German Car Zone

When it was released in 2004 at the height of the SUV boom, it should have been a runaway success- a 3 Series chassis with an honest-to-goodness useful body bolted on top of it. The original X3 had the potential to be BMW’s masterstroke, but corner-cutting relegated it to novelty status.

Not that it was a bad little truck- sorry, sport activity vehicle- it just lacked that certain je ne sais quoi that helps make a BMW, you know, a BMW. The interior was unappropriately low-rent, with cheap looking plastics and too many hard surfaces. Even the doors sounded un-Germanly tinny and hollow. What Nissan buyers will tolerate, BMW owners simply won’t.

Germans are known for being stubborn, but they aren’t stupid. Almost immediately they went to work on changes, and the fruit of their labor is available as the updated and greatly improved 2007 BMW X3 3.0si, to which we finally say, “Welcome to the family.”

You’d have to be Chris Bangle’s stalker to tell the difference between the new X3 and its predecessor from most angles. The headlights and taillights have been re-touched, but the sheetmetal itself is unchanged. The X3’s silhouette is still somewhat ungainly, but if there is an upside to this slightly awkward styling, it has to be the panoramic vista from the front seats. With such a low hood and lots of glass, you feel in command, even if you don’t actually sit as high up as in other SUVs.

While we might normally suggest keeping your eyes on the road, the view inside the new X3 is one that actually deserves your attention. The dashboard now looks and feels like an appropriate German vehicle (so what if it’s actually screwed together in Austria?), with the instrument hood finally integrated into the top, and with soft leather-like textures on the surfaces. Likewise, the door panels no longer resemble the work of the Igloo Cooler Corporation- instead of hard, pebbly plastic they are now stitched of soft leather and vinyl.


This might all sound a little nit-picky, but details like these separate the men from the boys in this arena. For forty large, buyers expect an interior that looks the part. It also can’t sound like an ‘80’s-vintage Subaru when you lift the door handle, as our 2004 test vehicle did. This, too, has been addressed- the door and its handle may look the same as before, but the air of cheapness has been engineered out of the experience.

All this right-brain, touchy-feely stuff is only half of what makes the 2007 X3 a far better vehicle than its predecessor. The left side of the brain will get off on the new engine choice, or perhaps the lack thereof. Once again the only engine offered in the X3 is a 3.0-liter six, but it's not the old 225-horse aluminum lump from before. The revised modeluses the same ultralight magnesium/aluminum unit that made its debut in the 2006 330i, providing 260 horsepower.

This engine is making its way through the lower half of the BMW range like the plague through 17th century London. It not only pushes the new X3, it can also be found in the 3 Series coupe, sedan, wagon and convertible, the 5 Series sedan, the Z4 coupe and roadster, and even the larger X5 SAV. Rampant proliferation has taken nothing away from this powerplant though- it’s that good of an engine that it deserves to be used wherever it can. Known internally as the N52, it is revered as much for the absolute smoothness of its operation as it is for its juicy power delivery. Mated to either the standard 6-speed manual or optional swift-shifting 6-speed autobox, performance is always lively, whether from a dead stop or overtaking minivans on the way to soccer practice.

As cool as it is that BMW saw fit to offer a manual transmission on the X3, the new 6-speed automatic is probably the better choice. Blasphemy, yes, but it shifts so quickly and precisely that you’d have a hard time doing better yourself. Especially in Sport mode, where the transmission seems to read your mind, always leaving you in just the right gear for the conditions. In theory, the automatic will also net you better fuel economy, at least in city driving. It may sound impossible, but in the standard Drive mode the tranny does its best to move you up through the gears as soon as the engine can handle it. The result is an EPA city/highway rating of 19/26 for the automatic, slightly better than the manual’s 18/26 figure.

Two pedals or three, all X3s are mated to BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system. xDrive uses the stability control sensors to detect wheel slip and deliver toque to the most appropriate wheels. In true BMW fashion, it favors rear-drive dynamics under most conditions for a purer driving experience, but is capable of directing most of the torque to the front wheels in sever oversteer situations. Torque distribution is managed by an electronically controlled clutch in the transfer case, with infinite variability between the front and rear.

The X3 is certainly taller, more generously shaped and a bit heavier than any 3 Series wagon, but that’s a good thing if you actually haul something in your BMW. Dynamically, the X3 isn’t greatly different from most other BMWs- the chassis is nimble, the brakes are sure and precise and it will get to super-legal speeds faster than many sports cars did a decade ago. Driving enthusiasts can even check the option box for the Sport Package, which not only dresses up the exterior and adds BMW’s excellent sport seats, it also includes a firmer suspension.

The 2007 X3 finally hits the mark as a genuine BMW. From the new engine and transmission to the vastly improved interior, it now deserves to wear its roundel. It’s too bad we had to wait three years for them to get it right.

Road Test: 2007 BMW X3 3.0si