X3 in the Market

At $38,000, the X3 starts substantially higher than its nearest competitor, the Acura RDX. Save for its problematic transmission behavior, the BMW offers a more buttoned-down driving experience than the Acura. For some, that's worth every penny.

As BMW surely knows, the X3 can't sit on its pedestal forever. Land Rover's entry-level LR2 is on the way, and so are the Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60. If the X3 is to remain a desirable car, BMW will have to fix a few things so buyers need not weigh the good against the bad — because there will be plenty of very good alternatives soon.

    See also:

    Setting the voice dialog
    You can set whether the system uses the standard dialog or a short version. In the short version of the voice dialog, the responses from the system are given in abbreviated form. On the Control Di ...

    Comfort position
    In the comfort position, the roof is not fully open. This reduces wind noise in the passenger compartment. Each time the glass sunroof is opened or closed all the way, it stops in the comfort posi ...

    Controls
    1 Change entertainment sources 2 Volume, on/off 3 Programmable memory buttons or radio station buttons 4 Change station/track 5 Eject CD/DVD 6 CD/DVD drive 7 Change wave band ...