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      06-15-2007, 01:40 PM   #1
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X3 Auto

Anyone drive a 07 X3 with an auto? I am amazed at what a completely incompetent transmission that thing has. I had one as a loaner and was excited to play with it, but it has shut a huge delay when downshifting that it's not even fun. Posts over at roadfly indicate there is a software upgrade, but man... Other than that it's an absolutely fantastic vehicle. But the auto tranny is a complete deal killer.
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      06-15-2007, 01:41 PM   #2
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The X3 is probably the worst-reviewed car in the current BMW line-up. I would avoid it. A lot of excellent cars in that category.
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      06-15-2007, 01:48 PM   #3
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Dang, that's too bad. It would be a perfect SUV for me. Great size, great handling, love the panorama sunroof...

There's always the option of going with a stick, but I think resale of a manual SUV might be tough. Personally, I think one of the best values in used SUV market is an 02-05 ML350. The ML's certainly have some widely known quality problems, but the basic machine is a tank. I really liked my 01.
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      06-15-2007, 04:29 PM   #4
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The shifting is pretty slow in general in that truck. I had an X3 for a day (loaner) and although it handled really nice, I'd never buy one. I thought the interior felt cheap for a BMW.

Why don't you check over at the XBimmers forum for some more info?
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      06-15-2007, 04:32 PM   #5
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I would imagine the full redesign of the X3 to arrive in the next couple of years

maybe it'll be better then!
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      06-15-2007, 04:35 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Hunter View Post
The shifting is pretty slow in general in that truck. I had an X3 for a day (loaner) and although it handled really nice, I'd never buy one. I thought the interior felt cheap for a BMW.

Why don't you check over at the XBimmers forum for some more info?
What year X3 did you drive Rick? I actually thought the opposite; that the X3 was a notch higher in interior quality than my Zed. Good idea on checking at XBim... but I thought I'd post where I'd get comments from people with no interest in defending their ride...
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      06-15-2007, 04:46 PM   #7
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I have an '05 X3 I ordered for my wife with a manual tranny and we love it for road trips. I don't really find the interior all that bad and the handling is pretty amazing for an SUV.

I intend to keep the vehicle long enough that any hit on resale for the transmission choice is irrelevant as far as I am concerned. I have never owned a vehicle with an automatic (40+ years worth of driving) and have no intent of buying one now. My daily commute is about 10 minutes of backroads, so I don't have to put up creep and crawl freeway time.

In that context I far and away prefer rowing my own gears and only put up with slush boxes when I get loaner cars and rentals.

X3 forums with signs of life:

Bimmerfest and X3world.com
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      06-15-2007, 04:49 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Godspeed View Post
What year X3 did you drive Rick? I actually thought the opposite; that the X3 was a notch higher in interior quality than my Zed. Good idea on checking at XBim... but I thought I'd post where I'd get comments from people with no interest in defending their ride...
OOooo... I don't remember. I think it might have been an '05.

Good idea about posting the thread here... but be adventurous! Get flamed there for fun!
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      06-21-2007, 09:55 PM   #9
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I drove a MT X3 with Sport Package on an Auto-X and thought it was a surprisingly good (fun) car to drive given it's size. Try that combo and see what you think then.
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      06-21-2007, 10:31 PM   #10
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I had a 04 X3 for a couple of days when my ex-"roaster" was sick (as usual). I thought the X3 sucked. Another time they gave me a 4.6 X5 (05) and it was not as good as my Infiniti FX45.
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      06-22-2007, 01:40 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flyinggonzo View Post
I drove a MT X3 with Sport Package on an Auto-X and thought it was a surprisingly good (fun) car to drive given it's size. Try that combo and see what you think then.
It wouldn't surprise me that it performed well on autox. The trouble is that it with 'normal' acceleration it get's into 6th at a relatively low road speed. Then when you need some power it takes forever to get it down into 4th or 3rd. So it's making noise, but nothing happens as it sequentially goes backward through the gears. Once's the shifting mess is done you're golden.

I used to envy 5 and 6-spd autos. I always assumed that the 4-spd in my Pathfinder was inferior, but I tell you what, when you step on it, it goes without fuss. I love BMW, but I would not buy an auto X3 because of how bad the trans is.
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      06-22-2007, 03:11 PM   #12
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No, I wouldn't buy an auto X3 either. The 3.0L engine felt fun with a MT, but I felt that I had to pay attention when driving to keep the engine in the meaty part of the rev range for any responsiveness (I feel the same way about my Z4 as well, just less so). An engine with more torque, earlier, would be better suited for a suv of this size. That being said, I really enjoyed driving the the X3 with MT.
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      06-22-2007, 04:17 PM   #13
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I had an X3 for a loaner as well at one point...didn't like it at all. Though I agree with Rick that it handled well, I felt it was underpowered and the interior was awful IMO. If you want a BMW SUV...get the X5....muuuuuch nicer all around. (you can get the mega sunroom too )
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