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I don't think BMW is blowing smoke, they may have a recall and are temporarily out of parts.
Like I said any thoughs? Is there any advantages to having the sport package?
The X3 already handles better than any other SUV, and it already has massive 235/55-17 tires.. It just seems like a little bit of overkill.. Although, the sport seats are definitely a nice addition..
I have the sport package on my 325i, but I wouldn't get it, if ordering an X3.. but, that is just one person's opinion..
regards,
kyfdx
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Things may have changed though - I don't hear as many complaints.
- Mark
As for the sport suspension this 318ti "M" was a very hard ride, later in the day after the frost melted I could take a 90 degree turn at 40 MPH, but my back started to hurt when i was on the autobahn more 30 min, felt every bump.
Thanks for the input on the sports package, I think I will stick to the Prem, and the rest of the options only.
PS anyone know a dealer online where I can order the AUX input from the glove compartment??? (AKA MP3 player... not the Ipod special) this is not an option in germany but the dealer here will install the USA option. I want to get one and give it to the dealer to install with the rest of the Euro options i have picked out.
Kewilpee
The X3 doesn't go offroading!
I have not come across any reliable on-line dealers...again, there might be dealers out there, but 'I' have not come across any!
I've just received my X3 3.0i, and the dealer tried to sell me their protection packages:
1- a thin film to protect from bugs and road dirt
2- a glossy coating that covers the whole car to protect pain from acid rain etc.
Has anybody tried thoese? Any recommendations? Do you think I should go for them?
Thanks.
Generally, I have always thought of the paint protection ideas proposed by dealers to be rip-offs. They often provide very expensive insurance for your paint job. We traded a 10 year old M3 for our X3 and the paint was still in great shape, with the exception of stone chips on the front of the car. I wish I had met the 3M installer a few years earlier.
1- The windshield washers are miswired, the front wipers work when washing the rear windshield, and the rear wipers work when washing the front.
2- rain sensing wiper do not start on their own. Only when I switch them off and back on to rain sensing. Once started, they react well to the rainfall.
Enjoy your X3. Our 04 X3 is approaching 10,000 miles without a single reliability issue.
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So can you discuss some of the finer points of living with an X3 and BMW? My vehicle design considerations run more towards luxury than plebian. Hence I want leather, REAL wood trim, automatic 5 speed of higher, AWD, seating for five even though we will usually have 4 only, in dash CD & changer, sun roof, functional roof rack where I can add a storage box, large enough cargo area for the dog to relax, 2 inch receiver for my bike/ski rack (not on the roof thank you), and some semblance of fuel economy. By this I mean no 10-15 MPG V8 monsters.
Vehicle in consideration are the X3 (I like the overall size coming from the C class and prefer the sporty ride/handling), Volvo XC 90 T5 (having driven one on a test track I can attest that this thing can fly when put to the test), VW Touareg V6 (concerned about quality, fuel economy, and despite the size the seating position is confining), and perhaps the new 06 ML 350 provided MB can get the recipe right in the fuel economy and weight area.
So how is life with a BMW? Do you get lifetime roadside assistance? How about free loaner cars while yours is in for service, warranty or not? And the repair prices for out of warranty, do they figure if you can afford to join the luxury club you should be able to mortgage the house whenever anything needs service?
The purchase is not going to be made until June/July but I am monitoring the various marquee forums to keep informed.
Thank you!
I have about 7500 miles on the X3 now, and am 98% pleased overall. The window creaking has started to return, so we need to go back to Fields BMW (great dealer/shop!) to have the seals lubricated again. Otherwise, the vehicle is absolutely wonderful. The engine and ride seem to be breaking in nicely.
Just thought I'd share a mid-west winter experience in the X3.
I was astounded at the handling and the performance of the X-Drive system with the stock All season tires. I could make it slide in sharp cornering, but was able to regain control with ease. I would love to see how it handles with real snow tires. As it is, it is far superior to any vehicle I have ever driven in snow and ice. I will never buy another car without all wheel drive as long as I live in snow country.
I would suggest you also look at the Infinity FX models and the Lexus RX 330. Both would fit the bill, but neither are probably in the same class performance wise as the BMW. Also, what about the X5? I don't know about its fuel economy, but it's more luxurious than the X3.
So far, 4k miles on my 2004 X3 3.0 and I love it. The suspension is a bit bumpy/stiff, but it's handling, fuel economy and simple but adequate stylings are perfect for an urban lifestyle. I get about 19 MPG of mix city/highway. Can fit 5 comfortably and decent amt. of cargo.
Only dissapointments are nitpicky, and things out of my control like brake dust accumluting quickly (price yu pay for good brakes , but otherwise I love it.
