Exclusive X3 xDrive Experience

[astroboy]

Anything like this?

 

[Maniac]

:13:
:43:
:42:
:41:
:stupid:
:top:

 

[fastnfurious]

anyone know the prices for the x3 yet? I heard that there are a few models (i.e base, sports and premium)?

 

[fastnfurious]

Am dying to get this car..........hope those of you lucky enough to go for the test drive are kind enough to give some feedback. Im hoping to test drive this myself saturday.......currently SUV to beat is the Q5. I really am hoping the X3 wins......

 

[3er]

Q5? You kidding right??

[video=youtube;zULS0bijkc0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zULS0bijkc0[/video]


Pfftt! Q5 indeed!

[video=youtube;HvqQuC_8VrM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvqQuC_8VrM&[/video]

 

[ALBundy]

If the Q5 can't even climb that ramp, then it has no chance of climbing the 45 degree slope in Desa Park City.

One adventurous enthusiast even requested a HDC test on the 45 degree slope, meaning to say instead of climbing it, the X3 took a dive down the slope!! Needless to say he was completely sold on the X3!!

 

[paultantk]

Q5 has a weird unfinished design, front overstyled, rear the designer lost interest.

 

[zhul]

Went for the test drive yesterday. The X3 was better than the X1 in terms of comfort and size. Really liked the high speed handling through the corners. But the X1 had a better car-like feeling than the X3.

For the off road tests, we had the X1 which was also equipped with the Xdrive system. I was impressed with the system's handling of the knee-deep muddy road both at slow and fast speeds. You can feel it juggling power all over the 4 wheels to get it moving through the thick mud.

And the slope looks steeper than 45 degrees. No problems at all climbing it. After the wild ride, all the SUV's got a wash to clean off the mud near the exit so the next batch of riders would never guess what was in store for them

 

[astroboy]

Q5 has a weird unfinished design, front overstyled, rear the designer lost interest.

X3 pulak opposite.. front is subtle, don't even have any LED eye catching annoying tricks.. rear is simply awesome, carrying the X5 shadow, well executed rear~! :top:

Rear seat inclination very comfy, plenty of rear leg and head room. On the drive, 0~160kph is without a sweat for the torqy engine, a small tap on the gas pedal is suffice to stampede over any obstacle even when the cabin is fully load. Perfect for stop-go traffic in the city or in the mountains.

And probably its because of the 4-potter 2.0d, it kind of ran out of breath after 160kph and since its a low rev diesel engine, want to tarik the gear into the red zone also impossible, it upshift well before 5k rpm. For an avid petrol head, the desire of seeing the rev counter to hit the red zone is not going to happen in this car with this diesel engine, kind of miss my petrol engine not long after test driving this diesel X3. And of course, different application for different tyre of cars and this X3 scored well in many features for an SUV and in many areas, done much better than its competitors. Especially in handling tricky off road terrains.

Ride mode is a bit tricky. Normal, Sport and Sport+, 3 modes and it not only stiffen the suspension, it meddle with the throttle sensitivity [like SprintBooster] and extend the upshift rpm by a wee bit. While playing with ride mode, we notice when shifting into Sport+, the DSC is OFF automatically.. WOAH!! :13: Since not familiar with the car, and considering the speed we are going during the test, best leave at Sport mode instead of Sport+.. :10:

The "X-Ram" demo is impressive.. it would be nice if there's a Q5 around as the ram will embarrass the Q5 for sure as seen on the earlier clips..

Here's a photo I took during the "X-Ram" demo, a simple but effective demo, with our good friend giving the brief in the rain. The X3 can actually be rocked while its stationary on 2 wheels above the ram, thanks to the relatively balance chassis weight distribution. Doors being open and close with ease while the X3 is on 2 wheels [1 front 1 rear] to purposely tilt the chassis, yet cabin shell doesn't suffer flexing or deform. A well built car indeed!

After the road test in the dry, rain start to fall! It turn the makeshift event hall turn to scene similar to Jurassic Park and water flow in over the car park. Perfect time to test the off road with X-cars. We had fun! It makes driving up the muddy slippery 45 degree slop like driving up a waterfall. I still think it more than 45 degree slope la, when below the slow starring up, its like looking at a wall! :13: Bear in mind that the rain water are washing away the mud on the slope, exposing the gravels/rocks foundation used for building the slopes..

We actually took the X5 3.0 petrol twin turbo for the mud slope demo, in heavy rain, with our panaromic roof screen retracted. Also a brief demo on the bird eye view reverse camera. Its called reverse camera because it was triggered when engage reverse gear, its called birdeye view because u can actually see the surrounding of the car on the iDrive screen as if the camera is shooting down from 20ft above the X5.. :13: and can even see your own hand sticking out of the window!! :13: Fantastic experience!

Geezz... I can keep writing!!

By the way, we also just notice that the X5 is now a 7-seater! :top:

Thank you BMW Malaysia for offering us this fantastic experience with the X-car, fit for X-men.. an experience with plenty of jaw drop and head turning experience! haha! :top:

 

[Maniac]

Astroboy, good review! Didn’t know what you look like haha..so didn’t get a chance to introduce myself.
Zhul - you were there too?

Quick feedback from the X3 event for me:

Car was introduced and driven into the show area. Nice looking fella, the new X3, and has grown larger, into the proportions of the old X5. Steering & console are similar to the F10's, and lots of leg and head room front and rear. Boot space is small, though. Golf bags have to be put diagonally to fit, or you need to drop the centre piece of the back seats to sit a bag through the rear passenger area. I like the lines and curves of its body. Corona rings have gone the way of the F10 with the white ones. Personally, I still like the old yellow coronas.

