BMW X3 30i Driven: The Bridge Between Older BMWs and The Neue Klasse

We don’t get station waggons in India. But the BMW X3 comes close, not because it’s a big car (it’s quite small, to be frank), but because of the styling, because of the use case that it caters to, because of the way it drives, and because of its surprisingly good loading capacity. Either way, the G45 generation of the BMW X3 is one of the closest cars to a station wagon that we get in India, especially the 30i M Sport Pro variant.

Now, the BMW X3 30i doesn’t look too modern or as drastic as compared to some of the recent BMW designs. This has a bit of both. In fact, I would rate the BMW X3 30i as the only design in BMWs line of cars that somewhat bridges the gap between the older design language and the Neue Klasse design language of BMW cars. If you’re used to this, then the new BMW car stylings may not be as jarring for you.

BMW X3 30i Review – Design and Styling

The X3 is a small SUV in BMW’s lineup. It sits below the BMW X5 and above the BMW X1, which many don’t consider to be a “real BMW.” So by the purist standard, this is in fact the smallest BMW SUV that can be considered a “real SUV.” But the dimensions and styling are nowhere near “small.” Given that the definition of SUVs has now changed, the BMW X3 feels quite big. It has a long 2,865mm wheelbase that gives it a nice long stance, which is further complimented with a scooping roofline, making the BMW X3’s already long profile look slightly longer. It measures 4,755mm in length which is longer than the likes of the XUV 7XO or the Tata Safari so it is most definitely long.

But it is not the length or the wheelbase of the X3 that gives it a station wagon look. It is the rear third of the car. The bulky and rather wide rear third with the small spoiler gives the BMW X3 a very nice and scooping side profile that looks more like a station wagon than an SUV. 

Coming to other design elements, the BMW X3 has quite a lot of standard BMW design elements. We get the illuminated kidney grille that is just the right size. Not too big and not too long like we have come to see in some recent BMW designs. The rear profile of the car is also pretty nice and bulky. We get a very plain and minimalistic tailgate design and the tail lamps don’t take up as much space in the rear, while retaining the signature “Energy Sword” styling. I like this rear end more than the previous generation since it is much more minimal but somehow looks more bulky and aggressive. The rear bumper with the nice diffuser treatment gives the “aggressive” look from the back.

BMW X3 30i M Sport Pro Review: Interiors and Comfort

Coming to the interior and comfort, the BMW X3 30i M Sport Pro has quite a lavish interior. I expected the M Sport Pro to have blacked-out interiors but to my surprise, the dual-tone interior looks posch, and the BMW X3 feels really good to sit inside. The seats are big and hold you in place quite well. We are getting more than enough lumbar support and the seats hold you in place well. There is also extendable thigh support and adjustable head rests on the front seats that just makes things super comfortable for people of all sizes. The seats are ventilated and are 12-way electrically adjustable. The BMW X3 missed out on seat massagers.

The space in the back seat is also ample. Despite being smaller in size, the BMW X3 has almost the same amount of space as the BMW X5. Sure, the X5 is much wider so you can fit more people in the rear seat but in terms of leg room, the difference is not that significant. The rear passengers get their own dedicated touch-sensitive climate controls and type-C ports to charge their devices. Rear seats are super comfortable. The cushioning is just right and the seats are massive so you’re never short on support anywhere, no matter how long the journey is.

BMW X3 30i M Sport Pro Review: Features and Tech

In terms of features and tech, there is so much that we had to do a separate tech review for the BMW X3, but I will try to give you a fair idea here. So first and foremost, we get a dual-screen setup with a 14.9-inch infotainment display and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. Both top-notch in terms of quality and information. The digital cluster may take some getting used to since there is a lot of information up there, but it works really well. The infotainment display is as good as it gets. With an almost 15-inch size, this is a massive display, and it does a lot as well. Not only is this the center for all the in-car entertainment, it is also where all of the car settings and controls are also accessed from.

Furthermore, we get electronically adjustable front seats with a memory function. The front seats are also ventilated, and we are getting three-zone climate control in the BMW X3 30i M Sport Pro, controls for which can only be accessed via the infotainment display, which is a massive con in my opinion. But otherwise, there is a lot you can do with this display. It is the center for most of the features of the car so you can guess. 

There are also some very cool features on the BMW X3 (present on other BMW cars as well). First is the drive recorder, where you can use the four cameras present on the 360-degrees setup as your dashcam. All four of them either separately or together. The feature is called Drive Recorder and it either lets you record manually and can automatically record up to 60 seconds before and after an impact. Brilliant. There is also an in-cabin camera that allows users to click pictures and record videos of what is happening inside the cabin, and it also comes with night vision so for content purposes, I found this to be quite useful and fun!