Haven't taken it for service yet, but what I've dealt with so far with my dealership, they bend over backwards for you.
Good luck with your search. Keep us posted.
AAP
The X3 sounds like it could very closely meet your requirements. My biggest concern would be your desire for luxury. The Volvo and VW might pamper you a little more. But if you like the performance of the Volvo, you should certainly be happy with the 3.0 X3. Neither the Volvo nor VW will give you the overall cornering and stopping capability you'll get with the X3. And you'll have to get the V8 in the VW to even get close to the acceleration you would get with the X3 3.0 because the X3 is so much lighter. But strangely, the X3 actually equals the VW's cargo capacity. The X3 gas mileage is far superior - we have experienced a true 20 mpg in mixed driving since purchase.
I have had some experience driving and riding in C Classes. The ride and handling in my X3 is comparable to a C with sport setup. Several folks have complained on these boards about the stiff ride of the X3, so you probably need to be careful about this aspect when comparing the X3, VW and Volvo. The VW and Volvo will give you a softer ride at the expense of athleticism.
From my viewpoint, looking mostly for performance, functionality, safety (accident avoidance), reliability and reasonable gas mileage, I wouldn't seriously consider the other two vehicles. But not many grandfathers like sport suspensions as much as I do.
The interior on the X3 is more than adequate for my needs and seems a bit more functional than the Volvo but I need more test time with each to confirm.
And 19-20 MPG combined is a LOT better than we used to get in our 1999 GMC Yukon, 11-13 mpg.
The Touraeg, of your neighbors, not surprised its always in the shop. The car looks nice, but it's very impersonable drive wise, bulky and above all not enough oomph for the money. And especially for your needs, it will feel like a chore in city driving.
Congrats on the ACD. We have an ACD and a BC mix, and we're looking at the X3 as well.
Would love to hear about the experiences of anyone who's lived with an X3 for awhile and hauled around 2 adults, 1 baby (with stroller and other paraphernalia), and 1 or more dogs.
As far as the "detail" questions go:
Can anyone tell me -- is there a good pet barrier for the X3, even a side-to-side cargo net would probably suffice for our purposes, but our dealer said "no."
The same dealer said the X3 comes with "run-flat" tires. I don't see that online or in the brochure, although I understand the X3 has a low tire pressure monitor. Any input here?
Thx.
We just took our ACD for a drive in a rented Cheep Cherokee (what a piece of junk) and found that he could easily get between the wheel well and back seat. So I doubt he will stay still long in the X3 without a barrier. That said I am hoping our local BMW dealer, Irvine BMW, will graciously let us do a test drive WITH the dog. Then we will really know what we are getting.
As to your setup, doubt the backend is large enough for everything but a good stroller should fold almost flat and you could keep it behind one of the seats. We did that with our daughter when we had an S10 2-door blazer as it was easy to pull out quickly.
We bought the cargo net. It attaches to the roof vertically, either behind the front seats with the rear seats folded, or behind the back seats when they're up. I would think it would work for any medium/large dog, but a lot of folks have questioned its worth.
With a most definite (mechanical) torque bias to the front, 95/5, the RX can be hazardous in the very conditions most SUVs should (are exoected to)shine. Prior to 04 a VC was used to allocate torque, but only about 25% to the rear under continuous wheelspin.
The RX330, 04 and later, uses an open center diff'l and Trac, brakes, to apportion torque, prevent wheelspin. To prevent the brakes from over-heating the engine is quickly dethrottled if the wheelspin persists.
And after about 45 seconds of dethrottled wheelspin, Trac brake applications, the AWD system is disabled completely.
I added 1.2" wheel spacers on my 01 RX300 so I could use snow chains on the rear and not endure the hazards of snow chains ONLY on the front as the idiots at Lexus continues to recommed.
Together, our dogs weigh about 85 pounds, and it looks like there's room for both in back.
Our ACD is a pretty good passenger. Once she gets in the back, she generally stays in the back. The BC mix, though, she thinks she should be allowed to drive or at least be allowed to ride shotgun. If there's an eight inch gap on each side of the cargo net, it's a pretty good bet that she'll be up front in no time.
I guess we'll have to look for another solution if we want to keep the X3 on the short-list.
A question for others. My owner's manual mentions adaptive break lights. Are these standard? Also, has anyone found a good place to store change in the X3? I wish the ash tray could be converted to a coin holder.
I tend to put change in the center armrest, the top part of it, not the cd holder, which by the way barely holds more than 5 cds with cases.
I would recommend the BMW plastic cargo mat. Very handy.