The event was broken into 2 parts, and offroad experience in one of the 3 X's - 1,3 or 5, though sadly driven by an instructor. Then an on the road test drive down penchala link, the duke and back to DPC.

Really enjoyed the offroad experience, though a little short lived. The X's can both float on mud and climb hills like it has tire spikes! the all wheel xdrive system is impressive. They also had a demonstration with offset tire ramps to show how power is distributed across the 4 wheels to ensure that the car retains traction with the surface (the wheels lifted off the ground stop spinning). Also to show how rigid the chassis is when subject to bending - even on 2 wheels, the doors can open and close easily, indicating minimal shell distortion. Fantastic!

Was looking forward to the on the road drive, what with the heavy rain and wet roads yest. Car was loaded up fully with 4 pax and off we went. Started up in the back seats and the ride is a comfortable one. I’ve been out on an X1 and was waiting to check out the difference. When it came to my turn at the wheel, first impressions - the electronic powered steering is very light - almost JDM-like. Yucks. I can understand the need to have a light steering when offroading, though, so maybe it's built for that. Next, I was expecting the same boost as in my 320d, or even the F10d, given that it shares the same N47 2.0 engine. Hmmm...i didn't quite get the kick. On the straights the X3 is stable but felt it struggled to pick up speed after 90km/h, running out of steam. Cornering was fun, and I had a go at flooring the accelerator around the DPC roundabouts when going back to base (scared a kapchai biker.. sorry bro), and it sticks to the ground! Again, tribute to the X-drive.

Price wise, RM348k basic. Add RM28k for the technology package (Nav systems etc etc) and RM18k for comfort package (comfort access, sunroof etc etc).

My own opinions of the X3 ….Nice looking compact SUV. For city driving, it’s a no-no. Fun factor kurang a bit, if you’re looking for a nippy AWD, try the X1 instead. If you’re looking for a proper SUV, get the X5 instead for more room and options. The X3 is certainly built for offroading or rough terrain. You’ll definitely enjoy its potential if you ever take it out there, but I don’t know of many who take an RM348k machine out to the offroading routes I’m used to. For RM348k, get the F10d and save the extra RM15k for a deposit on a JEEP.

 

[Maniac]

Also, for some reason, the engine start-stop function didn't work in our car (#7). Dunno why la?

 

[astroboy]

Also, for some reason, the engine start-stop function didn't work in our car (#7). Dunno why la?

Huh?! which session? Gilajazz and I took Car #7 too! our road test was at 2:30pm, perfectly timed before the rain so we still enjoyed the dry tarmac. We took off as passenger, I was the 2rd driver, start weaving on the highway trying to catchup with Irvan, our lead car in X1 after being hog by Car #5, just had to over take car #5 while Gilajazz was the 3rd driver, took a high speed sweeper while I was hanging on to my dear life! Gilajazz started off as the 4th car after driver switch, and was tailgating the lead not long after that.. haha! :4:

yes, we don't notice the auto start/stop efficient dynamic feature too..

 

[Maniac]

We went to the offroad area first, so probably we were on the opposite set of drivers. Our on road conditions were WET...quite fun also, but dare not do too much swerves on the highways...!

 

[ALBundy]

Auto Start Stop will only work if the compressor is on offload mode.

 

[Exarkun]

Huh?! which session? Gilajazz and I took Car #7 too! our road test was at 2:30pm, perfectly timed before the rain so we still enjoyed the dry tarmac. We took off as passenger, I was the 2rd driver, start weaving on the highway trying to catchup with Irvan, our lead car in X1 after being hog by Car #5, just had to over take car #5 while Gilajazz was the 3rd driver, took a high speed sweeper while I was hanging on to my dear life! Gilajazz started off as the 4th car after driver switch, and was tailgating the lead not long after that.. haha! :4:

yes, we don't notice the auto start/stop efficient dynamic feature too..

Oh so YOU'RE the one in car #7 haaaa...the one that overtook me in #3 on the way back to DPC haaa.. Yes, I was the one in #3. I had my wife and another fella who declined to drive after seeing how fast our lead car went. He tak berani he said. Wahahahah!! So I ended up driving all the way to and fro for the on road test.

#5 was kinda slow and couldn't keep up so I guess maybe thats why you overtook him.

 

[Exarkun]

NOTTY #7 overtook me #3 on the way back to DPC even though our beloved instructor told us not to overtake each other Wahahahah!! (Picture shot by my wife, I'm the one driving. I drove all the way to and fro. Didnt switch drivers at all )

 

[Exarkun]

Hahaha....i'm on the other side of this shot. The fella with the Nikon D300

 

[ALBundy]

Here's a photo I took during the "X-Ram" demo, a simple but effective demo, with our good friend giving the brief in the rain. The X3 can actually be rocked while its stationary on 2 wheels above the ram, thanks to the relatively balance chassis weight distribution. Doors being open and close with ease while the X3 is on 2 wheels [1 front 1 rear] to purposely tilt the chassis, yet cabin shell doesn't suffer flexing or deform. A well built car indeed!

Whoaaaa who is the Indian man with umbrella!!!??

 

[Exarkun]

How fast we were going on Duke Highway. I think we reached 180km/h once but my wife couldn't take the photo because the car was too jumpy

 

[Exarkun]

Eh, who's this aa??