X3 promise delivers

Promises, be they political or otherwise are often made to be broken. Not BMW promises though. The Bavarian giant car maker said that the new BMW X3 xDrive 20d was designed to help you experience the road, feel every bend and conquer every surface and that innovative technologies will ensure you enjoy each journey in comfort and refinement. True to their word, the new car delivers on its promises.

In this car, you are less aware of the oddities normally attached to chunky high vehicles. There is something quite comforting knowing that the car will react positively to whatever pressure tests you put it to. Sharp bends, tight cornering, bumpy roads and broken surfaces hold no fears for the X3, while it is equally competent on the motorway.

Power comes from a superbly responsive 2.0-litre 184bhp engine that produced maximum torque of 380Nm. Here is where the heart of this car lies.

It is driven through a 6-speed manual gearbox that is slick and accurate. The short throw of the gear lever is also a big help giving the car an almost sporty feel, something which is also alien to almost every other SUV on the market today.

Life for SUV lovers has been made difficult recently by ‘Green’ watchers. Passing the school in Courttown, there were no SUV’s to be seen at the height of the school run.

We have been embarrassed into getting rid of them because of their thorny, unclean image. BMW’s Efficient Dynamics, heavily present in the X3 goes a long way to blitz the myth that these cars are all gas guzzlers, take up too much road space and harmful to the environment.

Still, performance suffers little. It will go from zero-100 km/h time in 8.5 seconds, reaching a top speed of 210 km/h, yet CO2 emissions for this four-wheel drive vehicle are only 149g/km (Tax Band B, €156 annual road tax), with average fuel consumption of 5.6 l/100km.

The new BMW X3 xDrive20d SE is even better value than its predecessor. At €46,660 OTR, it is actually €4,170 less than the outgoing model, yet it is equipped with a higher level of standard specification including Nevada leather upholstery, two-zone air conditioning, iDrive controller and colour display. It features more space, better performance and a significantly increased standard specification.”

For a more complete review of this and other cars see this week's Galway City Tribune