The Monticello Motor Club in New York probably wouldn’t rank in the top fifty of great circuits. You can imagine the late Charlie Whiting scrupulously eye-balling around there with his weighty FIAemboldened clipboard and scribbling big red NOs next to the myriad rules and regulations a modern circuit must now comply with. Suffice to say, Monticello isn’t going to host a round of Formula One anytime soon –picturesque lush mowed grass rather than 6ft high catch fencing and grandiose grandstands, it’s aligned to the millionaire’s playground or gentleman’s club racing. But then again, we’re in BMW’s fastest SUV and the last time I checked, SUVs don’t belong on bonafide racetracks.
Like the X3 M, Monticello is a tongue-in-cheek place that ticks enough corner-to-corner boxes but isn’t bound entirely to those laminated rules. Blind apexes, a back straight that sees over 125mph in a X3 M, an elevated chicane reminiscent of Laguna Seca’s bowel-flipping corkscrew and off-camber braking points that wreak havoc with excess kilograms.
[https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/16528/363036/5d44f22746d7b/1564799411295.jpg]
First however some context. Mercedes launched the GLC 63 AMG a year ago, and Audi’s found another use for the 2.5-liter in the Q3 RS for even longer. Pretty sure a hot Jaguar E-Pace can’t be too far away either. Up till now, the X3’s elevator rose to level M40i but that’s mostly a repurposed 340i xDrive sedan with some extra ground clearance. The X3 M is the marriage of two strong, albeit contrary markets, backed by a depth of engineering we’ve marveled in cars like the BMW M5, but will also see strands of in the new BMW M3.
[https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/16528/363036/5d44f22746d7b/1564799435386.jpg]
Can’t blame a business-minded BMW for simply joining the dots following a successful X5M and X6M.
First the design. In the turbulent wake of the two abrasive Seven Series models, isn’t it a relief that BMW’s styling appears back on track? And I refer to the X4M in this too, which mirrors the boxier X3 M so closely that BMW’s chief engineer on the project couldn’t give me, other than headroom and luggage space, one area where the two differ. Larger airdams suck more air which then escapes through the air curtains. The mirrors have the signature M-design but being a stickler for tradition I was disappointed that the iconic power dome on the bonnet doesn’t feature. Ditto a carbon-fiber roof. Still, the design is menacing especially in the Competition spec we drove validated by a high-gloss black grille, mirror caps, side gills, and rear spoiler and lightweight 21-inch wheels with a narrower size tire for the fronts.
[https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/16528/363036/5d44f22746d7b/1564799442322.jpg]
The X3 M still uses the vestiges of BMW’s interior architecture, predating to a mostly analog instrument cluster with needles for needles. This is no shrunken new-gen X5, yet still performs like an upmarket office through standard functions like Connected Drive as well as the Professional Navigation system. Fewer plastics than rivals is another great trait from the X3 range. Lit-up M-lettering is done in tasteful quantity and it’s only once you’ve been bombarded with new-gen tech that you realize how well the older, static layouts work. Easy to adjust during and cornering and nicely understated tones and graphics, apart from those blazing-red M1 and M2 buttons positioned just north of the thumb placement on the steering wheel.
[https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/16528/363036/5d44f22746d7b/1564799501858.jpg]
BMW’s drivetrain has always been the benchmark in one-touch programmability. Despite the X3 M not having a dedicated 2WD mode in its arsenal ‘because X-models are not cars you need to slide’ this maintains the natural f low of a rear-driven SUV right at the ...
Like the X3 M, Monticello is a tongue-in-cheek place that ticks enough corner-to-corner boxes but isn’t bound entirely to those laminated rules. Blind apexes, a back straight that sees over 125mph in a X3 M, an elevated chicane reminiscent of Laguna Seca’s bowel-flipping corkscrew and off-camber braking points that wreak havoc with excess kilograms.
[https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/16528/363036/5d44f22746d7b/1564799411295.jpg]
First however some context. Mercedes launched the GLC 63 AMG a year ago, and Audi’s found another use for the 2.5-liter in the Q3 RS for even longer. Pretty sure a hot Jaguar E-Pace can’t be too far away either. Up till now, the X3’s elevator rose to level M40i but that’s mostly a repurposed 340i xDrive sedan with some extra ground clearance. The X3 M is the marriage of two strong, albeit contrary markets, backed by a depth of engineering we’ve marveled in cars like the BMW M5, but will also see strands of in the new BMW M3.
[https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/16528/363036/5d44f22746d7b/1564799435386.jpg]
Can’t blame a business-minded BMW for simply joining the dots following a successful X5M and X6M.
First the design. In the turbulent wake of the two abrasive Seven Series models, isn’t it a relief that BMW’s styling appears back on track? And I refer to the X4M in this too, which mirrors the boxier X3 M so closely that BMW’s chief engineer on the project couldn’t give me, other than headroom and luggage space, one area where the two differ. Larger airdams suck more air which then escapes through the air curtains. The mirrors have the signature M-design but being a stickler for tradition I was disappointed that the iconic power dome on the bonnet doesn’t feature. Ditto a carbon-fiber roof. Still, the design is menacing especially in the Competition spec we drove validated by a high-gloss black grille, mirror caps, side gills, and rear spoiler and lightweight 21-inch wheels with a narrower size tire for the fronts.
[https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/16528/363036/5d44f22746d7b/1564799442322.jpg]
The X3 M still uses the vestiges of BMW’s interior architecture, predating to a mostly analog instrument cluster with needles for needles. This is no shrunken new-gen X5, yet still performs like an upmarket office through standard functions like Connected Drive as well as the Professional Navigation system. Fewer plastics than rivals is another great trait from the X3 range. Lit-up M-lettering is done in tasteful quantity and it’s only once you’ve been bombarded with new-gen tech that you realize how well the older, static layouts work. Easy to adjust during and cornering and nicely understated tones and graphics, apart from those blazing-red M1 and M2 buttons positioned just north of the thumb placement on the steering wheel.
[https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/16528/363036/5d44f22746d7b/1564799501858.jpg]
BMW’s drivetrain has always been the benchmark in one-touch programmability. Despite the X3 M not having a dedicated 2WD mode in its arsenal ‘because X-models are not cars you need to slide’ this maintains the natural f low of a rear-driven SUV right at the ...
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FHM South Africa (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2019