Lotus99

So, as some of you know, my car was "retired" a month or so ago... I really do miss it. There are no luxury wagons left here, in that size, other than the E350, which I didn't drive even, since quite a few people told me to stay away from the Merc brand, and that it wouldn't drive anywhere near as sporty as I'm used to. The 3 series and Allroad are too small. I toyed with the 3 GT actually, since it's quite a bit bigger than the 3 Touring, and it has the same cargo area pretty much as the wagon did, but due to the sloping glass design and our German Shepherd, I passed on it.

I ended up with an X3 M Sport with sport suspension (super rare with option code 226 as most M Sports even come ordered with regular suspension), and will drop it with springs an inch probably, to get decent handling. A bit smaller than the wagon, but was definitely not going to go with a 5000 pound boat of an X5 instead...

I will miss you guys for sure. It's funny, on the X3 forum, even though there are probably 10 times as many of them on the road as our wagons, there's way less interest in customizing their cars it seems. Like 3 people in the history of the whole forum seem to have put springs on their cars!
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PS I put up all my stuff for sale here if anyone wants to take a peek: https://5series.net/forums/private-m...s-sale-142272/
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JayArras

Good luck with the new ride!

I know it doesn't get the traffic, but check in at https://5series.net/forums/other-bmw-models-12/ from time to time.

Lotus99

Here are a few pictures of it from the listing:
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sidorian

As you leave it, I'm looking to enter the E61 club. Found a 2009 535xi wagon with 65k that I'm test driving tomorrow. What do you think of the driving experience/utility of the X3 compared to the E61? My father in law mentioned the X3 as ticking many of our boxes but I'm not sold on another crossover in our household.

Lotus99

As I look around Autotrader US For a similar mileage car as mine, I see none with an M sport package. And getting a "plain" one would be going backwards for me. I know, I've been spoiled.

As far as the X3, I am pretty impressed with its handling. It's not the same as my wagon, which had the RD Sport sway bars on it too, but it is still pretty good. And you can get the X3 with adaptable dampers, which is a super rare option that was configured for some reason, So after looking at over a dozen of them and not finding one with it, I gave up. If you do, then even the suspension stiffens up when you move to Sport mode.

Even though the X3 is about 10 inches shorter than the wagon at 180 inches long, It is still surprisingly close in room inside, and I would even dare to say passenger room is the same. Cargo floor area - which is more useful in my opinion then comparing cubic feet of cargo space ( based on which it would be larger than the wagon's) - is only a few inches less in depth I would say, so not too bad. And as a bonus, you get more height inside.

I miss the lower height of my wagon also, because even with the roof box on it ( which was there 365 days a year), it still fit in almost every parkade in the city. But with the X3's extra 6 inches in height, I'll have some issues it looks like. But that's being nitpicky!

The X3 though is a "3 series" type of car, vs. the 535 was a 5 series (and with the price tag too I suppose), and it came with a few more luxurious things than the X3. Small little things they've tried to cut costs on with the X3 I'm noticing. For example, the comfort access on the wagon works on all doors, whereas on the X3 it only works on the front two doors. Not a lot of things though, so don't worry about that.

My X3 has really nice bucket sports seats with adjustable side bolsters, but the 535's 20 way comfort seats (which are optional if you can find one with them) are more comfortable for longer rides.

I like the extra gadgets in the X3 I have to admit, like the HUD it came with, and the Sport mode setting which stiffens up the steering wheel and the throttle response.

The power in my wagon I miss it right now, as I had it tuned (which if you've not considered, I seriously urge you to do so An extra 75 hp for $450 Is a no-brainer in my opinion - and I'll get in my plug here, I'm selling my tune in the Classifieds ), and it transforms the car for sure, and the Cobb tune had remapped the throttle response too so it was more sporty (you can dial it back if you want).