BMW X3 M Competition makes for potent aftershock

This is a bit like Groundhog Day. Here I am writing about another SUV – and another high-performance SUV, at that. But as long as there is an ever-increasing demand for such vehicles, then manufacturers will build them and customers will buy them.

In my road test schedule, it was Jaguar’s 405 kW F-Pace SVR that was first up, followed by Mercedes-AMG’s 375 kW GLC 63 S and this week, it is the turn of BMW’s 375 kW X3 M Competition. All family orientated vehicles that should be content trundling around the suburbs with the kids or bashing around some private game farm, but these are not those vehicles. Okay, technically they are, but who are we fooling?

These are hardcore high-performance sports machines, built to go fast. And the new bi-turbo engine in the X3 M Competition is the most powerful straight-six petrol engine to be used in a BMW M to date. Along with 600 Nm of torque, it is fast, but not quite in the way you might expect. Everybody was expecting these lightning-fast sprint times off the line. Manufacturers make all sorts of claims that sell cars like these.

The SVR posted a very quick 4.77 sec 0 to 100 km/h sprint time, the GLC 63 S came along and drilled it silly off the line in 3.99 sec. Much was expected of the X3 M Competition, with a claimed time of 4.1 sec, but the best I could get was 4.77 sec and that makes it the slowest of the trio. Obviously, a 0 to 100km/h time does not define a car and it certainly doesn’t define the X3 M Competition as an all-round package.

The X3 comes back hard, which I will tell you about later. For now, I need to maybe tell you about why the X3 doesn’t jump off the line like expected. Briefly, when a turbocharged engine is not in boost, and the air is not being mechanically forced through the engine, it has to start off by providing power by sucking in air like a normal non-turbocharged car.

At this altitude, where the air is thin and not so oxygen rich, this transition of sucking air to forcing it through the engine takes longer than at the coast, where the air is more oxygen rich, and this is commonly known as turbo lag.The X3 has lots of it. Just look at the torque numbers: the 600N m only starts to peak at 2 600 rpm and by modern standards that is high. To make matters worse, even with the launch control function activated, the car does not launch in boost, so it still takes it time getting off the line. But once on boost, it starts to haul and comes back at the competition.

By the quarter mile (400m) it is right there again, and by the 1 km mark, it is ahead of the GLC 63 S in time and speed. The X3 is also quicker than the others in the 100 to 200 km/h sprint. So, what it lacks off the line, it makes up for by staying on the power for longer and when it comes to dynamics, it is untouchable.

The new engine is mated to an eight-speed M Steptronic transmission with Drivelogic and uses the new M xDrive all-wheel drive system from the equally potent M5 to get all the power down in a fuss freeway. Some might see this as boring but this is far from the case, as the M xDrive system has a rear-wheel bias and this means, just like with the damper control systems, engine and transmission characteristics and steering set-up, your level of fun can be dialled up at the touch of a button.

The DSC (dynamic stability control) system allows controlled wheel slip in M dynamic mode and, needless to say, can also be switched off if you really have faith in your abilities and are on good terms with your insurance broker should something go wrong. In a recent performance shootout by one of our family publications, the X3 was the second fastest car around the track, beating the likes of the SVR, Toyota GR Supra, Ford Mustang Bullitt and Audi’s RS4 Avant.

So, it goes without saying that the M-specific suspension’s electronically controlled dampers, bespoke kinematics and elastokinematics with its double-joint spring strut front axle and five-link rear axle are up to doing their everyday job just as well as they are going flat out around a racetrack. As is to be expected with an M car, there are specific design features that optimise the supply of cooling air for the X3, plus 21-inch wheels and M Sport exhaust.

The M theme continues inside with electrically adjustable sports seats, M-specific cockpit, M leather steering wheel and M gearshift selector lever. Among the other items fitted as standard, you get LED headlights, a Hi-Fi speaker system and the ConnectedDrive navigation package, including the navigation system Professional. Delve into the options list and you can access all the cutting-edge driver assistance systems and the digital services that are offered from BMW Connected and BMW ConnectedDrive.

The BMW X3 M Competition is more than just sprint numbers, it represents a comprehensive all-round high-performance package, but you would find me sneaking across the road to the Mercedes-Benz dealership.

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