[chiphomme]

Our BMW family that is. The X3 is actually a pretty nice vehicle. Road and Track is clueless.

[M320Psi]

chiphomme,

did you buy one? if so congrats! I saw a truckload of them being shipped on the highway the other day

[chiphomme]

Yeah I bought it for my wife (and for family use). We have a 2002 325Xi wagon that she was driving but couldn't stand the manual transmission. I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised after reading all the bad press. One of the main complaints leveled against it was the "harsh" ride. It feels like a car not a mushy SUV which I think is a huge positive. It just goes to show how subjective all those reviews are.

[M320Psi]

Yeah,

I think the X5 will be a big seller. congrats on the purchase! driver her well!

[EMAXX]

Congrats on the buy!

Could you just write maybe a little review on the car, if it isn't too much trouble? Since you do drive an M, I'm sure it isn't as great a driver as that, but still, I'm looking to maybe get an SUV since it snows a lot here, and I go up to the mountains to snowboard. Thanks in advance.
I'm still not sure about the looks though...

[daihard]

Originally Posted by chiphomme

Yeah I bought it for my wife (and for family use). We have a 2002 325Xi wagon that she was driving but couldn't stand the manual transmission. I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised after reading all the bad press. One of the main complaints leveled against it was the "harsh" ride. It feels like a car not a mushy SUV which I think is a huge positive. It just goes to show how subjective all those reviews are.

Congrats! It's a funny timing because my wife is torn between the 325Xi Touring and the X3. We test-drove both X3/2.5 and X3/3.0 in automatic. The ride was quite satisfactory. Like you said, it sure felt like a car. Since we don't take it off road, a hard-core SUV characteristics (i.e. truck-chassis, part-time 4WD, etc) are unnecessary. We felt the 2.5 version to be underpowered, though. Did you get the 3.0 version?

[chiphomme]

We bought the X3 2.5 liter. I was debating between maxing out the options (we paid $43000 for it) on a 2.5 liter or cutting back on a 3.0 liter. I didn't find a huge difference in performance between the two so I opted for the smaller engine. Besides I have had great luck with the 2.5 liter wagon.
For me it would be a tough call if I had to choose between the 325Xi Wagon and the X3. The wagon feels more like a traditional BMW and has more power because it weighs less. The X3 I bought is pretty close in quality to the 325Xi wagon but I had to add nearly every option. I test drove some stripped down X3s and thought they were lacking in the quality dept.. Call me "weird" but I have a thing for the heavier more solid feeling BMW doors. The X3 doors feel lighter and cheaper.

[DaBean]

Originally Posted by M320Psi

Yeah,

I think the X5 will be a big seller. congrats on the purchase! driver her well!

I assume you meant X3... I also think it will do well.. people want BMWs, and cheaper BMWs are more accessible... so, more people can buy them.. thus it will do well...

[daihard]

Originally Posted by chiphomme

We bought the X3 2.5 liter. I was debating between maxing out the options (we paid $43000 for it) on a 2.5 liter or cutting back on a 3.0 liter. I didn't find a huge difference in performance between the two so I opted for the smaller engine. Besides I have had great luck with the 2.5 liter wagon.
For me it would be a tough call if I had to choose between the 325Xi Wagon and the X3. The wagon feels more like a traditional BMW and has more power because it weighs less. The X3 I bought is pretty close in quality to the 325Xi wagon but I had to add nearly every option. I test drove some stripped down X3s and thought they were lacking in the quality dept.. Call me "weird" but I have a thing for the heavier more solid feeling BMW doors. The X3 doors feel lighter and cheaper.

No offence, but could you have gotten a pretty much fully-loaded X3 3.0 for $43,000? Between the 325Xi and X3 2.5, I'm pretty sure I'd go with the 325Xi for the same reasons you cited. Did you get a manual transmission or Steptronic? Hope I'm not asking too many questions.

[chiphomme]

No. A fully loaded 3.0 liter is about $49000.
We bought the steptronic transmission. That was the main reason we bought a new vehicle, my wife couldn't stand having to deal with a clutch in the 325Xi wagon. I drove the wagon until October when I treated myself to a 2004 M3. My wife then got the 325Xi and wasn't pleased with whole manual shifting thing. Also, prior to her getting the wagon she had been driving a 2001 Subaru Forester (piece of sh**) and had gotten use to the small SUV feel (the wagon was too low to the ground for her).
I have to say I wasn't all that excited about the X3 until we got it. Now, though, I really like how they've made it feel more like a car than a typical SUV/SAV and am very pleased with all the options except the "premium sound".
With that said, I obviously have no long term view of the X3 and do with the 325Xi wagon. My wagon has performed like a champ for two years. I don't have a single negative thing to say about it. The only thing that would hold me back on a wagon purchase is the fact BMW is changing the 3 series body style shortly (I believe next year) and wouldn't want to be stuck with the older style (mainly for resale reasons).