2025 BMW X3 M50 xDrive

The wheelbase for the new car is the same, at 112.8 inches, but the new X3 is a touch longer and wider while being lower overall. The rear track — the distance between the center of the two rear wheels — is also wider than it used to be to help give the SUV a more planted stance.

Both engines will be familiar to current X3 owners but are now augmented by mild-hybrid systems. The base 30 xDrive model's 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder makes 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. The more powerful 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six in the X3 M50 xDrive makes 393 hp at 6,250 rpm and 428 lb-ft of torque at 1,800 rpm.

Both engines send their power through an eight-speed automatic transmission. The 48-volt mild-hybrid system drives a starter-generator motor that's embedded in the transmission. That small electric motor is there to make the auto stop-start function smoother, as well as supplementing initial acceleration.

The interior mirrors a lot of what we've seen from BMW of late. The strips of ambient lighting and the "less than" and "greater than" arrows that light up on the doors is a design theme we've seen from BMW's more premium offerings like the new 5 Series.

Because the X3 has a wheelbase identical to the old car's, you can expect the interior dimensions of the new car to mirror those of the previous generation, with similar legroom for front and rear passengers. That said, the added length and width mean there's now more cargo capacity than before. With the rear seats up cargo space grows from 28.7 cubic feet to 31.5 cubic feet. Fold the second row down and you get 67.1 cubic feet of space to work with (up from 62.7 cubes).

The system looks and functions similarly to iDrive 8.5 (the software that's been rolled out in the recently updated 2 Series, 3 Series, and many other BMWs). Thanks to its Android-based software, OS9 can now accommodate a wide range of third-party apps and should allow the system to be more frequently updated over the air. The updates, BMW says, can include quality-of-life improvements, general software updates, or even additional features. BMW is also debuting a connected service it's calling BMW Digital Premium. It bundles together a litany of audio streaming apps (like Spotify and Amazon Music) and gaming apps for when the car is stationary.

For the new X3, BMW's parking assistant is standard, but you can get an optional update package called Parking Assistant Professional with Maneuver Assistant. Essentially, the X3 can remember multiple parking routes and, with the help of GPS guidance and memory of your steering movements, can store routes with up to 10 different steering maneuvers and go up to 650 yards. It's a very fancy way of helping you park in your garage at home without you having to do anything. The mapping and route guidance systems have also been upgraded, with less lag time between traffic updates and a head-up display that can now show augmented reality directions directly in your line of sight.