Driving in deep sand
 

Can anyone comment on how the car handles deep (like 8-12 inches) of sand?
There is a legal area for vehicles and I was curious if the X3 can make it through ?

I honestly haven't driven our X3 in deep sand. I have driven in sand though, with vehicles from Broncos, to Expeditions, to Subarus. I wouldn't hesitate to take our X3 onto the sand, if the conditions were reasonable. First question is whether you have experience in those conditions. If so, you will be ahead of the game, no matter which vehicle you use. Keep the revs up if it gets soft, keep your momentum up, and so on. Second point is that it is generally useful to lower tire pressures (I would go down to 18-20 psi) but you do need a way of reinflating the tires before driving on regular surfaces.

What wheel/tyre package do you have? As JCL says, the trick is to lower your tyre pressures however you'll gain most benefit from this on the 17s, less benefit from bigger wheels with lower profile tyres. It also helps a great deal if you switch off the stability control. The X3 I drove on sand was a 20d (not my car) and it was great. It was on 17s from memory.