Used BMW X3 Review (2017-2024)

What might you expect a BMW SUV to be? High-tech? Sporty? Elegant? Tick, tick, tick. The BMW X3 is all of those and more. You probably wouldn’t call its styling exciting, but you might say it has a smooth, solid and perhaps even classy look. There aren’t any whopping grilles like on some of the brand’s more in-your-face models, nor needlessly massive wheels that’ll only ruin the ride.

Elsewhere, it’s much the same. Little will surprise you about the X3 if you’re familiar with other BMW models, but almost every aspect of it is impressive. It doesn’t make you compromise on comfort, or rear seat space, or fuel efficiency. As long as you don’t mind the occasional chunky servicing cost, the X3 should be seriously brilliant to live with.

But the same is true of the smaller BMW X1, which is a bit cheaper to run and noticeably cheaper to buy. Mind you, the X3 has the big-car feel from BMW’s range-topping SUVs, which the X1 doesn’t quite have, so the X3 will appeal if you want that sense of confidence and security.

The X3 is one of many premium midsize SUVs vying for your attention, including the Mercedes GLC, Audi Q5, Volvo XC60, Jaguar F-Pace, Range Rover Velar and Lexus NX. Phew.

You sit high up in the BMW X3, enjoying a commanding view of the road ahead and the feeling that you’re in a big, confident, safe car.

From where you’re sat, you’ll also appreciate the plush materials and the impressive build quality. It feels every inch a premium SUV, with lots of leather surrounding you, cool metallic trim on the dashboard ahead of you, and just the right amount of glossy black plastics to give a modern sheen.

The seats are supportive and very adjustable, with side bolsters keeping you in place and BMW’s extending thigh cushions to give your legs full support. They’re heated as standard to warm you up and soothe your back.

Earlier X3s have a cascading dashboard design with plenty of buttons to stab at, while post-facelift cars come with broadly the same dash as the current BMW 3 Series, plus BMW’s latest digital instrument cluster. Both are familiar fare from the German brand, and both feel modern and premium while still having lots of physical touchpoints.

You’re guaranteed a large infotainment screen in the X3, measuring 10.25 inches across on pre-facelift cars and 12.3 inches on newer versions. Both work in a similar way, with a rotary controller on the lower centre console letting you navigate through the system without getting greasy fingerprints all over the display.

It’s packed with features, including the car’s digital service record, but some of the features are hidden deep in submenus. It’s not so bad once you remember where a few of these features are, but it can be a bit confusing at first. Similarly, the built-in sat nav sometimes looks a little busy, and you might find the green sat nav route looks almost identical to the green-coloured main roads nearby.

Mind you, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are fitted on every X3, so you can use your phone’s apps on the screen if you prefer.

The semi-digital dials fitted on earlier cars are really easy to read, while the newer fully digital cluster puts a bit too much information all in the same place, with the gauges racing around the sides of the cluster and the middle having different bits of info layered over one another.

The two main trim levels are xLine and M Sport – focusing on off-road style and sporty style respectively. Standard equipment across both includes multi-zone air conditioning, a powered tailgate, ambient lighting, a reversing camera and cruise control – you won’t be short of equipment whichever version you pick.

Every X3 lets you check in on your car from your phone. You can remotely lock the car, flash the headlights in a busy car park, set the climate control before you get in and send navigation instructions from your phone to the car’s sat nav. Plug-in hybrid and electric versions also let you see how much range you’ve got left and schedule charging.

You’ll need to look elsewhere if you want a seven-seater, but the X3 is a very spacious five-seater. There’s plenty of adjustment in the front seats to allow you to get comfortable, and the rear seats recline as well. This cuts the boot space just a little bit, but will ensure your rear-seat passengers will be happy on long journeys. The rear seats offer plenty of space, and you’re not going to miss the extra few millimetres of legroom and headroom that you get in a Volvo XC60.

Four six-foot-tall adults can fit in the X3 no problem at all, with enough kneeroom to ensure you’re not going to be hitting the front seats and more than enough headroom. The X3’s width and its fairly flat rear seats mean that you can squeeze three adults across the back row.

