“Location, location, location.” This overused real estate mantra is shorthand for the idea that two identical houses in Bel Air, CA and Birmingham, AL have vastly different values. Well, the mantra applies to automobiles as well. As I’ve just learned, two identical BMW X3 M40i’s can be either pleasures or curses depending on their locations.
Location A: Guadalupe Canyon Parkway in Daly City, CA
The parkway’s broad lanes and high-speed sweepers play to the X3 M40i’s strengths, making it a pure joy to drive. As the SUV blasts up San Bruno Mountain with copious turbo-fed torque, it exhibits agility and poise befitting of a finely-honed sports sedan. Relax your previously leaden right foot, and the exhaust makes crackle-pop-blats befitting of a Focus RS. With ample room to run and long corners to show off its excellent cornering poise, you easily imagine replacing your aging BMW M3 with a new X3 M40i.
Location B: Thousand Oaks Blvd in Berkeley, CA
The century-old road climbs crookedly into the Berkeley Hills. The road might have been boulevard-sized in 1920, but now it’s lined with parked cars and barely has enough room for two-way traffic. In the X3 M40i, your passage up Thousand Oaks Blvd alternates between games of chicken with oncoming traffic (who will flinch first and dive into an empty parking space?) and moments of held breath, where you pray that the passing traffic won’t clip the X3’s wing mirrors. When the road clears, you accelerate to the 25 mph speed limit. Your kidneys are kicked, and your brain is sloshed side to side as the X3 M40i’s aggressive suspension rides over the blistered pavement instead of absorbing the bumps and undulations. You wonder how BMW sells a single X3 M40i when the Audi SQ5 offers similar levels of luxury and sport on top of a sublime air suspension.
Can you guess where I live? That’s right, Location B.
After a week with the X3 M40i, I started to loathe the SUV. I anxiously approached the X3 every morning, fearful that a passing car might have scraped its slightly wider-than-average fenders. I finished each school run feeling shaken and battered, wondering how, in good faith, BMW could label the X3 M40i’s normal suspension mode “Comfort mode.” The only feature of the X3 M40i that stood out in my daily errands was the surround-view parking cameras. The trick side-view camera let me snug the X3 M40i up to the curb, keeping the parked SUV out of harm’s way without nicking its wheels.
Feeling jaded and downtrodden after seven days, I challenged myself to a reboot. This was an SUV that I had previously looked upon with admiration and envy! “Location, location, location!” Location B wasn’t right for the X3 M40i; I needed a Location C where the X3 M40i would shine.
Location C: Rural Contra Costa County, CA
Which is how I find myself at the foot of a beautiful country road with my brother on a sunny Friday afternoon. My brother looks around the SUV with curiosity, making his first impressions of the X3 M40i. His fresh eyes give me a chance to re-see the X3 M40i for the first time.
Once again, I drink in the handsome cabin of the X3 M40i. Fine-stitching adorns the leather seats and pleather dash, matte-finish metal brightens and accents the steering wheel, radio controls and HVAC buttons, and crisp, high-resolution displays make the instrument panel and navigation screen bright, legible and detailed. Yes, this is a beautiful place to sit.
I show him the X3 M40i’s cool tech. The surround cameras are my favorite, but I also love the geeky little luxury features too. For example, I can configure the seat and steering wheel heaters to turn on whenever the outside air is colder than 60°F (or 59°F, or 58°F, or…). I can also customize the default settings for the engine sound, throttle response, and steering weight.
I fire up the engine, in Sport Plus, of course, and blip the throttle a few times. We grin at the hearty straight-six sounds coming from the B58 engine. With the windows down, the X3 M40i clearly trumpets its performance credentials. (Roll the windows back up, and the ample sound deadening keeps the engine’s roar in the distance.)
We set off in the X3 M40i. At the first straightaway, I scan for traffic, pull to a stop, and then mat the gas pedal for maximum acceleration. There is a moment of pause as the turbo wakes from its nap, then the X3 M40i blitzes through the first two gears and continues pulling strongly through the next two. I think I’ve adequately demonstrated its 382 hp and 365 lb-ft.
My brother is jaw-dropped. I’m grinning. The X3 M40i’s claimed 4.4 seconds to 60 mph is completely believable. The AWD gets all four Bridgestone Alenza 001 summers digging together, and ZF transmission’s short first and second gears amplify the engine’s torque. This SUV jets away from the stop.
A few minutes later, I am barreling towards a particularly delectable right-hand sweeper. The X3 M40i becomes a classroom from which I demonstrate the sections of a racing corner to my brother. This is the braking zone. The firm brakes are faultless as I squeeze hard on the pedal and quickly erase 30 mph from our speed. This is the turn-in point. I gently add steering while subtracting braking, letting the X3 M40i softly shift its weight to the left side without overwhelming the front-left tire. The X3 M40i settles into a stable cornering posture. Its body is tipped slightly left, its suspension is loaded-up and shrugging off the lumps in the road. This is the apex. We quickly approach the clipping point of the corner. The X3 M40i’s precise steering lets me place the front-right tire exactly over the apex. This is the corner exit. The corner opens, and I eagerly add throttle while unwinding the steering. The xDrive AWD puts down the rising power in the most neutral way possible.
How is it that a 4,277 lb SUV can perfectly demonstrate a racing corner? I don’t know, but the X3 M40i is a race teacher’s pet.
We are both truly impressed. This SUV handles better than most BMW 3-series I’ve tested. Better yet, when driven hard, the X3 M40i’s brittle ride disappears, and the suspension handles bumps and pitches of the road with composure and compliance.
I drop off my brother, then jump on Highway 80 and head for home. My reboot has worked; I am back in love with the X3 M40i.
As the X3 M40i lopes along at a hushed and easy 75 mph, I try to think of a location where this SUV would be perfect. It would have to have broad roads, smooth pavement, and aggressive drivers… Orange County, CA, I have your car!
Mike's Steering Column 