Motordavid, thank you for the great post.

Denada, bjo...
The more I think about the two cars, the more I think they
are very different. Some of it is do to the "feel" combined
with the emotional perception: the RAV is very well done,
but does not exhibit the "spirit" that the X3 has.

That "spirit" costs a larger chunk of change, however.

Some here, use their X3s/X5s as daily drivers and are quite
satisfied; we use DaFridge, (aka the pos '03 Honda CR-V), as
the daily beater.

I would guesstimate that the RAV runs nearly glitch free, espc. if
you were to cop an '07, with one more year of putting-them-together experience...
Xs are great, but few are totally glitch-free in my exp. and from reading here carefully.

If I could only have "one" SUV-like new car,
(to take the place of my current 3 car stable),
I'd be tempted to get the RAV, though that is heresy on
this board, :) .

If I wanted the "spirit" and the better "driver" and was willing
to pay the much larger dough, I'd get the X3 3.0 Sport.

I'll shut up...go drive both and whatever you decide, it is your
car!
GL,mD

Great advice all the way around - especially about driving it. It also depends on what you are going to do with it (planning and possibility). While the X3 does offer untility it is more about activity - driving. A buddy has an older Trooper and uses it almost like a truck - and loves every minute of it and watches me pamper my X like it was my child (in some ways I treat it better!).

In all sincerity if you're even considering a Rav versus an X I would recommend the Rav. The X just probably isn't what you are looking for in a vehicle (utility, carefree, etc).

Use his Trooper "almost like a truck"
Last i checked a Trooper was a truck ;)

But, the above comments are right....it's like comparing apples to German beer...hard to do

I will say, however, that while i had every intention of babying the X3, now that "reality" has set in, I've accepted that, as much it has the soul of a BMW, it's also to be used to haul stuff, to go the beach, to get dirty, etc...It's a truck, after all.

And, when you have a chocolate lab who loves dirt and sand and water as much as our does, you give up all hop :rofl:

Think of it this way: BMWs are meant to be driven. Babying it to the point where you're never exceeding 2500rpm or 70mph isn't going to make best use of the engineering or your money spent. You can buy a Rav4 for that :D

I don't think I ever abuse my X3. I drive it gently until the engine warms up, and never accelerate harder than I have to in traffic (wastes precious gas). I don't slam the brakes or drive aggressively around in traffic. Then occasionally, I can open 'er up a bit on the backroads when there's no one else there. It's more fun, you're not risking other drivers, and you really have room to rev the engine, turn DSC off, and let xDrive do its job. And I've let it go off-road at least once, and forded a foot-deep "flooded" pond in the road way once.

Oh, I don't drive like a grandmother - quite the contrary. Still, I like to keep my vehicles clean and care for my vehicles. Wash, waxing, cleaning, etc. not to the point of not enjoying them. The worst crime in the world would be to have a BMW and not drive it! I actually just passed the break in period on my new '06 and I'm looking forward to taking it on the twisties. My '04 2.5 did well, but that bigger motor will certainly do better (fewer shifts, lower growl, etc.).:driver: And yes, from time to time, I do visit the red line . . . just to make sure it's still got what it takes!

As for the buddy with the trooper, yes it is for all intents and purposes a truck ;) - but it's still a sport-ute and he uses it to haul whatever he needs. I put my mountain bike in the back, load it up for camping, etc. but still make sure to clean it when all is said and done. Not to be too brutal but if I had a Rav4 or something like that I would be less inclined to be as freakish about it.

Ya, i was talking more about hauling stuff and keeping it spotless than driving the hell out of it....I meant babying her from an aesthetic point of view....Summertime reality has set in, and if i got upset over every grain of sand that gets into the car, I'd be in the nut house, so i just let it go....She gets cleaned up, obviously, but i'm sure a lot more carefree about the x3 than i would be if i had, say, a 330 or a 530 or any of the sport sedans.

Sure, it's a bimmer, but it's also a truck, and trucks are meant to get dirty

I don't haul bikes inside, however...have a roof rack for that....Dirty dogs and sand covered kids are one thing...Bike grease, now that's another kettle of fish

On the subject of the original question...I will put it this way...

Since you have a auto-x only M3 you obviously enjoy driving in a sporting fashion. You also recognize that a good handling is perhaps the most important safety feature aside from good brakes. A low center of gravity helps reduce the risk of a rollover.

Now ask yourself this... would you be comfortable taking the RAV on a track and running with M3's? Would you auto-x the RAV? If you did, do you think it would be competitive with BMW sedans? I have done both with the X3 and would never even dream of doing such activities in a RAV...

Straight line performance is interesting but largely irrelevant for the majority of our driving. I, for one, live in LA where that battered diesel Rabbit is going just as fast on the freeway (aka 0 mph) as the 996 twin turbo just behind it. Other than bench racing hp and 0-60 times are largely academic.

Take a look under both vehicles. Compare the engineering and the quality of the materials used to build both. Compare the size of the suspension pieces. As an engineer friend of mine said... BMW engineers its cars to be better, Toyota engineers them to be cheaper.

Finally ask yourself this...in which vehicle would you rather get hit by a semi (yeah I know... you'd rather not get hit by a semi)?

White05X3, you make a good point. I know that I can auto-x the X3 and feel safe, while the RAV4 would be sketchy.

Anyway, my wife checked out the RAV4 display at the toyota center. She sat in it and she says it was nice, she hates the fact that it is cloth only and the interior feels real cheap. She didnt want to test drive it after sitting in the RAV. I havent seen it so I'm going by her opinion. I guess she's now spoiled after we bought the e46 325i :)

Guys, thanks for all of your help.

Another point to consider is the safety of the vehicle. How does the X3 hold up to an offset crash and side impact vs. the RAV-4?

Here is the crash result from IIHS for the 2006 RAV-4
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/summary.aspx?class=58

I looked up the BMW X3 in both the NTSA and IIHS website and it appears there hasn't been any crash test.

Now, I don't know if the RAV-4 has a "high-roll over risk sticker" but I know the X3 and X5 does not have one from the US Government. Another thing to consider is the roll over risk of the RAV-4 vs the X3.

There is a forumla that NTSA has which is based on the wheelbase length and ground clearance height of the vehicle.