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:

Safety switch
With the safety switch, the rear windows are prevented from being opened or closed via the switches in the rear passenger area, such as by children. Press the button. The LED lights up if the ...

Leafing through the Owner's Manual
Page by page with link access Turn the controller until the next or previous page is displayed. Page by page without link access Leaf through the pages directly while skipping the links. Highl ...

Run-flat tires
Label RSC label on the tire sidewall. The wheels are composed of special rims and tires that are self-supporting, to a limited degree. The support of the sidewall allows the tire to remain dr ...