[LeRoux Strydom]

My wife has been driving her X3 with the 3.0 six for 3.5 years now, done 67000 km or so (40k miles?). We had some minor complaints about the interior quality at the start, all fixed by BMW under warranty. These were really minor things like the rubberized covering on the steering wheel and window switches peeling off. What car in this price class does not have excessive amounts of plastic in the interior? However, it is rattle-free, and the interior stands up very well to the abuse handed out by the poor car being a mom's taxi to 3 kids.

We had zero mechanical complaints, and never a hiccup of any kind - 100% reliable.

The car is dynamically excellent, and I love driving it. It drives almost as well as my old 530i (RIP) did. The ride is firm, certainly not floppy, but not harsh either. In fact, I think it has a better ride than my new X5 (maybe the run-flat tyres on the X5 plays a role here).

My wife will keep the X3 for a long time still.