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My BMW X3 30i: Ownership review

17th November 2021, 16:26 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

After checking out multiple cars like the Toyota Fortuner 4WD AT, Mercedes-Benz GLC 200 & BMW X1, we finally went ahead with the X3 30i.

BHPian CEF_Beasts recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

It all starts with a DREAM

A little background - we have a '14 EcoSport, Fortuner and a '17 Creta. EcoSport and Fortuner are manuals meanwhile the Creta is an automatic. Since the Creta was our first automatic, we got totally bowled over by the convenience an automatic offers in Mumbai’s maniac traffic. So decided the next car also needs to be an automatic.

The selection process

It all started in 2020 when the itch to upgrade to a new car was planted into my parents' minds by me.

A few requirements set by us:

An SUV, no sedan at all.
Automatic is an absolute must.
Needs to have a minimum of 6 airbags (none of our current cars had it).
Petrol preferably but diesel was also in the mix.
An AWD/4WD as much as possible.
Should have more than the 171hp, benchmark set by our Fortuner in our garage.
Chauffeur-friendly on weekdays so a decent backseat, and a delight to drive on weekends, so a must-have combination of both things.

With India grappling with the Covid pandemic in 2020, it was decided to best shift the car buying decision to the next year. The initial months of 2021, till February, were alright but once the 2nd wave hit we just said, forget a car at this time and keep ourselves and those around us safe. Topmost priority at that moment of time.

Even before the new car was decided or even shortlisted, it was the Fortuner (it being a diesel and the manual being cumbersome in traffic) which was always shown the exit door. Read on to know what exactly happened!

Shortlisted cars

Toyota Fortuner
Toyota Innova Crysta
BMW X1
Mercedes-Benz GLA 35 AMG
Mercedes-Benz GLC
BMW X3

Fortuner

Owning the Fortuner already, this was the natural upgrade. Once you own a Toyota, moving to another brand is really tough. I was waiting eagerly for the Fortuner facelift to be launched in India. It was finally launched on 6th Jan 2021. I was following it for months and it got the power and torque bump that was needed and a few more essential features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Please bear with me because all along the Innova Crysta will also make an appearance.

Now, like everyone knows when the Fortuner was launched in January and we were hit by the 2nd wave. It meant neither did dealers have any display cars, forget test drives, nor did they confirm a precise delivery date. It was a long wait to finally get a test drive and display cars.

When we finally took a test drive, I was seriously impressed by it. The added oomph was immediately noticeable and the NVH much better than the pre-facelift 2016-21 Fortuner, forget our '14 Fortuner which feels like a truck!

Legender was immediately rejected by me, the reason being the regular Fortuner had the more butch looks and it had the much-needed 4WD which the Legender didn’t get. (Why Toyota why?! Only India doesn’t get the 4WD Legender) Also, the regular 4WD Fortuner had a few more useful features like the Hill-descent control, 11-speaker JBL sound system and the choice to select the interior colour. The Legender may have more features like a wireless phone charger, virtual swipe boot opening and ambient lighting, but I have never given weightage to such features in our car buying decisions. Also, the roof on the Legender has been wrapped by some matt stuff, which would definitely not stand the test of time, while other markets get a painted black roof!

Innova Crysta

Meanwhile like I said the Innova Crysta comes into the picture. Before the Fortuner, we had a '05 Innova Petrol, so the attachment to an Innova will always be there and this is the only reason it will pop up every now and then. But there is a major reason the Innova was rejected by us, it was something as trivial as the seating layout. The Innova’s variant, gearbox and seating options are best known to Toyota only! For some reason, Toyota thought the Innova ZX with 7 airbags didn’t need a bench seat, and this was the only reason it got rejected every time it came into our decision making. My parents were fine with the GX AT 8 seater Innova but I just couldn’t look at its interior and those manual AC knobs. I wanted the ZX AT only. Period. The 8 seater gives a lot of flexibility so it was a must, we were even ready to exchange our Fortuner for an Innova ZX AT, if only it had 8 seats. The VX AT 8 seater could’ve solved the problem to a large extent but they do not make this combination.

Toyota must not know this but there are several people who want an 8 seater with 7 airbags and if they have so much problem, just keep the 8-seater as a made-to-order for the ZX trim. This is coming from a 15-year Toyota customer, take note of this Toyota India, you lost a potential customer.

Anyways, enough of the Innova rejection, let’s jump to July 2021. Now before we move on let’s introduce the mighty German Trio. In 2014 when we were looking at the Fortuner, the Audi Q3 was looked at very seriously and it was the seed that was sown in my father’s mind in 2013-14 itself! Back then we just decided to just get the Fortuner because of its size advantage and Toyota’s service quality that we were associated with over the Audi Q3. The Q3’s interior space was little more than our EcoSport’s back then and was simply rejected.

Ze Germans

So we decided this time around, let’s look at the German Trio before buying a new car. Poor Audi since then has discontinued the Q3, Q5 and Q7. What a waste of an opportunity by Audi India! They have the best quality interior even if they are a bit plain-Jane.

