BMW X3 3.0SD test drive (review)

[Mentat]

What can you say about this article ?

I must say, the one in picture is really my personal car

The photo session took almost a full day and they use a special sturucture in order to create pictures when moving.

[decay]

I also am lucky enough to own a 3.0SD, I have been driving it for the past year and how the time has just flown past. I could not resist the urge to chip the engine the day it arrived. £100 on ebay buys you a little box that overrides the high pressure fuel bar sensor, a little screw on the box allows you to adjust/boost the pressure leading to more fueling and greater power.
I also purchased a Gtech performance meter to see what the car was doing before and after....

before
standing 1/4 14.6 @ 98.3mph
0-60 6.7 secs
222hp at wheels

after
standing 1/4 13.3 @ 102.9mph
0-60 5.3 secs
273hp at wheels

be my reckoning that's about 350 at the crank (64 BHP for £100!). The G-tech could not measure the torque correctly as it required a ignition rpm pulse but being a diesel it failed to find one. Anyone sitting in the car will tell you it has plenty of torque.


Despite the acceleration gains this car does appear to have a speed limiter set at 148MPH, I tried in vain late one night on a local piece of very wide new motorway. There is a good big hill which I had to drive up first then turn around and come back down. So it went up the hill at 148mph and back down again at 148mph.... showing 155mph on the dials and 148 on my Nokia N95 GPS. I am quite sure it would go faster... the steering gets a bit flighty above 140, not recommended for busy roads!

Just to hack you off a bit more I average 27mpg and that is mainly very short distance work 3-4 miles (and I do put my foot down, a lot) If pushed I can still see 40mpg but that's no fun.

Its a great (ugly) little flyer without the chip, but with it its enough to upset many a sports car owner.

I still find it amazing that BMW USA don't import this model, is it the same corporate short sightedness that lead to the collapse of the car industry?

[Mentat]

Can you give me alink for this product ?
It's hard to put it on the car ?
Can you loos the warranty ?

It's my wife's car, so I'll end dead If something goes wrong..

[decay]

I went for this onehttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Diesel-Tuning-...|39:1|240:1318

but there are plenty others doing the same sort of thing.
It took about 10 mins to fit, you need to take the engine cover off to gain access to the fuel bar sensor (sounds easy but the strut brace is in the way) and then find somewhere to tie wrap the little box to, I put it next to the washer bottle so I can still adjust the screw on it's side.

You will loose some warranty, I took mine in for service and they made it quite clear that they noted the "modification" on the cars history and should any problems arise this will be taken into account... best just remove it before you take it to the dealer. As the chip does not plug into the ECU in any way they can not trace it if it has been removed.
I did read somewhere that this type of upgrade was not recommended for cars under 40,000 miles as it wears out the injectors quickly due to the higher pressure, but have since failed to find any other shortcomings.

[AzNMpower32]

I've seen acceleration videos on Youtube of various BMW models we don't get in the states. The X3 3.0sd isn't as gruff-sounding as I expected, and certainly quick. Very fast off the like.

I would like one of those, so I don't keep getting run over at stoplights by hicks in pickup trucks...........