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Following some outlandish designs, BMW’s latest X3 restores order

- Pawan Dhingara

Here’s a car (sorry SUV) that needs no introduction and never struggles to explain its existence in the market space every time BMW’s accountants walk in and whip out their calculators.

Month on month the X3 delivers with solid sales and enters any conversation that ties the words premium with SUV.

Yet despite cementing itself on our roads, competitors from Korea, and recently China, have clawed back some ground by offering more gadgets at a lower price. However, it’s a fight that BMW seems to be ready for.

What’s new

We bemoan the fact that grilles have become such a polarising discussion every time BMW brings out a new model, but fortunately, the X3’s nose is nicely balanced with the other cosmetic upgrades.

This is not a model that BMW’s designers could take many risks with– that adventurous spirit is left up to models like the iX and M4. This styling needed to carry a cohesive, broader appeal rather than grab attention through pure shock value.

With that steady framework in mind with enough mental grab handles to find one’s way around; the X3 is perhaps one of BMW’s most resolved products.

It’s smart, and unoffensive while sweeping light clusters keep everything taut and sleek. Revised bumpers, stylish alloys and if you look a little closer, myriad cameras and sensors hint at an extremely digitized cabin.

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