[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

I would love to see the complete set of pics soon.

Originally Posted by Amarendranath

Please add more pictures as soon as possible, can't wait to check out the beautiful color scheme on the interiors.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Eagerly waiting for the pics. You have to better your 3 series review pictures this time .

Originally Posted by Sheel

Congratulations! May I request for exterior pics? Taken at dawn or dusk, out in the open?

Originally Posted by kedarwalke

Love the black colour and red interiors.
Looking forward for more pictures.

Originally Posted by n:CorE

Excellent write up btw! Upload them pictures already.

Pictures as you guys requested are uploaded on the page before. Let me know your comments.

[abs182]

Finally the thread is up and running an a round of applause and congratulations are in order I'd say. From advising me to buying one for yourself its heartening to note that I made the right choice with the X3 though a 20D. You are right the ride quality and space can be quite surprising once you sit in the X3.

Hope you won't mind me posting stupid queries from time to time here regarding my X3. And I'm sure you'll sweat the car to its limit and inspire insipid owner's like to rise to the occasion.

Congratulations once again and enjoy the pant wetting thrill!

[Amarendranath]

One word 'BEAUTIFUL'. This red is much sober. More like light maroon. Looks classy in my opinion. I expected something similar to Karan's bright red interior. Even the dash board inserts are perfectly matching. Nice shade mate. Congo!

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Pictures as you guys requested are uploaded on the page before. Let me know your comments.

The pics look absolutely gorgeous. I have always loved the the way in which BMW adds the logo as the back. They appear quite classy and prominent. Or maybe its just the love for the brand that is speaking.

Few things that I felt:
1. The idrive screen should have been a foldable/slideable one which pops out on starting the car. Certainly a car costing so much should get that. If I remember correctly my friend's Mercedes C class also has it.

2. The layout of the handbreak/gear lever area is a little dull. On the 3 it looks much more luxurious with the way it slants and merges with the dashboard.

Those are the only 2 things that I felt could have been improved. Or have they been addressed in the refreshed model?

And yes lastly love the interior shade.

[M00M]

X3 looks perfect. I think it's the best suv for India size wise and engine wise that you've got. Great deal as well. I never thought I would like the x3 as much as I like the x5 but after seeing yours I prefer the x3 now. Sometimes there are a few cars people have forgotten about until someone buys and shows it to them only then you realise oh that's good.

Thanks for bringing it on the radar. When are we going for the spin . Have fun with it. Did you get a spare ? Any accessories ?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by abs182

Finally the thread is up and running an a round of applause and congratulations are in order I'd say. From advising me to buying one for yourself its heartening to note that I made the right choice with the X3 though a 20D. You are right the ride quality and space can be quite surprising once you sit in the X3.

Hope you won't mind me posting stupid queries from time to time here regarding my X3. And I'm sure you'll sweat the car to its limit and inspire insipid owner's like to rise to the occasion.

Congratulations once again and enjoy the pant wetting thrill!

You certainly made a wise choice with the X3, especially considering the great deal you got.

Please post whatever queries here, there are enough of BMW experts here to help with anything.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

The pics look absolutely gorgeous. I have always loved the the way in which BMW adds the logo as the back. They appear quite classy and prominent. Or maybe its just the love for the brand that is speaking.

Few things that I felt:
1. The idrive screen should have been a foldable/slideable one which pops out on starting the car. Certainly a car costing so much should get that. If I remember correctly my friend's Mercedes C class also has it.

2. The layout of the handbreak/gear lever area is a little dull. On the 3 it looks much more luxurious with the way it slants and merges with the dashboard.

Those are the only 2 things that I felt could have been improved. Or have they been addressed in the refreshed model?

And yes lastly love the interior shade.

I don't think any BMW has a foldable iDrive screen. They started the trend of pop up looking iDrive screens with the F30, but then this was launched a bit before and has the older design language on the inside. Only the Audis have screens which actually retract, the A3 and A6 and then onwards. C class doesn't, the pre FL C class used to have a fold away cover for the screen.

Sat in an F30 yesterday, and while the design is pleasing I couldn't help but notice that the X3 feels a notch above the F30 and even my E90 in terms of interior feel and materials. In the FL model the interiors are pretty much the same, no major changes.

Originally Posted by M00M

X3 looks perfect. I think it's the best suv for India size wise and engine wise that you've got. Great deal as well. I never thought I would like the x3 as much as I like the x5 but after seeing yours I prefer the x3 now. Sometimes there are a few cars people have forgotten about until someone buys and shows it to them only then you realise oh that's good.

Thanks for bringing it on the radar. When are we going for the spin . Have fun with it. Did you get a spare ? Any accessories ?

The X3 is actually a more practical size than the X5, that said, if the X5 was in the budget we would have definitely bought it. But then it costs about 30 lacs more than what we paid for this.

Spin anytime. Spare will be bought soon, and accessories you will just have to wait and watch

[Akshay1234]

So since the day of delivery, a couple of minutes driving out of the showroom I felt the car pulling slightly to the left. Called up my salesperson and informed them, and was asked to take it to the workshop at any convenient time.

After insisting to the workshop guys I want my alignment done there and then in front of me, I finally took it there about a week later, just before closing time. Took it on a trial with their driver, who agreed about the pulling. So we came back, and put it on the alignment machine.

Now I haven't seen an alignment machine like this. It was a German company I think, and also made some of the lifts in the BMW workshop. I'm attaching a picture here to show you -

As you can see, its a bit different from the normal ones. Every BMW wheel has 5 extra small holes, which are meant for the alignment machine to fit in to, so it doesn't grip the wheel like other normal machines. I had no clue what those 5 small holes were for, and I thought it was just design.

