2011 BMW X3 Review by Mike Hanley

The BMW X3 may have been a pioneer among compact luxury crossovers, but a number of competitors — including the Audi Q5, Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class and Volvo XC60 — have entered the fray since its debut as a 2004 model. Now, with the second-generation X3, BMW has new metal to take them on.

The 2011 BMW X3 is still the small luxury crossover of choice for driving enthusiasts, but its substantially more forgiving suspension tuning should make the new version far more appealing.

I tested the base xDrive28i, which starts at $36,750; with options, our test car's sticker price was $43,875. For a side-by-side comparison with the competitors mentioned above, click here.

See also:

Parking lamps/low beams, headlamp control
General information If the driver door is opened with the ignition switched off, the exterior lighting is automatically switched off at the following switch settings: 0, , Parking lamps Swit ...

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Overloading the vehicle To avoid exceeding the approved carrying capacity of the tires, never overload the vehicle. Overloading can lead to overheating and increases the rate at which damage d ...

Text messages
Calling the sender of a text message 1. Select the desired message. 2. Select the symbol. Saving the sender in the contacts 1. Highlight the desired message. 2. Open "Options". 3. &qu ...