by Connor Parks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2016 BMW X3 xDrive28i (owned by Hanna Mei Doeringer)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As Hanna Mei handed me the keys, I noticed even they <\/em>exuded class. I walked up to the car with the slightest amount of anxiety, and yet as I looked it over, I kept asking myself why. It wasn\u2019t some V8-powered sport sedan, or an eye-catching budget supercar fit for an Autobahn cruise. Quite the opposite: it was a rather mundane-looking white crossover, and it blended in well with the rest of the parking lot it sat in, full of Hyundais, Toyotas, the like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, you see, it was a BMW. <\/em>And that meant something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second-generation BMW X3 is, at its core, lots <\/em>of bang for your buck. Capitalising on the success of the immensely popular first generation, which some claim to be the first real sport crossover, BMW produced this iteration of the sporty small SUV from 2011 to 2017 as the crossover market began to explode. Fittingly, the model\u2019s sales soared into the mid-2010s, and for good reason: people really, really love these things. I was surprised to learn that reliable, well-kept, and low mileage examples are going for $15-18,000 on the used market, a superb value for everything this car brings to the table. For reference, the cheapest new models on the U.S. market start at just under 18 grand, and I can guarantee you a used X3 has a lot more to offer than many of those. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As its second owner, Hanna Mei takes pride in how her X3 is kept. With barely over 36,500 miles (shockingly low for an eight year-old car), she keeps the meticulous service history and lots of BMW resources in the glovebox and center console, ready for the unthinkable (a fender-bender) if it ever occurred. As for the interior, there was lots to love. Both front seats were fully electronically controlled, as well as having heat and lumbar support presets as standard. The 2016 infotainment screen options were just enough to be standard and accessible, but not overwhelming and bloated like some newer models. While I was surprised to see a CD player, the sound control options were expansive and dynamic, with an excellent hifi sound system and fantastic bass adjustment to boot. The climate controls and sync features were a little difficult to fully understand, but I\u2019m sure you\u2019d get used to it after a while. Even though you\u2019re surrounded by swaddling leather and classy wood trim, it doesn\u2019t feel overdone or tacky, especially in the low-sitting but spacious rear seats. The trunk was roomy and contained my favourite BMW highlight: the standard toolkit, equipped to the brim with all sorts of BMW-branded implements for any situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And the drive: I was expecting a lot out of a \u201cGerman luxury car,\u201d but even I was surprised at how good some of the features were. It has three driving modes: Comfort, Sport, and Eco, and while it only has a nice get-up in Sport mode, that\u2019s when the 2-litre, 240 horsepower, BMW inline-4 really shines. It springs to life with an eagerness I wasn\u2019t ready for, and it gets up to speed like only a BMW is meant to. While the speed and acceleration are remarkable enough, the X3\u2019s real pluses come with its handling. The cornering and quick braking are absolutely elite, some of the best I\u2019ve come across, and had me grinning all the way back to campus. I couldn\u2019t stop remarking that I couldn\u2019t believe how good the grip in this thing was. Despite the fantastic engine noise, it\u2019s also incredibly muted and comfortable. It\u2019s really <\/em>comfortable, honestly, but not so much that it alienates you with it \u201cbeing a BMW.\u201d I had this recurring thought when cruising around Danville between 35 and 45 (ok, maybe a little more) that it felt more nondescript than it was, but in a good way. I could\u2019ve been driving a nice Kia, Mazda, whatever, but this great driving experience just happened to be in something with a BMW badge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As for complaints, I was only able to round up a few minor ones. The mesh netting pockets on the back of the front seats were surprisingly cheap, and I\u2019d wager they were probably an afterthought on BMW\u2019s part. The \u201ctwo-pull\u201d hood release lever was difficult to understand, and I actually had to look up a YouTube video on how to work it. Why they didn\u2019t keep it simple, I\u2019ll never know, but it provided for a few minutes of confusion. The most common concern that arises with German cars of this variety is long-term reliability, something even the second-gen X3, often seen as much more reliable than the first, isn\u2019t completely spared from. The good news, however, is that German import-friendly mechanics are a growing segment (as far as I can tell), and with these things continuing to drop in value but maintaining solid reliability, they\u2019ll only grow in their bargain-ness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone and their brother is trying to do compact crossovers with added sleekness and sportiness in such a crowded market, but it seems BMW\u2019s originality has lent itself to long-term success. So rarely does something come to define a segment through effectively creating it, but the X3, as great as it is now, seems only better than when it began. It was reviewed outstandingly around its debut nearly 20 years ago, and the ratings haven\u2019t dropped much to this day. For less than the cheapest new car on the market, if you\u2019re looking for something sensible but fun in this popular segment, I know where I\u2019d land if I were you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Connor Parks 2016 BMW X3 xDrive28i (owned by Hanna Mei Doeringer) As Hanna Mei handed me the keys, I noticed even they exuded class. I walked up to the car with the slightest amount of anxiety, and yet as I looked it over, I kept asking myself why. It wasn\u2019t some V8-powered sport sedan, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-leisure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8557"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8560,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557\/revisions\/8560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}