https://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews/a62982441/2025-bmw-x3-m50-tested/

This is one of the better reviews I’ve seen of the X3

arunr55, thanks for sharing R&T review.

I just drove X3 M50 at a local dealer. Practically the same impressions although I would like to add a few more items to the "can I live with it?" category.

1. Driving dynamics.

- Solid, planted, razor sharp. Impressed.

2. Can I live with it?

- Found myself constantly wanting to use muscle memory to operate controls, almost to the point of wanting to redesign the cockpit and coming to terms that it's not possible. Far too distracting. The balance between physical controls and touch controls is skewed towards the latter and it's understandable: physical controls require more parts and parts cost money. Cost cutting is sadly present in every corner.

- As I was driving the vehicle, I could not help myself but notice that the interior began to remind me of a gaming computer with transparent side panels with components illuminated in red and blue lights. Humbly speaking, not the best interior choice.

I _could_ live with X3 M50 as a leased vehicle with above market residual value, subsidized money factor, and a substantial capitalized cost reduction.

Best quote - ‘Vape shop probably wasn’t the vibe BMW was looking for’, in regards to the crappy interior.

cfm56d7b wrote

arunr55, thanks for sharing R&T review.

I just drove X3 M50 at a local dealer. Practically the same impressions although I would like to add a few more items to the "can I live with it?" category.

1. Driving dynamics.

- Solid, planted, razor sharp. Impressed.

2. Can I live with it?

- Found myself constantly wanting to use muscle memory to operate controls, almost to the point of wanting to redesign the cockpit and coming to terms that it's not possible. Far too distracting. The balance between physical controls and touch controls is skewed towards the latter and it's understandable: physical controls require more parts and parts cost money. Cost cutting is sadly present in every corner.

- As I was driving the vehicle, I could not help myself but notice that the interior began to remind me of a gaming computer with transparent side panels with components illuminated in red and blue lights. Humbly speaking, not the best interior choice.

I _could_ live with X3 M50 as a leased vehicle with above market residual value, subsidized money factor, and a substantial capitalized cost reduction.

There is nothing razor sharp about a bread van.

Razor sharp compared to a RAV4, context is important.

The X3 is BMW’s bread and butter. So pretty risky moves here with the looks and the interior.

The exterior design is mundane. I saw “dune” colored x3 30 today on the road and it looked sad. Almost elongated in appearance. I didn’t even look back like I usually do with cars.

I agree with others the interior is like a gamer’s delight.

Not a home run. They will sell but the last gen looked great.

cfm56d7b wrote

arunr55, I _could_ live with X3 M50 as a leased vehicle with above market residual value, subsidized money factor, and a substantial capitalized cost reduction.

As if this “substantial capitalized cost reduction” is not coming out of one’s own pocketbook.

saw a white one on the road coming from the oppsite direction on 55mph road. the lights looked like toyota and the body looked saggy vs the chiseled sharper lines. also the hood line seemed high. This is a no go as is. Interior and ext design did not meet expectations. Their board is taking a risk of impacting major revenue stream with this model.

Mavus wrote

saw a white one on the road coming from the oppsite direction on 55mph road. the lights looked like toyota and the body looked saggy vs the chiseled sharper lines. also the hood line seemed high. This is a no go as is. Interior and ext design did not meet expectations. Their board is taking a risk of impacting major revenue stream with this model.

If the sales aren’t there, expect a quick redesign. I think Honda had a car like 10 years ago (might have been the civic) so poorly received they immediately launched an emergency redesign to stop the bleeding.

Interiors are being designed by young engineers who don't drive cars but use tons of IPADS.

The new X3 is like one of those thick ugly MSI gaming laptops - but don’t judge the book by its cover!

The team that designed this couldn’t have ever set foot in the BMW Welt in Munich.

overcooked wrote

Razor sharp compared to a RAV4, context is important.

Yup. For a compact SUV and for the money it's probably the best performing new vehicle in its class overall you can buy today, IMO.

There are plenty of cars many folks find ugly that also have great performance. This is one of them. That's fine. Life is complicated. Some cars look great and have poor performance and vice versa.

Go give one a proper test drive and see if it ticks the boxes for ya.

I just find it funny when many professional reviewers and other folks on this board say the new M50 drives great and is quite fast for what it is and folks who, AFAIK, still haven't even driven one yet are just like "no, you're all wrong, it can't drive well because it looks stupid". OK. 😄

Could be a decent third car in the house designated for a first-time driving Gen Z offspring.

Neusser wrote

There is nothing razor sharp about a bread van.

something tells me this test drive didn’t involve measuring lateral g’s on a twisty canyon road. anything can feel sharp until you drive it back to back with an m2 or something similar.

JK479 wrote

The exterior design is mundane. I saw “dune” colored x3 30 today on the road and it looked sad. Almost elongated in appearance.

Yea, I think the new design looks more like a station wagon or a hatchback, than it does an SUV. It has that weird Subaru profile. I think the elongated hood has a lot to do with it. It has a “cab backward” design, rather than a “cab forward” design. I prefer short hoods. Long hoods remind me of Ace and Gary’s mobile. Some of you SNL fans might know the reference. Fortunately the MSport trim reduces the hood effect because the bottom trim is colored matched. It makes the vehicle appear a little thicker than then the reg x30 trim. Just IMO.

hufington wrote

Could be a decent third car in the house designated for a first-time driving Gen Z offspring.

I can easily pretend to be a Gen Z offspring. Can I call you Daddy? 😆

imc43 wrote

something tells me this test drive didn’t involve measuring lateral g’s on a twisty canyon road. anything can feel sharp until you drive it back to back with an m2 or something similar.

It's not going to beat an M2 on a back road. It's not meant to. It's for someone that really wants an M2, but needs to haul kids or sports equipment or drive in the snow on a dirt road periodically.

I own an '08 335i w/ZSP and a Mach-E GTPE, both arguably very good handling cars. A while back, I rented a '24 X5 40i 2wd for a trip around national parks out west in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. I thought that X5 handled amazingly well for how big it is and how much it is engineered for the comfort of a normal soccer mom. It didn't even have the M sport package.

Everything is relative. I'm sure the X3 M50 handling rips compared to almost every crossover out there and is probably better than most sports sedans on the market. Stop wanting normal vehicles to be race cars. 98% of buyers don't want a ridiculously stiff suspension on a small SUV.

dcorn wrote

Everything is relative. I'm sure the X3 M50 handling rips compared to almost every crossover out there and is probably better than most sports sedans on the market. Stop wanting normal vehicles to be race cars. 98% of buyers don't want a ridiculously stiff suspension on a small SUV.

Yup. I literally came from a G87 M2 to the G45 M50. Also have owned a litany of sport compact cars my entire life, including tuned (full suspension/bars/etc.) ND Miata, Focus RS, STI, etc.

Does the M50 handle as good as those cars? Hell no. Is it pretty damn close for what it is and the exponential additional levels of everyday flexibility and comfort? Yes. I would argue that yes it is. But that's me. I dunno what everyone else is looking for in a car.

The B58 can make anything awesome but this…not to me, one step too far.

Why did they give it Camry headlights? I’m having trouble ever visualizing myself driving a G-chassis BMW because they look so bad, and only seem to get worse with every new update