A couple days ago, I put the vehicle in reverse (automatic transmission). It rolled back about a foot and stopped. No amount of gas would budge it. I returned the gear selector to park. Put it back in reverse and everything worked fine. The next day, it happened again. But this time I could not get it to go in reverse no matter what I did. I let it coast out of the driveway and took it straight to the dealer. It was a Saturday and the service department was closed. My salesman got me a rental car. The service department called on Monday. They could not repeat the problem. They said they would keep it over night and try again in the morning. They also said they emailed BMW about the problem.
Today they called to tell me that they were replacing the entire transmission. I asked if they could duplicate the problem I had. They said no, but that BMW told them to replace the transmission anyway.
My thoughts. 1) I have to believe the BMW is aware of some type of problem or at least aware that my complaint fits a scenario that warrants replacing the transmission (not a cheap procedure).
2) How refreshing not to hear: "We could not duplicate the problem, please bring it back if it happens again."
3) I can;t wait to get out of my Kia Amanti and back into my X3!
Now that is out of the way...lol
1) A lot of times, transmission problems on BMWs can be solved by a software upgrade.. Since they didn't do that, it is possible they aren't aware of what is wrong..
Also, dealers rarely do any transmission repairs anymore.. The labor costs for tearing down a transmission are so high... and the chance of an experienced tech knowing what to do is so low, even if they did, makes it much more cost effective to swap it out with a factory rebuilt unit.. And, from a consumer perspective, much more likely to result in a satisfactory repair..
2) AMEN
3) No doubt about that..
Glad to hear you had a good experience... So far, my limited contact with the local BMW service department has been great. (The BMW Store in Cincinnati, if anyone cares).
regards,
kyfdx
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Also, there are very high end, high quality dash real wood trim sets for $300 or so available. I am certain that that investment will totally change this critical comment and create a more plush feal. That's what I plan to do in March when I purchase my X3. Nuff said.
For myself, I happen to like the more “rugged” interior of the X3 vs. the more “plush” interior of the Lexus and some others. I put the X3 through some hard use like my large dog, skiing, construction sites and biking. I would be terrified to use a Lexus like I do my X3. Above all else, handling and X-Drive were critical in my choice to by the X3. I just plain enjoyed driving it more and felt safer.
I don’t knock Lexus owners (my sister-in-law has one and loves it), as it targets a different demographic, and is a quality vehicle in its own rite. Just not for me.
Or even the one from the Ford FreeStyle.
Example: I brought my ML320 to the local MB dealer complaining that it was difficult to get it to kick-down to the lowest gear in some situations. I'm pretty sure that they simply needed to fix/replace the kickdown switcn on the gas pedal linkage - I could feel that it was sticky and reluctant to make contact through my foot.
They called back a day later saying that they couldn't get the transmission to show "acceptable numbers in their computer" and it needed total replacement. It happened under warranty, so it was free, but except for this minor problem it was performing flawlessly. In fact, the new transmission doesn't shift as smoothy.
- Mark
Honda replaced the transmission in our '01 Accord as well.. I really think it is the manufacturer that pushes it..
Our BMW was in for the service-engine-soon light.. No apparent problems.. no fault codes showing.. They replaced the mass airflow sensor.. I noticed on the service paperwork, that they had called BMWNA, who recommended the replacement.. I guess if they can't find anything wrong, then the sensor that reports the fault is just assumed to be the culprit..
regards,
kyfdx
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In the end, they treated me very well. Provided me a brand new loaner for four days. I now have my X3 back, and it drives like a dream.
I had the dealer look at this, and they told me they fixed the problem (said a key setting had been turned off, and they turned it back on). But this didn't fix the problem, and when I called them back on it, they told me the owner's manual was wrong and you couldn't save different DSP settings. By the way, the owner's manual says you can also save different bass and treble settings, and I am able to do this.
This isn't a huge issue, but it's just kind of a pain to have to manually change the settings, since you have to go through so many button pushes to change DSP. I'll probably end up leaving it off, if I can't save the settings.
Thanks.
and FULL LOMBAR SUPPORT ONLY WITH THE 3 LTR. THIS SUPPORT IS NOT A WHEEL ADJ. IT IS OF THE AIR BLADDER TYPE - this was in the 04 that we own it was standard in the two front leather seats - it is the perfect solution for ME, my wife complains that the adj. that I made was not good for her so I simply re-adj. her seat - the adjustment is not easy it appears to work on the
curvature of your spine at 4 points you can increase or decrease the pressure - takes some
work to get it rite I am a happy camper at this
point. the instructions are in the book it takes some work. also make sure that it still comes with the 05's . Good luck.