Is the X3 a "Chick Car?"
 

Just leased an '06 X3 black on black - love the car.
My last car was a new black on black BMW 325i.
Before that a new Jeep Wrangler.
Before that a used black on tan '86 BMW 325es
before that a used burgundy on tan BMW '78 320.

I'm a single, straight guy. Is the X3 I just leased a "chick car?"
I've read reviews that place it as a "luxury car" but also loop it in with the Rav4 and the Jeep liberty as this tiny little cute compact SUV.

Any feedback?

The X5 isn't that much bigger but would undeniably qualify as a "masculine/feminine" SUV.

Is the X3 a Chick Car - the Rav4 of Beemers?

Feedback requested!!!

thanks!
-d

I would say the X3 has its own unique personality!

:xoutpost:
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. You can make your X3 as studly as you want.

Why would you categorize it as a chick car? If you like it, you like it. I agree with Mike, you can dress it up and make it as mean looking as you want.

Good luck.

Grr, first off its Bimmer not Beemer, Beemer is a motorcycle..not a car. :)

Anyway, who cares how other people view your ride? I haven't heard people call it a chick car and I hang around a lot of gear-heads that would be the first to say your car wears panties.

It's your ride, if you view it as a chick car (which from this post seems the way your mind is leaning) then it will be a chick car in your eyes. However, there are girls all over this board driving X5's :)

Red e30 convertable = chick car. X3 = not. Enjoy your new X3 girlyman. ;-)

The X3 is for women!! Easier to get in and out of etc etc.

BMW designed and manufactured it because the X5 was not selling to women - less than 2% of sales - FACT

That said, there have been many X3's bought by men. So, it's up to you. It's a completely different car - looks and performance off road.

Hate to say it, but as much as you dress it up.... it's just a really CUTE little car. You asked for opinions, so you may not like mine.

In my home, it is 50/50 female/male ratio of X3 drivers (we have two... one for me and one for the wife).

I do not categorize the X3 with the Rav4 as a cute ute. I guess taking euro delivery puts a vehicle in a different perspective. I also race mine with BMW CCA with good results, something that could not be done with any other ute...

The interesting thing is... the original Miata was deemed a "chick" car but many guys race the heck out of them because they make awesome track cars. I guess the label is really not as relevant as whether or not the car meets your needs.

Enjoy your car!

If you populate the passenger and rear seats with hot chicks while you drive around with a big ass grin on your face, it sure as hell is a chick car!:thumbup:

JV

Actually... yeah it is (a chick car, that is), but who cares?

My wife loved my X5 so much she is now leasing... an X3. It IS smaller, easier to maneuver, and "less manly" than the X5. That being said, if you like it, you like. Period. It IS a nice car. Enjoy it!

Juan

It's really how you view it. I don't think it's a chick car even if stats say 55% of X3 buyers are women (Roundel Feb. 2006). If you care that much about image, go buy a 760li.

Around where I live, 80% of X5 drivers are women (it's a kid hauler) and 80% of X3 drivers are men (it's the 'driver's car' of the two). We have both 4.4 X5 and an X3 in our family, and for handling performance and fun to drive factor I'll take the X3 any day of the week; it's definitely the sportier of the two. The X5 is based on a truck platform designed by Land Rover while the X3 is a pure BMW design; one's an SUV pretending to be a performance vehicle, while the other is a performance vehicle masquerading as an SUV. The added bonus is that the X3 is bigger in all interior dimensions and cargo capacity than the X5, with the exception of a couple of inches in width it gives away.

Don't diss the X5! Keep in mind the X3 isn't truly made by BMW but rather a subcontractor, Magna Steyr. Oh and I think the X5 looks better. That said, X3 probably drives better than all but the X5 4.8is. Lighter, nimblier, easiler to manuever. Now if I had a 6-speed automatic like the X5 4.4i.......

Both are BMW's enough said. The orginal topic was is the X3 a chick car not which X is more BMW.

well the X3 is the bastard cousin of the X5 so its smaller, sportier but of much cheaper quality

Where do you get that info? If you really gave it some thought you'd see more 3 series underpinings under it than X5 stuff. I've had BMW's for the last 10 years and I find the X3, at least our 06, to have very high build quality. It might not have a lot of glitz but it is certainly put together nicely. I think the assy house that builds it, does a very nice job with it. The X3 is no smaller on the inside and a little smaller on the outside. Maybe the X3 is more what BMW had in mind when they decided to build a SUV in the first place. No disrespect to you, but the X3 is a fine vehicle, no worse or better than anything else BMW produces today.

Chicks love the X3, that is why I drive it :thumbup:

Why even worry about it? If you like it then that is all that counts.

well. i had a white loaner x3. all my friends laughed and said it was a total chick car. and i have to adimt, in white, it really is. it can look pretty good in black with a body kit though.

however, i have to say, i DID find the the quality of the materials and the overall finish of the interior to have a VERY cheap feel. that was my biggest issue.

but yes it handled BRILLIANTLY. i wrote about "testing" it on Sunset Blvd, it's somehwere on this board heh

that said, congrats on your new car, i'm sure you'll love it

p.s. you know it actually has slightly MORE interior volume than the X5?!

