It’s always nice to bring thousands of miles of experience from one car into driving its direct replacement. Especially when it’s something really PH-worthy like a new GT3 or Lotus sports car or a Golf GTI. Not quite the case this time around, it's fair to say - but I’m in a good place to discuss the new X3 M50 (currently hovering about two stars on the PH o’meter) having used an old X3 M40i as the family SUV for the past couple of years.
And, to be frank, really enjoyed it. Naturally, I still pine for a fast estate some days, though the X3’s combination of talents has proved very persuasive over the past 20,000 miles or so. It’s fast, it sounds great, it drives nicely and it’s extremely practical. By current BMW standards, it looks quite good as well. We often um and ah about replacing it, then come back to the X3 because it’s so damn good at everything we need it to do as a family. Over 450 miles to a tank is possible when it’s cruising at more than 30mpg, the ride is acceptable even on the big wheels and there really is nothing like the occasional rasp of a BMW straight six to brighten up any journey. If still a little begrudgingly, I must concede it’s a great car. Or great at it's job, anyway.
Partly as a result, first impressions of this G45-era M50 are mixed. While it’s nice to finally see an X3 colour palette with some colour in - Fire Red is an £875 option well worth having - this one looks busier and bulkier than before, even though it’s officially just 39mm longer and 23mm wider. The back of the X3 just looks big, in a way that seems to totally lack any subtlety. Nice details like the slender new LEDs jar with less desirable ones like the illuminated grille surround. If not the most egregious of current BMW designs, the X3 certainly doesn’t rank as one of the best, either. (Answers on a postcard as to which ones actually are.)
The interior, as with so many new BMWs, feels like a real highlight, and the X3 is notable for being the first time iDrive 9 has been combined with a physical dial as well as the giant screens. It’s as useful as might be expected, making menus more easily navigable when your eyes should be on the road. Shame that smeary black plastic has taken the place of buttons around the dial, which makes the X3 feel a tad cheap. Indeed some of the lower reaches of the cabin perhaps don’t feel as expensive as they should. But up top it’s pretty fantastic, with great clarity to the displays, a nice steering wheel and a few nice touches like the fabric on top of the doors and dash. Overall, it feels like a big step-on from the G01, which looks a tad old hat by comparison now (and doesn’t feel significantly better assembled).
Startup is disappointing. Where the old M40i explodes into life like it’s a Skyline race car (or so it seems in comparison) the M50 merely whirrs into being like a domestic appliance. Such a pity given the 3.0-litre B58 engine is identical - more powerful, in fact. It sounds very meek indeed. So much so, that BMW has felt the need to include IconicSounds augmentation in the M50, tech usually found in the EVs, to give the powertrain some voice in the sportier driving. You know something is amiss when a 3.0-litre BMW six needs its sound manipulated. Credit where it’s due, the noise is never unpleasant - it would be hard to mess up this configuration completely - but only with it off do you realise how muted the engine now is. Pity.
Still, with a decent glug more torque (428lb ft against 369lb ft) to haul a heavier (by 135kg, now 1,980kg) X3 along, it doesn't want for underlying quality. There’s still a decent appetite for revs, very little lag and the inherent smoothness of an inline engine that’s always appealing. Shorter ratios always make 50 feel a tad brisker than 40, though there’s not a great deal in it. Shifts are swift and decisive however you choose to execute them.
The biggest advance, though, is in the driving. The old M40 is good, though certainly not beyond improvement - and, as all replacements should, the M50 highlights the fact. BMW’s press material suggests that there’s a ‘noticeable increase in agility, cornering stability and long-distance comfort over the outgoing model’ thanks to a wider rear track, increased rigidity and kinematic tweaks at both axles and, wouldn’t you know, they’ve pulled it off. This X3 rides far more agreeably on 21-inch wheels than our slightly busy car does on identically sized rims, while also turning in more keenly, gripping harder and cruising with greater hush.
It’s lovely to drive, in fact. Like some of the best new M cars, it’s easy to have great confidence in the front end, thanks to its inherent precision. The mass is expertly marshalled, both in terms of balance and body control, and the feeling of a rear-drive car when powering from bends is never far away. It’s an SUV that actively rewards being driven in its sportier modes, rather than their presence feeling like a gimmick. If not quite the return of an M Performance hot hatch with a straight six, this X3 is significantly better at making fast progress than before, the bandwidth extended to such an extent that it’s preferable company whatever the scenario. Which did make getting into the family bus something of a downgrade not long afterwards. And it seldom, if ever, feels like that.
Certainly, the X3 feels very well equipped to take on the incoming Audi SQ5, which is probably the closest rival as a similarly sized SUV with a 3.0-litre petrol engine. Finally, too, it’s worth pointing out that this X3, with its swanky new interior and impressive handling, isn’t a whole lot more than before. And that’s rare in 2024. A new M40i with a couple of options is currently available on BMW for £65k, and that’s with a £4,000 discount. Ex demos from this year still command £60k. In that context, and with the understanding that a few options could be done without (but the adaptive suspension absolutely included), the latest model offers a meaningfully improved package for - in the grand scheme of things - not a great deal more. Assuming the looks past muster, of course. Which is admittedly no sure thing. Otherwise, this X3 does exactly what a follow-up model ought to do: it makes its predecessor seem a bit old hat. Definitely our old M40i doesn’t feel quite so great anymore. Good job it still has sound in its favour.
SPECIFICATION | 2025 BMW X3 M50
Engine: 2,998cc, straight six petrol
Transmission: 8-speed auto, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 398@5,200-6,250rpm
Torque (lb ft): 428@1,900-4,800rpm
0-62mph: 4.6 seconds
Top speed: 155mph
Weight: 1,980kg (DIN)
MPG: 35.8 (WLTP)
CO2: 179g/km (WLTP)
Price: £66,980 (price as standard; price as tested £77,980 comprising Fire Red paint for £875, 21-inch M 1037 Light Star jet black wheels for £900, Heated steering wheels for £250, M Adaptive Suspension for £625, Pano roof for £1,350, Luxury Instrument Panel for £450, Technology Pack for £2,275, Driving Assistant Professional for £1,275, Parking Assistant Pro for £800, Comfort Plus (Rear side window blinds, Ventilated front seat) for £1,350, Comfort Pack (Front lumbar support, Travel and Comfort System, Front and Rear heated seats, Harmon/Kardon sound) for £850.
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