The outer rear seats have easily accessed Isofix points, and the rear doors open wide to make it easy to extract grumpy toddlers. The hard plastics on the back of the front seats should also stand up well to lots of kicks from little feet – and they’ll be easier to clean than the leather upholstery.

The X3’s 550-litre boot exactly matches the Mercedes GLC and is up on the Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60. While it’s clearly a big space, it’s less than 50 litres larger than the boot you get in the cheaper BMW X1, which is worth bearing in mind if you think you might struggle to fill the X3’s cargo space. Plug-in hybrid X3s are 100 litres down on petrol and diesel versions – they have a flat floor but a higher load lip – while electric iX3 models have 510 litres.

The opening is tall and wide, making it a doddle to load oversize items like furniture. For the times when you need maximum boot space, the rear seats fold individually to free up an extra 1,000 litres, measured to the roof. You get a few nets, pockets and hooks to keep things from flying around, too.

Strap in, this could get long. Opening the X3 range are a pair of 2.0-litre engines with just over 180hp, one petrol and one diesel. It feels wrong saying this in 2024, but the diesel engine suits the X3 down to the ground – it’s fantastic at part throttle when you just want a bit of acceleration to keep up with traffic, and feels every bit as quick as its eight-second 0-62mph time suggests. What’s more, this engine can return up to 48mpg, making it economical for higher-mileage drivers. Lower-mileage drivers will love the smoothness and responsiveness of the 20i petrol engine.

A 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel is also available on the used market. Called the xDrive30d, this adds almost 100hp and is hot-hatch quick, and it’s not much less economical than the 20d.

On paper, the most economical X3 is the plug-in hybrid, with its 134mpg figure and 30-mile all-electric range. As with any PHEV, you’ll need to keep the battery topped up and run on electric power as often as possible to get close to those efficiency claims – once the battery’s run out, you’ll probably see fuel economy in the low thirties. However, the car’s battery will fully charge from a three-pin socket in a few hours, so you could start every day with a full battery if you charge overnight.

Want to wave goodbye to an engine totally? BMW offers the blank-grilled iX3, which is the only two-wheel-drive X3 in the UK lineup. It’s good for a 285-mile range and can be fast-charged to 80% in under half an hour from a 150kW charger, but is a little bit firm to account for the extra weight of the battery pack.

Performance addicts are well catered for, too, with three distinct hot X3s to choose from. The top rung is the X3 M Competition with its 510hp and ballistic speed, but we’d recommend picking the M40i petrol or M40d diesel versions instead. Both are still very rapid, but both manage comfortable cruising far better than the pummelling X3 M – and they don’t cost the best part of £100,000, like the X3 M does.

The BMW X3 is comfortable family car first, and sporty car second – just as you’d hope. There’s very little body roll, which is noteworthy in a car as big as this.

It manages to blend the secureness of a big SUV with the reflexes of a hatchback, so it’s really impressive from behind the wheel. It’s more agile and fun than almost all its rivals, such as the Mercedes GLC and Volvo XC60, even if the Jaguar F-Pace is just a whisker better to drive.

Stick with sensibly sized wheels and the ride quality is really strong. There’s a firm edge to it – a hint at the car’s sporty setup – but at the same time it’s very comfortable over the roads your council has conveniently forgotten to repair.

Whatever you want from your SUV, whether that’s agility, sophistication or comfort, the X3 delivers. And it’s easy to drive too, with an automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive helping out whatever the weather. It’ll dispatch long journeys and the school run with ease, but it’ll also encourage you to take the back roads home from the office.

Stick the X3 into Sport mode and you can feel the car’s computer send more of the power to the rear wheels – accelerate and you’ll feel the pushing sensation you get in rear-wheel drive cars. We’re really pleased that Sport mode doesn’t hang onto low gears unnecessarily, as some auto-equipped cars are annoyingly noisy and thirsty because they spend too much time in a low gear just in case you want to accelerate again. The X3’s gearbox is really well considered and mostly does what you expect it to do, with very little hesitation.

You get a bit of engine noise and suspension noise filtered through to the cabin, but the engine sounds fine to our ears. The X3’s standard-fit acoustic windscreen helps keep wind and tyre noise to a minimum.