It's generally fun to drive. Peppy but with better visibility than a car. It drives like other German cars with tight responsive steering. It does also have selections for comfort mode, sport mode, or fuel economy mode. I do like the interior finish quality--the leather seats are comfortable, and the dash panel has a good design that allows me to operate it hands free. The back seats are roomy enough for adults and can be folded down when I need more cargo space. The quality seems luxurious overall, but I did have a problem with the auto back door latch. As far as looks, I think it looks really sleek and modern.

BMW X3 has a very odd acceleration. The car is slow until you reach >30mph, after that it will run really well. I'm don't think I experienced this slow acceleration in the first two years owning this car, but I can definitely feel it more now. However, this car is very comfortable and the seats are better built and styled. The entertainment system and GPS are superior if I compared it to a Mercedes Benz. Ride quality is pretty average. I had to upgrade to the Michelin’s tire to get a better ride and gas millage. It was not a cheap investment, but it made a HUGE difference. Riding on the stock tire feels like a turbulence when you sitting in the last row of the airplane. Driving for a long haul also really comfortable, specially during winter season with snow and ice. This car really handle snow like no other car I ever driven. No slips, plenty of torque on snowy hills, it was a pleasure to drive. While driving this car is very quite compared to their predecessors. The double pane moonroof is a must-have option and excellent in design. It’s massive! Back seat passengers especially benefit and it is a great distraction to the discomfort for people in the back seats. This is one of the better options available for the BMW X3. However, if I would have to consider buying small SUV now I definitely would not buy an X3, but I would definitely consider Tesla X. The main reason is, I owned Japanese cars (Toyota and Honda) for many years, but BMW’s are worst at maintenance. You will spend a lot of money on regular maintenance and gas millage. There are plenty of issue with its electronic and some transmission. If you check BMW X3 forums on the website you’ll see there are plenty owners facing the same issue with high cost maintenance and transmission. Hopefully this will help you take the right decision.