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.

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Built for Curves
Like BMW's cars, the X3 offers top-notch road manners. Some may find the steering wheel too difficult to turn, but its heavy rotations render spot-on directional control. The meaty steering wheel ...

BMW Maintenance System
The BMW Maintenance System supports the preservation of the traffic and operating safety of your BMW. The objective is to optimize efforts with respect to minimal vehicle maintenance costs. If ...

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. &quo ...