Say Hello To The New BMW X3 And Its Massive Front Grille

The all-new 'G01' X3 has been revealed, and it's available as a 355bhp M40i

26 Jun 2017

Say Hello To The New BMW X3 And Its Massive Front Grille

BMW has just pulled the wraps off the new X3, and my, what big teeth it has! Taking a leaf out of the 7-series’ book, the X3 has a massive pair of kidney grilles dominating the front end.

But we won’t get too caught up with the third-generation, ‘G01’ X3’s sizeable gnashers, as the vehicle does bring with it some interesting points of discussion. First up, despite being longer and wider than the old one, it’s actually lighter than the outgoing model. 55kg lighter in fact, thanks in part to the “increased use” of aluminium in the construction of the engines and the suspension components.

The second detail of note is the new M Performance version. Dubbed the ‘M40i’, it’s packing a 3.0-litre, twin-scroll turbocharged straight-six that’s good for 355bhp and 369lb ft of torque. Use the launch control system, and you’ll see the usual 0-62mph sprint dispatched in just 4.8 seconds. The top speed is electronically capped at 155mph.

Sound a bit much for you? The oh-so sensible 187bhp, 295lb ft 2.0-litre diesel xDrive 20d might be more up your street. Or there’s the xDrive 30d, with 261bhp and a whopping 457lb ft. The latter diesel model will do 0-62mph in 5.8 seconds, and is good for 49.6mpg on the combined cycle.

The 2.0-litre, inline-four xDrive 20i and xDrive 30i petrols will be available in December, and markets outside of Europe will be treated to a rear-wheel drive xDrive 20i.

On the tech front, all cars will come with BMW iDrive fitted as standard, with the same gesture control interface seen in the 7-series and 5-series available as an option. BMW’s semi-autonomous Personal CoPilot systems are optional too, with a lane change assist function arriving later in 2017.

Does this seem like your kind of substantially-grilled SUV? The Audi Q5 rival starts at £38,880.

First UK deliveries will be taking place in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

See this photo kids? This is how you do proper photoshop. X3 can’t offroad but hey, not like any of the customers will actually take their SUV offroad

It’s literally a dirt road…

Whoever made this post has clearly never seen a lexus

Wow we legit posted the same car at the same time 😂

Can’t wait for the grille that coveres the entire front… We’re getting close

And then EVs will come
And no more grills

Don’t forget the Audi Q8!

All I wonder is why the X3 bears the G01 code. I mean, both the 7er and 5er were announced before this, as well as the new 6er GT, but the codes suggest this was the first BMW of the G-generation. Why exactly is the X3 the first G though? Why did they start designing this before the 7- or 5-series? Asking a lot of stupid questions, but as an avid fan of BMW this saddens me a little.

Because, if you like it or not, the x-series are now the cash cow form BMW. The are more important than the 5 or 7 series. That’s why it is designed first. And they are designing it for a very long time.

So the new X3 has been taking inspiration from Janet Street-Porter. Whatever next?

Now we wait for the full-blown X3M. Wait, it already exists… in bike form?!?

But how many cup holders does it have?

I think at this point bmw engineers are just having a laugh. Let’s see how stupid we can make a car look until aging party girls with half a nose and rich husbands stop buying them.