So each sensor on the wheel had 3 electronic slots, so one wire was routed from the control unit to the front sensor, a wire from the front sensor to the alignment lift, and another from the front sensor to the rear wheel sensor. So this isn't wireless and functioning on lasers like other machines.

Its also hooked up to BMW over the internet. So the technician did everything he had to, and I was impressed with this new kind of alignment machine I was seeing. The technician and driver took it for a short trial after and said its fine.

I was happy, and impressed, and left the workshop. But guess what, the car is still pulling a tiny bit to the left . So I'm going to go back again and hope this fancy piece of crap fixes my alignment this time.

[abs182]

Well to the related point of alignment and balancing.

Can someone help me with it? My query is can I take my X3 like I do with all my other cars every 10k to get the balancing and alignment done to my trusted local Tyre shop or it should best be done at the service center?

And secondly, like normal cars am i suppose to rotate the wheels at the 10k tyre job? and if yes can the local guys do it or will it need bmw technicians?

The reason for this question is that for me the service station is good 120 KMs away hence wanted to know whether tyres atleast can be done by the local guys i.e. their alignment, balancing and rotation.

@Akshay: Hope your alignment issue is sorted out. Need an update on the car's overall character soon! Enjoy it to the hilt.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by abs182

Well to the related point of alignment and balancing.

Can someone help me with it? My query is can I take my X3 like I do with all my other cars every 10k to get the balancing and alignment done to my trusted local Tyre shop or it should best be done at the service center?

And secondly, like normal cars am i suppose to rotate the wheels at the 10k tyre job? and if yes can the local guys do it or will it need bmw technicians?

The reason for this question is that for me the service station is good 120 KMs away hence wanted to know whether tyres atleast can be done by the local guys i.e. their alignment, balancing and rotation.

@Akshay: Hope your alignment issue is sorted out. Need an update on the car's overall character soon! Enjoy it to the hilt.

As long as it is a trusted tyre shop, with good equipment, and they have the X3 in their list of cars in the machine then its fine.

You don't need BMW technicians to rotate the wheels, it can be done by anyone. Whether you want to rotate them or not is your choice. I haven't really been doing it on any car lately.

Alignment issue isn't sorted out since I haven't got time to go to the workshop. Not even driven it in about 3 days, but yes I have been enjoying it a lot.

BTW got the original mats, and the quality is great. They don't have the raised sides like the 3d mats but the fit is millimeter perfect.

[abs182]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

As long as it is a trusted tyre shop,

Thanks for the update on the tyre maintenance. I too think I will not rotate my tyres on the X3.

[Lakshay]

Congratulations for your new car! This is one of the very few cars/SUVs in which you sit this high and get this much driving pleasure. I have a 20d and just can't get enough of it. A 3L I6 engine only makes this highly versatile car more complete.
Looking forward to the updates!

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Well yes, but it can't take as much of a battering as the Yeti can.

I doubt it. I've thrown a lot at it. No major issues so far. Haven't been PROPERLY off road though.

[Akshay1234]

So the rim has the centre bits of each spoke, and the lip in a machined finish. While the rest is painted. I was thinking instead of going all black, why not leave the machined bits as is, and paint the rest gloss black. It will look something like this, what say guys? Of course this will happen when I get the black grilles.

[Akshay1234]

3000km Update -

Well I randomly decided to drive to Goa last week, and took the X3. That saw 1200 odd kms being added to the odo. I did the drive there alone, and man what an experience it was in the X3. The X3 has really impressed me in more ways than one.

The total trip was 124x kms, the mileage I managed to get was 10.2kmpl, and the average speed was 65kmph. Not bad figures considering I was enjoying the power of the 30d.

I saw a variety of roads, from the Mumbai Pune Expressway, to the slightly bumpy section with diversions from Pune to Satara. And then the 2 lane highway from there onwards till Belgaum, till I took the single lane Chorla route into Goa. The car took all these roads with ease, and kept me extremely comfortable.

What really impressed me was the ride, and the refinement of the suspension. Yes its not as soft as the Q5, but this drive proved to me that the X3 will be suitable for cross country drives. It did thud here and there on big bumps or potholes, but nothing to make the occupants uncomfortable.

The engine was something else on the drive, instant power when I needed it and no worries about overtaking anything. I managed to keep some decent crusing speeds, and could get back up to speed very easily after slowing down constantly due to bikers or trucks. The engine seems to be opening up really well, and the refinement has gone up and it seems to have a bit more kick.

The highlight was definitely the single lane Chorla route, with its great corners. I put the car into Sport and with some nice music and the windows down it was one of the better drives I've had in a long time.

Besides that I've ordered the black grilles, should get them in about 2 weeks time.

[Akshay1234]

I went out yesterday, and as I was walking back to my car I see the front right corner has scrapes on it, with some red paint. What a horrible feeling. It had obviously happened sometime while I was driving, but I didn't hear or feel it happening. I think its even worse when you don't know how something of this sort has happened.

Anyway I couldn't see the car like that, so went a couple of hours later and dropped it off to get the scrapes fixed. The bumper will have to be repainted I think. Since I was there, I decided to get the rims painted too, and also the grilles. Depending on how the grilles look I may cancel the order I have for the BMW gloss black grilles.

Getting the car back tomorrow, lets see how it looks after.

[Akshay1234]

Here is a teaser. The grilles were mistakenly not painted totally black, only the slats, so it now looks like the 20d grilles. That will be corrected next week probably.