Furthermore, we get a huge panoramic glass roof, a very well put-together ambient lighting setup, in-built navigation, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, wireless charging, automatic headlamps and wipers, heated and ventilated seats, a beautiful 15-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, Adaptive Cruise Control, 360-degree camera, and a lot more stuff. So in terms of features and tech, there is no way that the BMW X3 30i will not leave you satisfied.

BMW X3 30i M Sport Pro Review: Performance and Drivetrain

But it is not the features or the design and profile that I loved about the BMW X3. It is the admirable 2.0 litre four cylinder B48 petrol engine. It is so refined yet so punchy that even a car as big as this just feels weightless and absolutely in your palm when you try to push it. The 4-cylinder B48 is not a very big engine, and the numbers don’t really sound very powerful. The X3’s M Sport Pro variant produces 258 bhp of power and 400 Nm of torque. But the way the engine is tuned and the way this handles, these numbers don’t do justice to the amount of fun you can have with the X3. 

I drove the car in sports mode most of the time and the sound of the B48 on higher revs is just so satisfying. It is not loud, but it has just the right notes. Wonderful exhaust note. And the speed does justice to the sound. With all the electronics off and the climate control also turned off, I was able to do a 0 to 100 kmph pull in just 6.28 seconds. That is 0.02 seconds quicker than BMW’s claimed 0-100 time of 6.3 seconds!

It is very quick, but it is not jarring. Thanks to the handling. The BMW X30 30i M Sport Pro handles almost as good as the 3 series, despite the bigger and broader shape and size. It sits slightly lower in stance as compared to your regular SUV, that kind of helps in keeping the car as composed and handy while cornering hard and helps a lot with the handling. I found the suspension to be on the stiffer side, even in comfort and eco mode, but that helps with the performance part of the driving, not so much with the comfort part. Still, bumps and potholes are absorbed pretty well by the axles, and the ground clearance is sufficient for the kind of road conditions that we drive in, in India.

Even the gearbox is super slick. We’re getting an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, and the shifts are super quick. In the blink of a second, the car shifts gear. The best part is that if you put it in Sport or put it in manual, the DCT isn’t too quick to shift on its own, and it waits for you or the red line to shift gears. A beautiful detail about all BMW cars: you can rev them as much as you want without the automatic transmission interfering.

Yes, in terms of performance, I absolutely loved the whole driving and ride experience on the BMW X3. The engine is rev-happy, and it’s happy to go. The 258 bhp and 400 Nm power figures are more than enough for driving in any kind of conditions, and despite being a rather big car, the BMW X3 handles like a charm. 

Coming to fuel efficiency, this is what a lot of people must be interested in knowing, and it is also where I feel the BMW X3’s performance should not matter. Even so, this car is quite efficient.

We are getting a mild hybrid setup with a 46-volt mild hybrid battery, which sort of supports the engine and the electronics inside the X3. The fuel efficiency: when I got the car, it had been driven about 20,000 km. During my time with the BMW X3, I was able to eke out above 8 kmpl driving the car only in city traffic. All my tests that I did on the car also included a few 0-100 dashes, a top-speed run, and a few other stress tests that would have further reduced the mileage.

Despite all of that, the BMW X3 gave me above 8 kmpl. In my opinion, if you drive the car purely in eco mode and drive it carefully, I think you can get more than 10 kmpl easily, even in city traffic. So while it doesn’t matter as much, the fuel efficiency on the BMW X3 30i is still pretty great.

Review Verdict: Should You Buy the 2026 BMW X3?

Smartprix Rating: ⭐9.1/10

• Design and Build: ⭐9/10
• Features and Tech: ⭐8.5/10
• Driving Pleasure: ⭐10/10
• Performance: ⭐9/10
• Comfort and Space: ⭐9/10

So that covers everything. The BMW X3, while being one of the last of the old shape and form factor of BMW cars that we are seeing, is as good as any BMW X3 I have been fortunate enough to drive. I’ve driven the previous generation X3 and the previous generation X4, and this one is better than both in terms of comfort, performance, the way it handles, even the rather mid-level efficiency. Sure, the BMW X4’s road presence was much bolder, but it doesn’t exist in the market anymore so the X3 is the best we’re getting in this price range.

The only thing that I feel was not as good as some other cars in this segment is the ride quality element, but that is also mainly due to the road conditions we drive in. The stiffer suspension tuning makes bumps and potholes don’t do this car well on rough patches. In my personal opinion, I prefer a stiffer suspension, but from a larger perspective, a rather softer tuning of the suspension is better for comfort. Sure, sports mode makes it even stiffer, but in comfort or eco modes, I felt that it could have had slightly better shock absorption. That is only because we drive in India. Pretty sure that on smoother roads, we won’t feel any of that. The ride quality is excellent. The only other thing I didn’t like is the touch controls for the climate. The rest, I have nothing to complain about. Absolutely love it. For a price of around ₹80 lakh, this gives you almost the same fun and feel that you’d get with a 3 Series or a 5 Series sedan.

First reviewed in September 2026.