Anyways, that left us with Mercedes-Benz and BMW. And once a BMW enters the discussion, BHPians know where the discussion heads!

July 2021 was spent in car showrooms quite literally! We were fully vaccinated and there was nothing more to do since I had a college break.

X1 and X3

It was the beginning of July, precisely Sunday the 3rd, when we decided to head to the BMW dealer. Landed over at Infinity Worli and saw the X3 and X1 in flesh. Wrote it in this order because it was the X3 we sat in first and then the X1. The X3 didn’t really feel like a massive upgrade over the X1 in terms of space. So we thought the X1 is not that bad. The SA gave the price list and discounts on both of them and the X1 was a serious contender. Didn’t test drive either at this time. X1 was around 45L after discounts while the X3 was around 69L after discounts without BSI or BRI.

GLC

Anyways, the next day being a Sunday we thought let’s head over to Mercedes-Benz to check out the GLC. We reached Auto Hanger Prabhadevi without calling and found out they didn’t have a GLC on display or as a test drive car! So they told us to visit their Andheri branch. Once we reached the Andheri branch, we saw the GLC in flesh. The SA brought out a test drive 220d GLC, and we took a test drive just to get a feel of it but we wanted the 200. The ride quality of the GLC is really good and the interior, just by the look, feel really upmarket! Came back to the showroom, sat down with the SA and discussed the pricing. With discounts and no extended warranty or service packs, he was giving a 3L discount on the OTR costs. It was coming to around 67L after discounts.

GLA 35 AMG

Meanwhile what caught my dad’s eye was a Denim Blue GLA35 AMG standing in the corner of the showroom. He was really impressed by the colour and it wasn’t too loud like a true-blue AMG. Since it was a fresh launch the OTR was 70L. The rear seat has improved tremendously over the previous Gen GLA. It looked like a solid package.

So this is what I took out of this, the GLC has been downgraded since launch. The 200 Petrol is an RWD with 190PS whereas when it was launched there was the 300 4Matic version with close to 250PS and was an AWD. So why not consider the GLA35 AMG instead, at a similar price. The GLC had got updated a few months back with a 360deg camera, front massaging seats and a fully digital instrument cluster. The GLC had a 2-3 month waiting period for the Brilliant Blue that the SA said was only available now out of the two blues which are listed on the brochure, the other being the more popular Cavansite Blue.

Another set of showroom visits

Toyota

For the next few weeks every weekend, we would head to the showrooms to look at different cars. In between I thought instead of spending so much money on a luxury car, why not buy a cheaper car like the Tata Safari and replace our EcoSport with it? I played with the idea a lot, watched lots of videos on it and thought not a bad package but my parents were completely against the Tata due to the constant niggles which they knew from before itself, I didn’t say a word on the niggles. Even I thought let the Safari pass on, will consider it some other time when maybe we’re replacing our Creta and the niggles are completely removed.

Like this, we reached the penultimate week of July. All showroom visits till now were done by my dad and me. This time we took my mom as well and headed back to the Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and BMW showrooms. It was Saturday the 24th we headed to Lakozy Toyota first and saw the Fortuner in flesh again. Like every non-car person, my mom was instantly attracted to the Legender, but I was firm that I wanted the 4WD if we go for it. While the Fortuner’s chamois interior that I wanted was a bit off. The interior colour looked funny when the exterior colour picked was Sparkling Black Crystal Shine. So my mom told me the black will look good with the black exterior colour chosen, but it was not sunny at that time and the test drive car standing outside in the exact same exterior and interior colours was already hot inside with the black interior. Also for some reason, the black interior makes the cabin feel less wide than it really was. Again like I said earlier, my mom liked the dual-tone interior of the Legender more than either black or chamois of the regular Fortuner. This became a big deterrent for the Fortuner. Toyota could have made us spend less by giving a Legender 4WD, but it’s missing in the range when again international models get it!

Meanwhile, the Innova again came into the picture, but in the end, it was out for the reason already mentioned before.

Mercedes-Benz

Next, we headed to the Mercedes-Benz showroom in Andheri and this time a Cavansite Blue GLC was standing on the showroom floor and the colour seriously impressed all of us! Although for reasons best known to Mercedes-Benz they have discontinued this colour on the GLC. The SA was quoting a waiting period of 4-5 months for the colour without any guarantee that it will remain in production. The other Brilliant Blue didn’t really excite us. We never buy white or black cars, the Fortuner was an exception because the Sparkling Black Crystal shine was a dark blue just the way we wanted and not a full black. My dad didn’t want the silver so that left us with the Brilliant Blue and Hyacinth Red. Red was out by my mom, reason being it was too bright and would get unwanted attention. Saw a black GLA35 AMG that we had initially liked but outside in the open, it looked really small and would easily get lost in the crowd. Space this time looked small, maybe because we had a look at the GLC first and then GLA, last time it was in the opposite way, hence must have found the space good. Even the SA was telling us no point in spending 70 on the GLA35, rather look at the regular GLAs if you really want it. This way the GLA was out.

