Seriously off topic..
06-16-2004, 04:02 AM
#12
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Heezy, we do not have Infinity overhere. The Cayenne is in a different price class, and probably a bit too big for my wife.
We're trying the SE next week and take it from there. She really wants a BMW, does not want to wait 9 months, doesn't want another estate and needs to haul a dog the size of a small pony about..
I can live with the X3's trim, but I wasn't exagerating when I said that I felt my kidneys after half an hour (of country lanes). I'm not expecting an E60 ride, but there are limits..
On the other hand, the thing looks *good*.
I guess we'll sleep on it...
We're trying the SE next week and take it from there. She really wants a BMW, does not want to wait 9 months, doesn't want another estate and needs to haul a dog the size of a small pony about..
I can live with the X3's trim, but I wasn't exagerating when I said that I felt my kidneys after half an hour (of country lanes). I'm not expecting an E60 ride, but there are limits..
On the other hand, the thing looks *good*.
I guess we'll sleep on it...
06-16-2004, 04:24 AM
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Make sure to bring the dog on the test drive with you! My ex is able to easily fit two standard poodles (pretty big!) in to the back of an '04 RAV4, to get a comparison in size only (I do remember this is a bmw board!).
Sam
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06-16-2004, 06:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Flowerfred' date='Jun 15 2004, 05:15 PM
My wife and I test drove one and it was, to say the least, as smooth as a tank. After half an hour I felt my kidneys. I also thought the interiour looked, well, cheap.
They echoed your comments above almost exactly.
The model they tested was a 3.0 manual with 17" wheels and NO sports suspension.
06-16-2004, 07:02 AM
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This review appeared in the Guardian yesterday....it made me smile anyway!
I am not worthy
The BMW X3 makes you feel rich, carefree and seven feet tall
Tim Dowling
Tuesday June 15, 2004
The Guardian
I've never quite understood the BMW procedure for the naming of its vehicles. I know they generally stick to a three-digit code, which may or may not be accompanied by a lower-case i, and perhaps some other letters as well. I also know that their little roadsters come in a range of Zs. While this system is undoubtedly preferable to picking from a long list of fast animals, desert winds and foreign adjectives, the numbers don't conjure up much of an image for the uninitiated.
So I was excited about taking delivery of an X3, if only because I knew I would be surprised. It sounds as if they only invented it yesterday. Could the X stand for experimental? What happened to the X1 and X2? Did they explode on the test track? Is it rocket-propelled? Does it make use of anti-matter? Is it a car that turns into a boat? My last guess was closest. The X3 is a vehicle stuck in mid-transformation from car to boat - or at least that's how it looked to me the first time I saw it moored outside my house.
It's difficult to imagine anything more specifically designed to inspire hatred in one's fellow road-user than a BMW in SUV form. There are several adjectives frequently deployed when describing BMW drivers, "endearing" being conspicuous in its absence. While this wholesale demonisation of a particular class of car-owner may not be strictly fair, I for one have always found it a handy rule of thumb. If the car you drive says anything about the person you are, then a BMW badge is the next best thing to a personalised numberplate saying A55 OLE.
The demonisation of SUV drivers is rather more official: the mayor of Paris wants them banned from the streets of his city. Ken Livingstone has branded them idiots. You don't have to be stuck behind someone trying to wedge their gigantic Range Rover into the car park entrance of the local gym too many times to be in perfect accord.
Happily, this animosity does not turn to self-hatred the moment you get behind the wheel of the X3. The intoxicating smell of leather instils a feeling of privilege and, if you stay in it long enough, entitlement. The X3 is a pleasure - nay, an honour to drive. You get a real sense of what it would be like to be rich, carefree and seven feet tall. I was still uncomfortable getting in and out of it, but my wife, who breathed in the leather more deeply, overcame all shame. She insisted the children be picked up from school in it. She started telling people that her father had bought it for her.
It is true that the X3 driver can expect very little in the way of sympathy or accommodation from other motorists. You should not expect any grace at traffic lights or when changing lanes. The only people who are likely to let you into a long queue of slow-moving traffic are drivers of the even larger X5, and I'm not about to accept any favours from those eco-vandals.
The X3 has a few exotic-sounding features, including "hill descent control" and "trailer stability control", which I was simply not in a position to test. At first glance, this is not a car you would take off-road; if it were mine I'd be a bit choosy about what sort of Tarmac I drove it on. It's impossible to imagine a real X3 owner letting a wet Labrador anywhere near it. And yet this is more than an ordinary luxury car shaped like an overinflated Zodiac raft: it has 200mm of ground clearance, a "wading depth" of half a metre, four-wheel drive, 192bhp and the ability to tow 2,000kg. With all this at my disposal I fully intended to drive the X3 as it was meant to be driven: very slowly along the narrow streets of Chelsea. I thought I'd talk on my mobile while making a few clearly proscribed right turns, perhaps gently mounting the pavement where convenient. Then I wanted to hold up traffic while I practised parallel parking in the Little Boltons for an hour or two.
In the end I couldn't find the Little Boltons, and parking was simply not difficult enough. The X3 has sensors feeling both the kerb and the car behind, setting off two separate beeping noises which, once you figure out which is which, make it possible to park with your eyes closed. So instead I drove around Chelsea indulging in bursts of unsolicited courtesy; tucking in to let other cars pass, minding my manners at intersections and generally adopting an "after you" at points of potential conflict. You could see, if not quite smiles, expressions of pleasant surprise, a softening of the eyes that seemed to say: "You are not quite the complete prick your choice of vehicle would seem to indicate." BMW owners' club members, you have me to thank.
