Today I’m in Thermal, California, and I had the opportunity to have a quick peek at the 2022 BMW x3.
Let’s speak about what’s new for this model year and what hasn’t changed.
The first thing to note is that 2022 isn’t a major makeover.
Because this is a refresh of the x3, there are some minor exterior changes.
For example, the bmw kidney grille has grown in size.
I know some people have been complaining about the size of bmw grilles lately, but bandwidth claims that customers were complaining that the grill was too small in the previous model prior to the refresh.
Of course, this is not as contentious as the one found in the four series, and I actually think it looks pretty good on the three series; I don’t think it’s too big; we have full led headlights with some changes to the accent there inside; we have m wheels, m brakes, and a m badge on the side; we have full led headlights with some changes to the accent there; we have full led headlights with some changes to the accent there; we have full led head Since this is only a refresh, the x3’s size hasn’t altered.
Back there at the back, the wheels are the same, but the rear end design has changed slightly.
The new tail lights assist to keep things in line with the rest of the current bmws.
There’s a lot of 3d effect in here, as you can see, and this tiny part actually stands out a little bit.
They’re full led tail out models, which is a really great touch.
The main difference between the 2-liter turbo and the 3-liter turbo is the exhaust tip.
This model is the 3-liter turbo, as indicated by the m40i badge on the passenger side.
The engine lineup is pretty similar to last year.
It starts with a 2-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine that produces 248 horsepower and gets you from 0-60 in six seconds.
Then there’s an optional turbocharged six-cylinder engine that produces 348 horsepower and gets you from 0-60 in six seconds.
If that’s not enough, the m and competition versions of the x3 are still available.
The x3m will provide 473 horsepower, while the competition will have 503 horsepower.
The seat designs haven’t changed much for 2022, so we still have a multi-way power driver seat with inflatable side bolsters, 4-way adjustable lumbar support, and seat memory on the doors.
The back seat is still pretty comfortable with plenty of rear seat headroom, and this model does have the large panoramic moonroof, so I have no problem back here, and the rear seats do offer a recline function.
There’s a little lever right here on the side, and then I can give Back here, we have a fold down padded center armrest, and the center section also folds away.
This is a 40 20 40 folding rear seat back that’s extremely practical because you can fit long items like ikea purchases or skis right in here and still seat four people.
We also have two large air vents for the rear seat passengers, and three zone automatic climate control.
In this model, the leather upholstery is just heated, not ventilated.
The seats are still very comfortable for my size, with the extending thigh cushion down there at the bottom.
Lots of high quality materials on this interior.
I think the build quality of the x3 reminds me a little bit more of the 5 series than the 3 series in terms of parts quality and just the assembly of things.
The dashboard seems quite different from what we see in the 4 and 3 series.
The significant difference is this new bigger entertainment system right here in the dashboard.
It’s a little bit higher than before and clearly much larger.
The software itself is very identical to last time.
It runs the current version of bmw’s idrive and allows smartphone connectivity.
The accent trim on the dashboard and doors varies depending on which trim you’re on, but we have a lot of metallic accent strips running across the dash, and we have a large glove compartment right here where I had no problem fitting a 10 inch tablet computer inside, and then we have those two large air vents in the center of the dashboard.
a design with this section of the dashboard that is definitely more harmonious with the newer bmws in the lineup direct access button to the active safety systems in the vehicle controls for the front two climate control zones you can control the third zone by hitting that button right there and then doing that through the idrive menu we then have some buttons for the infotainment system these are memory buttons and can be programmed to a wide variety of different things we then have some buttons for the infotainment system these are memory buttons and Right here, we have a roller type cover that covers the two cup holders and a little storage section where you can’t put a bigger smartphone in the joystick style shifter.
There are a bunch of buttons down here that control the driving mode.
additional car buttons, such as parking sensors, stability, and traction control We then have an electronic parking brake with auto brake hold between the front seats, and we have a padded center armrest that opens to reveal a fairly small storage compartment compared to some of the front wheel drive models, but the storage area is pretty similar to other rear wheel drive vehicles.
no modern bmw would be complete without a color heads-up display that’s that hole in the dash right there just above the instrument cluster moving down from there we find a full lcd instrument cluster in this model we then have a very attractive leather wrapped steering wheel here one nice touch is a lot of modern bmw models have a stitched leather airbag cover and that really makes the steering wheel experience much more premium feeling than some luxury brands that just give you a plastic cover for instance in the volvo xc60 it’s a plastic cover which has always blown my mind a little there really nicely wrapped steering wheel since this is the m40i version we get some tri-color stitching there on the steering wheel On the left side, you’ll find the cruise control controls.
The controls for the infotainment system are mostly over here on the right side, along with the scroll wheel that interacts with the heads-up display.
There is no radar cruise control in this model.
For more information on how the refreshed x3 drives, you’ll have to wait until I can get my hands on one for a week.
I’ve been able to spend a short amount of time out here in thermal california, but I haven’t been able to put it through its paces.
I’ve had a very limited amount of time with this particular model.
Most of my time has been spent in the x3 m40i, but I have been able to The x3 and x4 are quite similar, thus the beginning price for the x3 will be 44 695 dollars, while the x4 will be 52 795 dollars.
Even though it reduces cargo capacity, the x4 and the x3 are very similar up front, but rear doors rearward the x4 is more like the bmw 4 series in terms of profile.
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