JTDi
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 2,021
- Location
- County Antrim
So after around 9 months with the fantastic X5M I had decided I’d like a change. To be honest I had no idea what I’d like to go for next, as the X5M ticked all the boxes, but me being me couldn’t be swayed once I decided it’s time was up!
The X5M had a very long residence compared to most of my vehicles - I purchased it in the middle of 2019 so I had it for almost 9 months apart from a 3 week temporary separation where I sold it to @alloyboy and then swiftly bought it back
A bit of online searching told me that the new 2020 X5M Competition is due shortly but with a starting price of £112,000 before options, I decided to definitely forget about that for a while
I then had a look at the X3M Competition and I went for a test drive in a local dealership to me but they were miles out on price compared to the exact same spec’d mode I saw on BMW UK, so I got on the phone to Cotswold Cheltenham BMW, a very nice easy deal was done on their Launch Model with a great sales guy called Darren and his business manager Mike (both of whom I’d highly recommend without any hesitation) and on Saturday there we flew into Birmingham, got collected at the airport by Darren, who drove us to the dealership (what a place with some amazing cars on display!) and collected this stunning X3M Competition,
I could sing this things praises all day long. It’s so much more drivable than the X5M. It’s so much more car-like to drive, so planted on the road, and the new 3.0 Twin-Turbo engine making a quoted 510bhp / 600NM of torque is unbelievable, and I still managed to get nearly 30mpg driving up the M6 to get the Ferry at Cairnryan, whereas the X5M‘s 4.4 V8 Twin-Turbo was 567bhp and you’d get 14-15mpg if you drove it like a madman and 17-18mpg if you drove it like a granny, my standard MPG would have sat at 16-ish and the only time I ever saw mid-to-high 18’s was on a run to Dublin and back.
Albeit I’ll definitely miss the thump of the V8, the new engine in this X3MC is definitely nice and aggressive sounding and packs one hell of a punch. I’d like to get the X5M and X3MC side by side to see the real-world difference, as even though it’s a few BHP down, it is lighter!
Anyway, enough rambling on, time for some pictures, the dealership ones will have to do until I get it detailed next week!
I know people have said that these new models are a bit pricey and to be fair I would agree, this one a few months ago was excess of £80k! But once you get inside it and get a drive you can see why. Spec-wise it’s absolutely loaded:
Black Extended Merino Leather
21” Wheels
Display Key (Coolest key ever)
Heated Front & Seats & Heated Steering Wheel
Carbon Fibre Interior Trim
Panoramic Glass Tilt&Slide Sunroof
Driving Assistant Plus
Parking Assistant Plus
Apple CarPlay
Enhanced Bluetooth with Wireless Charging
BMW Gesture Control (still figuring this out)
Comfort Package with Keyless Entry
And probably a pile of other stuff which I’ll come across lol. Plans are to actually keep this a year and then try to get my hands on a nice ex-demo X5M Competition I’ll most likely fit some spacers to beef the upgraded 21” wheels out into the arches a little and possibly some springs to lower it and make it more aggressive. These have changed to 5x112 wheel fitment and apparently this coupled with the xDrive system are making it a task and a half to find some nice new wheels, so wheels will stay as they are for the foreseeable. I’d like to get it tuned so as soon as Evolve have a deal on their ECU remap I’ll get that done (£1,499 at current and it takes the power from 510bhp to 600bhp).
Thanks for looking!
The X5M had a very long residence compared to most of my vehicles - I purchased it in the middle of 2019 so I had it for almost 9 months apart from a 3 week temporary separation where I sold it to @alloyboy and then swiftly bought it back
A bit of online searching told me that the new 2020 X5M Competition is due shortly but with a starting price of £112,000 before options, I decided to definitely forget about that for a while
I then had a look at the X3M Competition and I went for a test drive in a local dealership to me but they were miles out on price compared to the exact same spec’d mode I saw on BMW UK, so I got on the phone to Cotswold Cheltenham BMW, a very nice easy deal was done on their Launch Model with a great sales guy called Darren and his business manager Mike (both of whom I’d highly recommend without any hesitation) and on Saturday there we flew into Birmingham, got collected at the airport by Darren, who drove us to the dealership (what a place with some amazing cars on display!) and collected this stunning X3M Competition,
I could sing this things praises all day long. It’s so much more drivable than the X5M. It’s so much more car-like to drive, so planted on the road, and the new 3.0 Twin-Turbo engine making a quoted 510bhp / 600NM of torque is unbelievable, and I still managed to get nearly 30mpg driving up the M6 to get the Ferry at Cairnryan, whereas the X5M‘s 4.4 V8 Twin-Turbo was 567bhp and you’d get 14-15mpg if you drove it like a madman and 17-18mpg if you drove it like a granny, my standard MPG would have sat at 16-ish and the only time I ever saw mid-to-high 18’s was on a run to Dublin and back.
Albeit I’ll definitely miss the thump of the V8, the new engine in this X3MC is definitely nice and aggressive sounding and packs one hell of a punch. I’d like to get the X5M and X3MC side by side to see the real-world difference, as even though it’s a few BHP down, it is lighter!
Anyway, enough rambling on, time for some pictures, the dealership ones will have to do until I get it detailed next week!
I know people have said that these new models are a bit pricey and to be fair I would agree, this one a few months ago was excess of £80k! But once you get inside it and get a drive you can see why. Spec-wise it’s absolutely loaded:
Black Extended Merino Leather
21” Wheels
Display Key (Coolest key ever
)Heated Front & Seats & Heated Steering Wheel
Carbon Fibre Interior Trim
Panoramic Glass Tilt&Slide Sunroof
Driving Assistant Plus
Parking Assistant Plus
Apple CarPlay
Enhanced Bluetooth with Wireless Charging
BMW Gesture Control (still figuring this out)
Comfort Package with Keyless Entry
And probably a pile of other stuff which I’ll come across lol. Plans are to actually keep this a year and then try to get my hands on a nice ex-demo X5M Competition
I’ll most likely fit some spacers to beef the upgraded 21” wheels out into the arches a little and possibly some springs to lower it and make it more aggressive. These have changed to 5x112 wheel fitment and apparently this coupled with the xDrive system are making it a task and a half to find some nice new wheels, so wheels will stay as they are for the foreseeable. I’d like to get it tuned so as soon as Evolve have a deal on their ECU remap I’ll get that done (£1,499 at current and it takes the power from 510bhp to 600bhp).Thanks for looking!