There are a few tricks BMW has missed with its new Chelsea tractor. It should really be available only in automatic (as the larger 3.0 X3 is) and should come with satellite navigation as standard so that when you want to find the Little bloody Boltons, you can. But this particular 4X4 is aimed at women, and my wife seems to like it just as it is. I hope she brings it back soon.
The lowdown
BMW X3 2.5
Price: from ?28,715
Top speed: 129mph
Acceleration: 0-62mph in 8.9 secs
Consumption: 25.2mpg (combined)
At the wheel: Princess Michael of Kent
On the stereo: Classic FM
En route for: serious off-road parking
I am not worthy
The BMW X3 makes you feel rich, carefree and seven feet tall
Tim Dowling
Tuesday June 15, 2004
The Guardian
I've never quite understood the BMW procedure for the naming of its vehicles. I know they generally stick to a three-digit code, which may or may not be accompanied by a lower-case i, and perhaps some other letters as well. I also know that their little roadsters come in a range of Zs. While this system is undoubtedly preferable to picking from a long list of fast animals, desert winds and foreign adjectives, the numbers don't conjure up much of an image for the uninitiated.
So I was excited about taking delivery of an X3, if only because I knew I would be surprised. It sounds as if they only invented it yesterday. Could the X stand for experimental? What happened to the X1 and X2? Did they explode on the test track? Is it rocket-propelled? Does it make use of anti-matter? Is it a car that turns into a boat? My last guess was closest. The X3 is a vehicle stuck in mid-transformation from car to boat - or at least that's how it looked to me the first time I saw it moored outside my house.
It's difficult to imagine anything more specifically designed to inspire hatred in one's fellow road-user than a BMW in SUV form. There are several adjectives frequently deployed when describing BMW drivers, "endearing" being conspicuous in its absence. While this wholesale demonisation of a particular class of car-owner may not be strictly fair, I for one have always found it a handy rule of thumb. If the car you drive says anything about the person you are, then a BMW badge is the next best thing to a personalised numberplate saying A55 OLE.
The demonisation of SUV drivers is rather more official: the mayor of Paris wants them banned from the streets of his city. Ken Livingstone has branded them idiots. You don't have to be stuck behind someone trying to wedge their gigantic Range Rover into the car park entrance of the local gym too many times to be in perfect accord.
Happily, this animosity does not turn to self-hatred the moment you get behind the wheel of the X3. The intoxicating smell of leather instils a feeling of privilege and, if you stay in it long enough, entitlement. The X3 is a pleasure - nay, an honour to drive. You get a real sense of what it would be like to be rich, carefree and seven feet tall. I was still uncomfortable getting in and out of it, but my wife, who breathed in the leather more deeply, overcame all shame. She insisted the children be picked up from school in it. She started telling people that her father had bought it for her.
It is true that the X3 driver can expect very little in the way of sympathy or accommodation from other motorists. You should not expect any grace at traffic lights or when changing lanes. The only people who are likely to let you into a long queue of slow-moving traffic are drivers of the even larger X5, and I'm not about to accept any favours from those eco-vandals.
The X3 has a few exotic-sounding features, including "hill descent control" and "trailer stability control", which I was simply not in a position to test. At first glance, this is not a car you would take off-road; if it were mine I'd be a bit choosy about what sort of Tarmac I drove it on. It's impossible to imagine a real X3 owner letting a wet Labrador anywhere near it. And yet this is more than an ordinary luxury car shaped like an overinflated Zodiac raft: it has 200mm of ground clearance, a "wading depth" of half a metre, four-wheel drive, 192bhp and the ability to tow 2,000kg. With all this at my disposal I fully intended to drive the X3 as it was meant to be driven: very slowly along the narrow streets of Chelsea. I thought I'd talk on my mobile while making a few clearly proscribed right turns, perhaps gently mounting the pavement where convenient. Then I wanted to hold up traffic while I practised parallel parking in the Little Boltons for an hour or two.
In the end I couldn't find the Little Boltons, and parking was simply not difficult enough. The X3 has sensors feeling both the kerb and the car behind, setting off two separate beeping noises which, once you figure out which is which, make it possible to park with your eyes closed. So instead I drove around Chelsea indulging in bursts of unsolicited courtesy; tucking in to let other cars pass, minding my manners at intersections and generally adopting an "after you" at points of potential conflict. You could see, if not quite smiles, expressions of pleasant surprise, a softening of the eyes that seemed to say: "You are not quite the complete prick your choice of vehicle would seem to indicate." BMW owners' club members, you have me to thank.
There are a few tricks BMW has missed with its new Chelsea tractor. It should really be available only in automatic (as the larger 3.0 X3 is) and should come with satellite navigation as standard so that when you want to find the Little bloody Boltons, you can. But this particular 4X4 is aimed at women, and my wife seems to like it just as it is. I hope she brings it back soon.
The lowdown
BMW X3 2.5
Price: from ?28,715
Top speed: 129mph
Acceleration: 0-62mph in 8.9 secs
Consumption: 25.2mpg (combined)
At the wheel: Princess Michael of Kent
On the stereo: Classic FM
En route for: serious off-road parking
06-16-2004, 07:08 AM
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You could see, if not quite smiles, expressions of pleasant surprise, a softening of the eyes that seemed to say: "You are not quite the complete prick your choice of vehicle would seem to indicate."
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