Land Rover and Acura recently launched entries into this growing segment, so how is the revised X3 looking these days?
Three years ago, the BMW X3 was a novelty: a slick-handling luxury compact SUV. We liked it, but didn’t love it. Now, newcomers such as the Land Rover LR2, the Acura RDX, and the upcoming VW Tiguan, come surprisingly close to matching what we remember enjoying most about the baby Bimmer—gifted handling, abundant luxury, premium brand cache—and do so at a price that undercuts the X3. Hmmm. Time to take a fresh look at the Bimmer.
And a fresh thing we found. Technically, a freshened thing: for 2007, BMW gave its cute-ute a significant update—inside, outside, and under the hood. But what remained to be seen was how far these changes would go towards ingratiating the X3 to us to the extent that we could actually love the thing, not merely accept it. Moreover, would they help justify the X3’s ever-climbing price?
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