[Closed] 05 bmw x3 se diesel any good!!

You need to drive like a chav, wear Polo shades and play golf. And never ever drive anywhere near mud, check Top Gear for a test drive.

they're just shit... you'll get a much better estate car for the same money.
I'm no 4X4 hater, but these things are pointless. Why do you want something that handles badly, is thirsty and slow and will NEVER get let out of a side road

What engine?

TBH they are not BMWs finest offering. Very hard ride, pretty poor off road. The bigger engined ones are nippy but that's about it.

X5 is much better on the road, something like a Landcruiser Colorado is much better off it.

Why?

Looks: horrible
Interior: Easily mistaken for a 90's Kia or Proton
Build quality: Poor (it's built under licence by someone else)
Ride and Driving: Wollowy aon road, crap off it, TG tested one and it struggled up a grassy slope!

It did not get great reviews and suffered from comparison to the X5 but would probably be a reasonable vehicle if you get it for a decent price.

If I was in the market for a SH soft-roader I would probably go for a Nissan X-Trail instead

What does an X3 say about you?

.
.
.
.

................ that you couldn't afford an X5

Haven't owned one, have driven one for a bit.

Contrary to some other views, it wasn't an awful car. It was very hard-riding (not helped by running on 19s) but the engine/gearbox was fine. Didn't seem anwhere as nice inside as a 3-series though, and realistically didn't offer much (if any) more space. Steering was OK, but not is the same class as a the rest of the range.

Unless you need the 4wd, I'd get a 330D Touring of the same age, which will cost you less, drive far better, and will do 10mpg more.

[i]Build quality: Poor (it's built under licence by someone else)[/i]

Are you sure, I thought they were built at a BMW plant in the US?

Edit - Its the X5 thats built in the US and the X3 will join it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_X3

Yep, it's built in South Carolina

Yep, it's built in South Carolina

By blind people

Mat, I appreciate that think you're the man who knows all about cars, but I can assure you that the build quality of the X3 I drove wasn't much worse than, say, 3-series that I've driven. Your 'blind people' comment sounds perilously [i]Top Gear[/i]esque.....

I can only go on what I know, and to me the X3, whilst tangibly not to the same standard as some other BMWs, is equally no worse than many cars, and a definite step ahead of repmobile fodder such as Ford/GM.

BMWs are good, sure, and I'll agree that the range is propped up by the X3, but they're not in the same league as Audi. Not even close.

And before you ask, yes, I've owned and run several of each.

Nick - and I have driven an X3 too and X5s. The X5 is not very PC but it's a decent vehicle. The X3 isn't - I'd rather have a Skoda Yeti, a Forester, a Ford Kuga or one of many other soft roaders instead.

BMWs are good, sure, and I'll agree that the range is propped up by the X3, but they're not in the same league as Audi. Not even close.

This sentence makes no sense whatsoever. In what way are they not in the same league? For making tarted up VWs and selling them for 20% more - yep, they are not in the same league. One car an X3 WOULD get the nod over is a horrendous Audi Q5.

Top end Audis are mostly pretty decent and desirable. Base spec/low end ones are tarted up Skodas/VWs in big "shoes" and a natty dress.

And if it's build quality you are talking about...

[IMG] [/IMG]

Audi seem to be two places behind...

OK, I'll bite.

Comparison of an A8 and 730D - the A8 is HUGELY better. Massively so in terms of waftiness, though it helped that it was the 4.2TDI

A6 vs 5-series - again, the Audi was light years ahead.

A4 vs 3-series .....the same story.

I've not gone further down the food chain, so I have no idea whether an A3 compares to a 1-series.

Now I'm not looking at whether you can hang the back end out in an A8 (because obviously everyone in the market does that with their RWD limo), nor am I going to claim that on the limit steering feel is beter in the Audi. I have no idea on actual build quality (had some pretty annoying problems with both the A6 and 530D, both design issues).

My comments are based purely on perceived fit and finish, on cabin ambience. In the main, I'd rather sit in an Audi than a BMW (not tried a Q5, can't comment). That said, and to bring this back to the original poster's question, I didn't think the perceived quality of the X3 was that much worse than any other 3-series. Not great, but not [i]that[/i] much worse. And nor was it a poor car, just not as good as you'd expect for the money.

You may now flame away at leisure and try to tell me that I'm not a real driver, that BMWs are the finest vehicles ever made and that Audis are cheap tat.

If they're not Surf-mat endorsed then forget it.

Reading the posts of the self appointed stw motoring sage gives me a headache. Any and every thread remotely car becomes clogged up with his posts. Ffs please stop....