Thanks for your informative review- Congrats on the new car!
I'll say a bit about our '07 X3, but I don't spend much time in it at all.

The interior is small. It is. There isn't much room in there. It is "cozy" though. Nice sunroof. very dated center stack, but good materials.
Good driving dynamics, but it dosen't always feel like it has 270 hp.
Large trunk.
No alarm, kinda a letdown, because most 20K cars have them. I believe in them, they definately get noticed by police in my town.
Good ride, sometimes harsh, but usually not.
Great color combo (it's platinum bronze/Tobacco leather/ light poplar wood)
Lovely exterior design.
Navi sucks. We shouldn't have gotten it.
Confident in messy weather, good xDrive system and DSC.
A good step between a 328xiT and a X5. It fits right between them, but is the oldest.
No door [EDIT: Seat] mounted side airbags. (very 90's....not as safe)
No dual climate control. (c'mon, bmw....)
No rear HVAC. I have been told passengers complain a lot.
It gets really cool (or hot) in front, though.
Very stable at extra legal speeds. Servotronic is nice.
Overall, a decent car. Would I buy another? No. There is a huge difference between the 3 Series/X3 and 5 Series/X5 and higher class BMW's.
(also, I might add, the transmission is a nightmare. The TSB fix was perfect though, and it is trouble free.) :)

Interesting. I just hopped in mine this weekend (I drove my '06 for a year and then gave the "hand me down" to the boss so I could drive my new 3 - and I was commenting on how much room there was. Must be comparative. Like you say, I think it's a good balance between the X5 and the 3T.
No rear side airbags and I'm told that's for child safety - so if kids fall asleep in the back seat (certainly not when I'm driving!) they won't get hurt by the airbag itself. I'm not totally sure about that one though because I would still think an airbag would be better than the grill of another vehicle.
Dual climate control I find to be . . . not as useful. My new 3 has it as did my older 5 and the differences were almost unnoticable. I do agree that the back seat needs HVAC though. Freeze/fry in the front and then fry/freeze in the back.
Handling on snow and ice is phenomenal! I was cruising by everything else on the road and was able to make it up my steep hill when Subarus, trucks and assorted other vehicles filled the space along the curb.
Unfortunate that your X3 doesn't fit your needs. I'm on my second and will certainly consider another one when it's time to move on - though that new 1 series has caught my boss' eye!

Wait what? The X3 has door mounted side airbags, optional in the rear. HPS is also standard from the A thru the C pillars. I prefer door-mounted side airbags over the seat-mounted ones which BMW is switching to.

Please kkep in mind that for the 2006 you DON'T need to cut the black filler part, just buy the appropiate one and replace it. Actually, the parts diagram shows a couple of different parts when you put the hitch on.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...43&hg=51&fg=15

Parts 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9 are related to the hitch.

Regards,

AAHH mis-speak, I mean no seat mounted side airbags. The door mounted bags are just stupid, they don't move with the seat, and since I'm tall, there isn't much protection. With the seat mounted, the airbag protects you better beacuse it moves with the seat, and the side of the car will impact it instead of the door, with the airbag, impacting you. Why do you like the door mounted system better?

mwbbmw:

No, the X3 fits our needs just fine, but coming from BMW's higher class vehicles, it is kinda a disappointment. If this was my first BMW, I would be thrilled. But it's just not engineered to the same level as the X5.

It's just conceptually, I've always thought that a side airbag ought to be in the door. If someone collides with the vehicle's side, the sensors and airbag should be in the same door panel. It just seems wierd to have sensors in the door and the actual airbag in the seat. However, most cars have seat-mounted side airbags thesedays so my thinking may be outdated (just like a lot of my opinions :takecover)

lol...we forgive you. Actually I'm not 100% sure what made everybody switch to seat mouted (besides the reasons i listed).....maybe they didn't want the airbag deploying towards you, so they had it deploy to the side of you?
I remember reading a manual of a rental car that had door mounted and it said not to place you arm in the door armrest during a side collision...lol

Ah yes, the health and safety people of America. :rofl:. I remember there's something like that in the owner's manual of my mom's Civic: "Do not lean against the door or put anything between the seat and the door or else serious injury may occur.....Even with seat belts, occupants may suffer serious injury or death in the event of airbag deployment."

Right.

I get it. My brother has had 5ers an X5 and even a 3 or two and his first impression of the X3 (and his wife's) was "why bother!" I agree the engineering is lacking in comparison - but that's actually one of the things I like about it. Just preference I guess.

Well we got home from our trip to the Canadian Rockies in our new 07 X3. Some observations:
Mileage = 24 MPG (US) at 75 MPH with five adults - not too shabby!
Front and back seats very comfortable with the exception of the middle back (no surprise)
Could have used rear air - particularly with the oversized moonroof.
Vehicle held the road like a true sportscar - I was amazed! This X3 is one fun car to drive on the curvy mountain terrain.
Speed, and availablility of more speed, was also amazing - it was like driving with a lone occupant.
Room to fit three average sized and two oversized suitcases. The X3 trunk looks small but you can fit a lot in.
No issues with the tranny - still shifts with no problems.
Love the MP3 reading stereo - bored the three adult children with my 150 song 70's selection of music (LOL)

All in all I am still very happy with this purchase. Too bad it's my wife's car and I only get to drive it on road trips!