BMW

The next day, on the 25th, we headed to the BMW showroom with my mom this time around. Looked at both the X1 and X3. The SA explained everything that the X3 had and its pros. The X1 although a good package in terms of space, doesn’t feel like a premium car for some reason. The interior, quality although good, has no major talking point other than the badge. Not many features, felt dated, was an FWD with 190PS. The real BMW range starts from the X3, even the SA said the same thing. I thought rather than spending 45-46Lakh on an X1, we would be better off with the Fortuner.

(Although I must mention BMW has done a brilliant job on the front-fascia of the X1, from far it’s very easy to mistake it for one of the bigger X SAVs. And I have been witnessing several new X1s in Mumbai ever since launch and the new front look has clicked with buyers big-time! My dad has often mistaken the X1 for the X3, it's only when you see it from the side that you realise it’s smaller. This is a big advantage for us, reason being we don’t like attention and it’s good to an extent for us that the X1 looks similar to the X3 from the front.)

Meanwhile, before the penultimate week had started we had got our Fortuner evaluated by BMW, the price they gave was much lower than what we had expected. Even Toyota had quoted only 1 Lakh more than what BMW was offering. We thought to ourselves if we buy a 5 seater, then we must keep a 7 seater when needed since even my grandparents stay in Mumbai and those 7 seats are a boon. So we thought why not remove the EcoSport, anyways Ford’s future in India seems bleak and with no new car launched by them till now, it was best decided to sell our EcoSport. The offer BMW gave for the EcoSport was up to our expectations. We decided to book the X3 30i in the next few days, since we wanted the delivery on 30th August; Janmashtami.

On 1st August we headed to the other BMW dealer in Mumbai and thought let’s see the price he gives. We told the SA at Navnit clearly we’re carrying our cheque book with us, give us a good price we will book the car with you. He told us an OTR figure of 71L, meanwhile the Worli dealer was giving us a revised 69.5L offer on the phone itself. We clearly went with the original dealer we had talked to, i.e., Infinity.

Reason for choosing the X3

It finally boiled down to the final 3 - Fortuner 4WD AT, GLC 200 and X3 30i.

Really wanted the 2021 Fortuner, but already owning one, it was best decided to retain our current Fortuner and move over to a different brand. Compared to our 2014 Fortuner, I completely agree the 2021 Fortuner is a big leap in terms of everything, but giving away our well-maintained Fortuner didn't feel right at the moment.

Like I had said earlier, the GLC200 has a brilliant interior and that 64 colour ambient lighting makes it feel like a very premium place to be in. But the lack of an AWD and only 190PS in the Petrol engine didn’t excite me. Deep inside my heart, I wanted a BMW, features were not what I needed, it was the Sheer Driving Pleasure I was after, the BMW gave that in bountiful. Also, somehow I can't fathom the rear quarter look of the GLC. After a month of going around looking at different cars, a Phytonic Blue BMW X3 30i Luxury Line with Mocha interior was booked on the 1st of August. They had an option of either Blue or White exterior colours in the 30i. We selected the last Phytonic Blue 30i with BMW India according to BMW’s inventory website. BSI+ was selected for 5yrs/60,000 kms and BRI for 5yrs/200,000 kms and the deal was done by giving the booking amount to Infinity BMW.

So finally here is the beauty - our Blue Bolt, a 2021 BMW X3 30i, took delivery on the auspicious day of Janmashtami.

Pros

Spacious 5-seater.
Powerful and potent 250hp motor.
Panoramic Sunroof is huge.
Excellent body control, minimal body roll.
Hushed cabin, stellar NVH.
ZF 8-speed gearbox is a gem, shifts when you need and is really quick.
On a tankful shows around 720km range in comfort mode, that too in Mumbai traffic, for a petrol!

Cons

Misses out on a knee airbag which competitors get.
19-inch wheels make the ride a bit stiff on sharp potholes. Are 245/50/R19s, wish BMW had chosen 55 section instead. Mercedes-Benz GLC gets 235/55/R19s. SportX trim gets 18 inchers but there was neither stock of the SportX nor the colour we wanted.
No keyless entry for a car so expensive!
No ventilated seat option for the front passengers.
No 360deg camera which the international models get as standard.
No sport seats for the Luxury Line, hence no extendable thigh support. The GLC and X4 get extendable thigh supports.
Default Auto-start stop on is pretty irritating.
BMW’s Live Cockpit although legible in the day and loaded with info like maps, simply lacks the finesse of something like Mercedes-Benz’s or Audi’s, maybe it could also be something to do with the colours used by BMW?
Realised the rear seat squab is too short, it’s not bad but could have been much better.
Auto-headlights are very sensitive.

Niggles so far

Frequent disconnection while using Wireless Apple Carplay.
Wireless charger is quite slow in charging a device.

Now, the LCI is already out in the international market, but I really didn’t like the front look and those 3D style rear tail-lights are a joke. In terms of changes to the interior, they are limited to the new 12.2-inch touchscreen and reshaped central AC Vents. Other than that everything is pretty much the same. It should be landing in the next 2-3 months on Indian shores, I didn’t want to wait and there would surely be a price hike. We had already stretched on our budget, and couldn’t extend it any further.