Discussion
Hi, have been luirking around here for a bit but more on the forum with the name starting with the letter "p".......
anyway, am thinking of buying of a X3 - wife needs to drive to Birmingham and beyond a couple of times from London every week so need something safe and a bit of a mileage-muncher, also not too big and a fairly all-weather, and she likes the higher up driving position. looked at newish freelander but kits-wise seems to be not impressive. (Wife had an accident some years ago so very concerned about safety) Thinking of an early X3 at aroudn £10k as it seems to have quite of bit of safety kit (did toy with Volvo XC 90 but wify thinks it's too big) and got reasonably good review. But many seem to think it's got a firm ride and at low speed can be unsettling. What's everybody's real life experience? and how good is it on motorway? I have been in one before and it seems quite relaxed and comfy at 70ish(but my daily car is a Porker 3.2 so perhaps any car this side of 1980s will be conmfy by my standard)..........and anything to watch out for? and where are the dependable Beemer indies near London that I can find these cars? (I know lodas of porker dealers but have no clue when it comes to beemers.....)
apologies to sound too anal but don't want to get the wrong car for wify..........
many thanks
anyway, am thinking of buying of a X3 - wife needs to drive to Birmingham and beyond a couple of times from London every week so need something safe and a bit of a mileage-muncher, also not too big and a fairly all-weather, and she likes the higher up driving position. looked at newish freelander but kits-wise seems to be not impressive. (Wife had an accident some years ago so very concerned about safety) Thinking of an early X3 at aroudn £10k as it seems to have quite of bit of safety kit (did toy with Volvo XC 90 but wify thinks it's too big) and got reasonably good review. But many seem to think it's got a firm ride and at low speed can be unsettling. What's everybody's real life experience? and how good is it on motorway? I have been in one before and it seems quite relaxed and comfy at 70ish(but my daily car is a Porker 3.2 so perhaps any car this side of 1980s will be conmfy by my standard)..........and anything to watch out for? and where are the dependable Beemer indies near London that I can find these cars? (I know lodas of porker dealers but have no clue when it comes to beemers.....)
apologies to sound too anal but don't want to get the wrong car for wify..........
many thanks
Targarama said:
If you want a good 10k soft roader type car to keep the lady safe then I'd suggest looking to the East. A Honda CRV or Nissan Qashqai will be less costly to run and also less costly in repairs or breakdowns.
If you've been inside either of these there is no comparison. We test drove all 3 and x3 won by a country mile for comfort, depreciation, mpg, and service. Having said this I've driven beemers for some time so anything jap would feel crap by comparison!I'll provide some positive feedback, even though its not my X3 !
My best friend a couple of years ago needed something as his better half had just found out they had Twins on the way. We'd talk about cars and he quickly sold on the wife's E46 318i coupe in preparation for the correct car. The usual words were talked of, "higher up so she can see better", "it's got to be a SUV type as they're safer", "I want something with some prestige" etc.
I did remind him that it's a fallacy to assume SUV type of cars are actually any 'safer' than a normal road car - but he was adamant, which is fine of course! I had been suggesting an E60 Touring, perhaps a 520d (I personally have an E39 530d Touring and the load space I find is great)
He looked at everything, I think his choices were Range Rover, X5, XC90, but when checking them out he found the boot sizes weren't that big compared to the size of the car.
I didn't hear from him for a week or so, and when we did talk, he said he'd just bought an X3! quickly followed by 'seen the size of the Boot in these things?' 3 years on, they still have it, "it moves the twins and allllll their crap to nottingham 2-3 times a month with ease' he said.
Turns out it was the nicer 2.0d M Sport model so it looked much nicer than the standard X3's, his wifey loves it, not too small, not too big either.
So a thumbs up on behalf of my mate for you to consider!
Cheers, Dennis!
My best friend a couple of years ago needed something as his better half had just found out they had Twins on the way. We'd talk about cars and he quickly sold on the wife's E46 318i coupe in preparation for the correct car. The usual words were talked of, "higher up so she can see better", "it's got to be a SUV type as they're safer", "I want something with some prestige" etc.
I did remind him that it's a fallacy to assume SUV type of cars are actually any 'safer' than a normal road car - but he was adamant, which is fine of course! I had been suggesting an E60 Touring, perhaps a 520d (I personally have an E39 530d Touring and the load space I find is great)
He looked at everything, I think his choices were Range Rover, X5, XC90, but when checking them out he found the boot sizes weren't that big compared to the size of the car.
I didn't hear from him for a week or so, and when we did talk, he said he'd just bought an X3! quickly followed by 'seen the size of the Boot in these things?' 3 years on, they still have it, "it moves the twins and allllll their crap to nottingham 2-3 times a month with ease' he said.
Turns out it was the nicer 2.0d M Sport model so it looked much nicer than the standard X3's, his wifey loves it, not too small, not too big either.
So a thumbs up on behalf of my mate for you to consider!
Cheers, Dennis!
DennisCooper said:
I'll provide some positive feedback, even though its not my X3 !
Cheers, Dennis!
I agree. Bizarrely the boot I am told is bigger than the X5s? How does that work. But with the added benefit of it actually fitting in a parking space. The soft roader comment above is also rubbish - we were one of the only cars to gracefully leave a slippery muddy slope at a car park at Spa year before last! It works!Cheers, Dennis!
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff