Used 2016 BMW X3 SUV Consumer Reviews
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Love this vehicle
S. DeVito, 03/28/2016
updated 03/29/2017
2016 BMW X3 xDrive28i 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 8A)
9 of 11 people found this review helpful
Shop around. Visit a couple of dealerships first to get your best price. Packages can increase the cost quickly. Lighting package a must: headlights are phenomenal; Technology and Premium package a must. You do not need the rear camera or the blind spot package (unless you have small children at home)because the x3 has very good visibility on it's own. Very, very comfortable on long road trips. Love this vehicle. Very pleased, and fun to drive. The only thing: I wish it had a 5 star crash rating for the front passenger - it has a 4. This is my second bimmer. (My prior BMW was a 328iXdrive sedan with the M Sport package. Loved this one as well. I almost cried when handing it in at the end of the lease!.) A YEAR LATER: STILL LOVE THIS VEHICLE!
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Not for everyone
Ray A., 08/01/2016
updated 09/15/2016
2016 BMW X3 xDrive35i 4dr SUV AWD (3.0L 6cyl Turbo 8A)
28 of 41 people found this review helpful
There are a lot a good features about the BMW X3, but overall if I had the decision to make all over again I would choose something else. First the good things. 1) The power from the 3.0L turbo is very good. It is refined and the transmission shifts smoothly. 2) The active stop and go cruise control is worth the extra cost. When you are sitting stop and go traffic it is a wonderful feature. 3) Back seats and cargo capacity are very good for this class of SUV. 4) I-Drive is easy to use once you get the hang of it. 5) Heads up display is a great feature. I have it on another car and think more vehicles should have this as an option. Now for the things that I am disappointed with after having this BMW for a few months. 1) The upgraded Harmon Kardon system sounds just OK. I had a Harmon system in a Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit and it rocked in comparison to this system. At louder volume levels the sound is a bit harsh. 2) The keyless entry system can be a bit flakey. With the key in my pocket I have issues opening and locking the door. I have to take the key out of my pocket to make it work. I don't have this issue on my GM with a keyless system. Plus for a vehicle of this price point, I think its kind of cheap to not have them on the rear doors too. 3) Both rear tail lights have flaws from the molding process. I have looked at others and you can barely see the injection points in the lens, but mine stand out like sore thumb. They look like white dots on the tail lights. The dealer says they are in spec. Again for the price of these SUV's is seams these could be made better. 4) Went I got it I thought the interior was nice and was fitting of the luxury brand. But over time, some the materials feel cheep. Even with upgraded leather, the ruff texture makes it feel like fake leather. It was not until I got in my friends new Cadillac XT5 did I really notice the difference. The Cadillac is light years ahead on interior quality. I can feel the ruff seam on the top and bottom of the turn signal stalk where the two pieces of plastic meet. 5) No vented front seats and power tilt/telescoping wheel. A miss on this class and price point. 6) Auto Start/Stop is poorly programmed. Many times it stops the moment you stop. There should be a couple of seconds delay. When coming to a stop sign or switching gears while pulling into a parking space, I have had the engine shut off just to restart again while it was shutting off. Then there are times when you think it should shut off and it does not. I have stopped and put it into park and it won't shut off. The only plus is you can disable the feature. I highly recommend this if you have the A/C on. 7) Front parking sensors are slow to engage. Don't pull up to something quickly and expect them to be active. 8) Having to hit the Start/Stop button twice to shut everything off is annoying. Once to stop the engine the second time to turn off accessories. If you don't the accessories stay on even after you open the door. It will timeout once you have locked the door, but I don't trust it. You should only have to hit it once to turn the engine off. Then when you open the drivers door it shuts off the accessories. 9) It was not until I a took a long trip and my left leg started falling asleep how bad the comfort is on the bottom of the front seats. They are not good. The cushion is too short on the front and sides. 10) Just got the recall notice about the rear child safety seat anchor. Give this vehicle is been on the market for a while I am surprised that this has come up this late in the product cycle. What concerns me how they have to fix this. They need to remove the rear seats and carpet, send it out a body shop to have a support bracket welded in. Not liking the sound of welding something in a brand new vehicle. ***UPDATE*** I traded the BMW in after 6 months. When you spend this kinda money on a car and are not happy with it you need to go with something else. The something else is a 2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport with under 25K miles. This is an amazing car. Can't wait to get into it each day and drive. This is what a luxury car should be.
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It has a stick, no shifting gears from steering wh
Rqjwill, 10/14/2021
updated 04/21/2022
2016 BMW X3 xDrive28i 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 8A)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
This is a very nice car I've had it for the better part of 2 years now. Extremely nice to drive good gas mileage! And very comfortable on the highway I've actually had five people in the car comfortably adults. Strangely enough my nicest feature is the fact that it's still has gear shift in the center console not on the steering wheel. I have the all-wheel drive version and it is again very pleasant to drive. There is one negative... The seats are a bit too firm, causes dis comfort over long trips.
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MY SEVENTH BMW AND LEAST FAVORITE
Jonathon N., 08/11/2017
updated 08/21/2019
2016 BMW X3 xDrive28i 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 8A)
11 of 18 people found this review helpful
I’m a 7-time BMW owner. All 3-Series vehicles until now. The X3. The X3 (I have a 2016 X3 AWD Gas) is my first South Carolina built BMW away from the 3-Series and the first non-German built BMW I have owned. I'm learning to live with this non-luxury truck with its optional safety (by optional I mean sub-par headlights, no fender turn signals and Goodyear run-flats). What a difference… The anemic 4-cyclinder engine tries to move some 5,000 pounds around. It struggles on hills (almost sounds diesel-like) but if you put the vehicle into what BMW calls the SPORTS MODE, performance will improve greatly because it cancels out (or re-directs) several short-throw gears on the transmission and the engine is married to the gearbox in a much faster pace (you will consume an extra 21% of fuel though). The transmission is electronic. I love it! Responsive, fast, understanding of your needs and quick to the change by your demands. Kudos to BMW for this system of near perfection and this same system really shows off its talent when used on the 3-series newer sedans or coupes (I’ve had loaners in the past). The parking brake is an electronic tab function. Hold a TAB to place your X3 in the parking brake mode. BMW’s are usually like a train on rails. Trains follow tracks. You don’t drive or steer a train. Trains are precise and follow a pattern. Most BMW’s give you that same feeling of total control and responsibility. The road is safely yours and if you get into a situation a BMW will get you out of it with plenty of power and precision steering. Except for the X3 4-cylinder version. The X3 is a shoebox on wheels. BMW has compromised safety where safety is now OPTIONAL instead of standard. Be it cheap and yellowish basic headlights to turn signal indicators (side body panels) missing because you bought the wrong model. Rim/Tire sizes being too small. Backup camera or braking safety features all optional. Simple safety no longer part of BMW standards. Safety only available for sale. Expect cheap plastic seats called SENSA-TEC on entry level models (sometimes called Leatherette) that are miserable in comfort. You’ll have to purchase the essential SPORT PACKAGE to get decent seats in leather and secured in comfort. The rears are even worse making most park benches a luxury compared to the rear seats on a 2016 X3. Tires on the X3 are also downgraded to Goodyear’s (pending the model/version/year). However, many cars on the dealers lot had Bridgestone’s (owned by Firestone) tires. Pirelli’s should be on the X3 or a good second choice would be Michelin’s. Once again, BMW downgrading the X3 to truck status. Ride quality is average. We had to take off the ‘FRED FLINTSTONE’ Goodyear run flats and upgrade to the Michelin’s to get a better interstate ride. It’s like turbulence over Florida sometimes with you sitting in the last row of the airplane. The X3 is stumpy, short and fairly boxy looking (whereas the X5 has a far classier look to it). It bumps and it pulls and it fights the road when accomplishing interstate driving. Braking is average. Not the soft and exact stopping that a BMW 3-series will give you but plan ahead and control your stop before you need to. 5000 lbs. is a lot a shoebox to stop. The Panoramic Sunroof 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 of those Spirit Airlines last row seats. One of the better options available on the BMW X3. This is the most disappointing BMW I have owned to date. Yet in fairness, my last BMW was a 335is convertible and now this is a totally, almost non-BMW truck experience. We did a test drive of the RAV-4 before deciding on the X3 but when compared, the Toyota RAV 4 exceeded all handling and safety features when compared to the BMW X3 when factoring in price and reliability. On the other hand, BMW paint and fit and finish was superior to Toyota’s cheaper paint and gel coating. In just six (6) weeks, our rear hatch latch has broken off (it’s plastic instead of metal), we’ve changed out the bad tires, the driver’s side door won’t stay open, when opened (you have to walk it out into position) and of great concern is we had to accelerate this weekend to change lanes on an interstate and nothing happened. Gas petal depressed fully. No response. Of major concern and to be looked at later this week. I’d never purchase another X3 BMW at any price. Not a real German built BMW. In fact, not the feeling of a BMW at all… If you decide on a X3, add the essential packages so that you’ll have the basic safety items now marketed only as options. Going with the 35i X3 will provide for superior engine performance and adding a SPORTS PACKAGE above all will change the experience from rental car performance to some personal pride of ownership.
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BMW needs to learn to design seats
Mitch Massie, 03/08/2016
2016 BMW X3 xDrive35i 4dr SUV AWD (3.0L 6cyl Turbo 8A)
20 of 43 people found this review helpful
I leased a 2016 BMW X3 3.5 X drive with the M sports package for my wife. We were hoping to use the vehicle for a road car. I have tried to sit in the front seats of the car. They are abysmal. I do not feel my size is unusual at 6'2" and 225 lbs. I am unable to sit in them for more than 10 minutes without being very uncomfortable. In my 50 + years of sitting in automobile seats have never sat in the front seat of any model of any car or truck and been uncomfortable. If you are a person of small stature the seats in this vehicle are tolerable. Make sure any guest you will have in your X3 will be the same size. I sent an email to the BMW "geniuses" but have not gotten a response. My review of the BMW discussion groups shows this bad seat design in the X3 has been an issue for quite a while. If you are test driving this car you need to drive it for 15 to 20 minutes at a minimum. If you can't sit comfortably in the car to drive it, everything else about the car is meaningless. I would recommend any other vehicle than the X3.
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