Roaring 40

What we like:

Performance

Handling

Practicality

Styling

What we dislike:

Rather expensive

Large rims with run flat tyres are not your best friend here

The M40i, gets a North-South mounted turbocharged inline-six 3.0, with 360hp on-tap and 500Nm of twist, which engineers have ensured a generous delivery from 1,520 – 4,800 rpm. The expansive torque band makes the M40i, coupled to their ZF-built eight-speed Steptronic transmission such a joy to drive. Its century sprint timing of 4.8 seconds is astoundingly fast, especially when the competing Audi S Q5 does the same in an already quick 5.4 seconds.

There is a sporty burble which subtly penetrates the cabin, which brings about a sense of eagerness to respond to your right foot, and responds it does! The available adaptive M suspension on our test car keeps the X3 well-planted, even under hard acceleration; while the steering itself is just so well-weighted.

The X3 comes balanced, with a 50:50 weight distribution, where its neutrality delivers sports car-like handling around the bends when in the right hands. To ensure that its handling characteristics stays true to how a BMW handles, the drive system is interlinked with their Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), which varies the power to the individual drive wheels, ensuring optimum grip and the best possible use of power. Around tight bends even with so much upper body heft, there is very little body roll.

There are four pre-set drive modes, ECO PRO, COMFORT, SPORT and SPORT+, meaning different button, different animal. Select ECO mode, and the car cruises on the highest gears possible, and the virtual instrument display goes blue. The other side of the spectrum at SPORT+ unleashes a sweet low frequency growl... and you know that the M40i was built with this in-mind.

Our test car’s 21” rims though beautifully designed, we feel tends to be a little too large for an enjoyable ride. Simply because there is just very little air between the tyre’s contact area and the rim, and not helping this discomfort, the tyres are run flats, hence roads with uneven surfaces will tend to communicate their roughness into the cabin.

Driver satisfaction aside, the M40i is a very easy car to live with. Features like its Parking Assistant Plus, which has on it Park Distance Control and 3D Surround View takes the trickiness of parking away from the driver. Like the 5 Series, the X3 also utilises the BMW Display Key, which opens up more functions to the owner via remote.

The sheer drivability, and how forgiving it really is, while it keeps on delivering, makes this a car you can keep smiling about.

Its sister car, the M40i version of the coupe-like X4 will be available in Singapore very shortly, while we feel that it is a little sharper in handling, and will certainly gratify those who are more into a driver’s car, the X3 we feel, is simply more practical, and would most certainly cost a little less.

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