I love the "X3 is larger then the X5" stuff. On paper it may, but in reality..no way IMO. I had a X3 while my X5 was getting worked on and the driver and passenger were basically side by side in the X3 where there is more room in the X5. And I don't believe I could fit 8 wheels and 4 rims in the X3 as I did with my X5. Juan, love to hear your opinion since you have both.

No self respecting man would drive an X3. j/p :) IMO the color bumpers actually make the car looks more girly. But seriously, if you are asking this question, you should return the X and get yourself a hot rod or something. I'm a 24 yr old male and none of my friends ever gave me shit for driving an X3. They all compliment me on how nice my ride is. Maybe the 6sp MT makes me more of a man. HAHAHAHAHA

hey man....once its a bimmer....its all the same in the rear view mirror.

Some people say the 3 series is a chick car too. Its all what you like. If the X3 is what you like then drive it. Any small car can be cosidered a chick car.

Well... trunk space-wise that IS true. The X3 is AT LEAST as big - if not slightly bigger than the X5. Seating is a different story. The passenger DOES seem to be a little closer to the driver in the X3 than the X5. No scientific proof here, just what I've noticed.

They are both great cars. I just happen to like my X5 more than the wife's X3. She loves her X3 -- it's perfect for her.

Juan

Juan said: "I just happen to like my X5 more than the wife's X3. She loves her X3 -- it's perfect for her."

Ouch!

Thanks for the feedback everybody - I actually do like the car a lot.
I've even convinced myself that some X5's look smaller!

Driving in LA, you never know what's in, out, up down or sideways.
A bimmer's a bimmer but then there are the better bimmers and the bummer bimmers.

As Dinan M3 said, the 3 series can be a chick car too.

Which brings me to a second question/observation -
Is chick car/not chick car defined more by "size" or "price?"

The 3 series and X3 are the least expensive of the BMW line - the Z speaks for itself. All are considered possible "chick cars."

Is it that these cars cost less or that they are smaller?

If either of the X3, 3251, Z4 was priced at 70,000 would it still be a chick car?- or does size really matter?

Thoughts?

chick car is DEF not related to price.

the new Maserati sports cars, case in point. Couldn't be more of a chick car.

anyway... i think it's defined simply as: if it's cutesy looking, it's probably a chick car. Like the New Beetle lol.

Conversely, the Lotus Elise, while small, is definitley not CUTE -- it is MEAN. (aside, i saw a drop-dead gorgeous victoria's secret type girl driving one today in SD by chance lol)

The X3 i simply see as cute. And when it's all buffed up with body kits, it reminds me of one those of little snowball dogs trying to bark and be all tough lol.

The X5 on the other hand is very masculine looking, very muscular. Nothing feminine looking about it at all.

That siad, why are you trippin so much about this now? You have your new car, enjoy it! It's a fine little car, SUPERB at being both utilitarian AND sporty -- seriously trying carving up some roads with it, you will see -- and it's amazingly comfy.

It's just not for me, but clearly it is for you. So enjoy it! :)

And again, congrats :)

As I said, LA's brutal... so CROSVS, you consider the X3 to be a Chick Car?
Ouch.
Oh well, you're a Bruin and I'm a Trojan so at least I had that going for me - until Texas.
Now I have a pansy car and a losing football team.
I guess I have to ride out my lease and buy a Range Rover with 72" wheels to regain myself?

-d

HAHA..I would like to say who cares, as long as you like it, but hell over here it seems like ALL the X5 drivers are trophy wives who cant drive for sh*t...

That being said, who really DOES give a crap as long as YOU like the car...

Reminds me of a funny situation where I picked up a friend of mine at the airport in London a few weeks after I got my e46...The FIRST thing he says, (being a hardcore UAW, American made, blah blah blah, Dodge, Chevy head) was that BMW's were total girly cars and everyone who drove them had identity crises and were scared to drive REAL cars...

18 minutes later, @ approx 119mph on open British motorway, his hands were cemented around the "oh shiiit" handle...A few minutes later, he (very softly, under his breath) says "Dude, these things are pretty quick..."

Of course, I had never driven that fast in my life and was crapping myself as well, but at least I showed HIM...lol...:tsk: :rofl:

i never said i disliked the X3 ... i think it's a fine little car for what it is. it's kinda like "FRIENDS" -- it's a chickflick kinda show but guys like it too :)

i also gave you a massive congrats ... however now that i know you're a trojan i may have to rescind that :) hahah jk i'm actually thinking of transferring there for 2L.

You should re-evaluate your outlook on life if you are seriously concerned that your X3 is a chicks car. You can't live life thinking what people think about you.

Yes.

I respectfully concur!