1

I leased a 2016 BMW X3 3.5 X drive with the M sports package for my wife. We were hoping to use the vehicle for a road car. I have tried to sit in the front seats of the car. They are abysmal. I do not feel my size is unusual at 6'2" and 225 lbs. I am unable to sit in them for more than 10 minutes without being very uncomfortable. In my 50 + years of sitting in automobile seats have never sat in the front seat of any model of any car or truck and been uncomfortable. If you are a person of small stature the seats in this vehicle are tolerable. Make sure any guest you will have in your X3 will be the same size. I sent an email to the BMW "geniuses" but have not gotten a response. My review of the BMW discussion groups shows this bad seat design in the X3 has been an issue for quite a while. If you are test driving this car you need to drive it for 15 to 20 minutes at a minimum. If you can't sit comfortably in the car to drive it, everything else about the car is meaningless. I would recommend any other vehicle than the X3.

I got my BMW!

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

After wanting a BMW for years and for many reasons not getting one, my wife said we should get rid of our current SUV...and BMW makes an SUV. I would have accepted almost any BMW, but are now the proud owner of a 2016 x3 all wheel drive. If I lower the seats to its lowest position I feel I am driving a sports car! In reality I raise the seat about halfway and it feels like I driving a luxury car. We needed the space in the back and its very generous for the size of vehicle, and there is still plenty of rear seat legroom. Drives great, looks great and costs great but its worth it.

Outstanding car!

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

My wife and I drove many cars before we decided to buy the 2016 X3, including Lincoln, Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac. Not one of the others handled and accelerated like the BMW. The safety ratings on this car is better than the others too. The cost of the X3 was lower and the reviews from previous years we're very good and convinced us to buy it. This is a very fun and comfortable car to drive!

Compared 7 Vehicles

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

I reviewed information online for Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Audi, Acura and Infinity. I keyed on safety, reliability, gas mileage and costs. I test drove each of the vehicles twice and took notes about strengths and weaknesses. I narrowed it down to Lexus and BMW primarily because of driving comfort, interior features and how I was treated at the dealership. I drove each one more time and the BMW just handled better. The interior features (look, comfort and navigation controls) were great and easy to master. Final two items that convinced me to buy the BMW was the lower cost and great people throughout the dealership. I am sure that all the vehicles I mentioned are great but after thoroughly testing them all, the BMW just proved to be the best option for me. I have only had it for a few weeks but I am convinced that I made the right choice.

Somebody Stop Me (From Having So Much Fun)

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

What a great car ! My wife and I are older and used to have BMW'S when we were younger and it was easier to get into her Z3 and my 330I. After a few back surgeries, retiring to our beloved northern Minnesota, and not having a dealer close by for service, we traded the Bimmers in for Hondas. They are great cars too ! Her CRV and my Ridgeline are wonderful, but she is so short that she had a hard time driving the Ridgeline. We traded the Ridgeline in on this car because she can drive it easily and I missed the handling and just plain fun of a BMW. 'Nuff said . We have to go to Minneapolis for service ( it's 200 miles away ) but , we don't care. Driving it there is a blast ! We have the 3.5l M ! For us, it's doesn't get any more fun or comfortable !