Drei zwei

Updated BMW X3 gets a minor redesign and changes to the cabin as it enters the second half of its lifecycle and we drive the diesel variant to find out what’s new

- Dhruv Saxena

The mid-size luxury SUV segment is quite crowded populated by models from pretty much every single luxury carmaker in India. There’s the segment favourite GLC from Mercedes-Benz which received an update last year, the recently updated Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60, the newly launched Lexus NX and as many as three similarly priced SUVs from JLR including the Discovery Sport, Evoque and F-Pace. The X3 has been one of the more popular offerings in the segment and to maintain the status quo, BMW has given the SUV an update.

For 2022, the X3 appears to have hit the gym and come out looking leaner than before, although overall dimensions are more or less the same. It gets a revised fascia that includes slimmer LED headlamps with hexagonally shaped DRLs, a shaper bumper and an upsized grille that mercifully hasn’t been enlarged to opinion dividing proportions. Over to the side, the only change is the new set of two-tone alloy wheels, and at the back there are redesigned tail lamps with a 3D look. This here is the diesel Luxury trim. If you pick the petrolonly M Sport trim, you get sportier bumpers and alloys, although the latter’s size is the same at 19 inches.

WHAT’S NEW

1 Instrument cluster in top-end trims has gone all digital with a 12.3-inch display identical to the one we’ve seen in almost all BMWs of late