2012 BMW X Models Reviews

The Federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication, Sport and the Arts has issued a safety recall notice impacting 15,352 BMWs across multiple models sold new in Australia from 2016 to 2020.It confirms that in examples of the 320d, 320i, 330i, 420i, 430i, 520d, 520i, 530i, 620d, 630i, X3, X4 and Z4, “Due to a manufacturing defect, inadequate sealing of the starter motor may allow moisture to enter into the unit. If this occurs, corrosion may result in the engine not starting.”The department said, “In rare cases, it could also cause a short circuit leading to overheating of the starter motor and in the worst case, to a vehicle fire while parked or driving.“A vehicle fire could increase the risk of injury or death to vehicle occupants, other road users, bystanders and/or damage to property,” it said.Owners of affected vehicles will be contacted by BMW requesting they schedule an appointment immediately with their preferred authorised BMW dealer to replace the starter motor free of charge.Alternatively, BMW Australia can be contacted on a dedicated Recall Hotline (1800 243 675), via email (info@bmw.com.au) or through a recall-specific website (https://www.recall.bmw.com.au).

The rapid rise and increasing threat of Chinese automakers did not accelerate BMW’s development of its next-generation Neue Klasse vehicle architecture, according to a key executive.The German giant acknowledges the increasing presence of China in the global new-car market, but the advanced vehicle architecture was well under way by the time Chinese brands like BYD experienced growth in Europe.BMW Board Member for Development, Joachim Post, talked up BMW’s reputation for innovation in the face of a rising China.“At that time, I believe China was not the main reason to do that. We are coming from innovation, from technology, to say what is coming up for the future, what could be feasible, how we can be successful. Because we are BMW. We stand for innovation, for features, for functions,” he said.“The second point is, for sure, we have seen that technology development, especially in China, go a fast speed. And to be successful also in that market, technology integration is very important. It's a competitive market. And there are some cars from China coming up which are good cars, which, let's say, it is good that we have made a decision to be on the technology jump and to be prepared for that.“And let me say I won't be in a situation like others, to be not prepared in that matter for the whole fleet like some others are.”China is BMW’s largest market by volume with total sales equalling between 20 and 30 per cent of the Group’s total sales spending on the year. It is a bigger market than the US and Germany.Post denied that Chinese carmakers presented an existential threat to BMW, and compared the country’s rise to that of Korean brands decades earlier.“Looking a lot of years ago in Europe, where the Korean brands came to Europe, same discussion. And finally, to be competitive in the market, to have attractive product, attractive features, functions… and have heritage on a brand is important, and we will see what's coming up.“The Chinese are going abroad, especially Asia. They will also come to Europe. But to be honest, they also have to earn money for the future. And when you look at what's going on in the Chinese market, not all of them are really earning money. And they have a reality when they come to Europe… and we will see what's coming.”At the same iX3 reveal event, BMW Board Member for Production, Milan Nedeljkovic, highlighted the differences in cost between manufacturing in China compared with Europe.“It has four or five relevant factors, which make economic difference between Europe and China. One, of course, is the cost level of salaries and people in fact, but more significant is even the price of energy. So how much do we pay for energy and secure price levels for long-term investment in salaries?“Secondly, it's access to raw materials and to refined raw materials. It's not about the mining. It's about refining. And China has significant capacities in refining raw materials. So to bring these raw materials back to Europe is rather ineffective, instead of getting it manufactured in China and having to finish it. So there are some advantages, which China has, and you can see it in the competitiveness of China when it comes to electric mobility in the pricing.“Nevertheless, at the same time, there are investments in Europe, also from Chinese companies and others, which show that if you want to be successful in the market, you must be in the market. It's not about import/export. It's about being part of the ecosystem of a region. That's why we have our footprint worldwide, and that's why all the other global players have a diverse manufacturing system to cover the main regions.”BMW Group has four main factories in China with its domestic partner, Brilliance, and one of the facilities - Dadong - was the company’s most production plant in 2023.

BMW is preparing for the next generation of M high-performance models, with the brand looking to satisfy both traditionalists and electric vehicle fans.Currently, full-fat M models remain internal combustion engine (ICE) models with some electrification, as is the case with plug-in hybrids the new M5 and the XM SUV.But the Bavarian brand wants to cover its bases with future M and M Performance models. BMW has just rolled out the first model from its Neue Klasse (New Class) group of models, the iX3.These models feature high-tech computers dubbed ‘Superbrains’, a new level of connectivity and digital features, and in the case of the iX3 SUV and incoming i3 sedan, full electrification.According to Head of BMW Neue Klasse, Mike Reichelt, the carmaker is readying a two-powertrain strategy for its future M cars.“We prepare for the first M model of the Neue Klasse, but we know … there are many customers will love the M3 ICE, and maybe there are two offers,” he said.BMW will launch the next Neue Klasse model, the all-electric i3 sedan, in 2026, and it will precede the ICE version of the next-generation 3 Series.The company also previewed an electric M3 with the BMW Vision Driving Experience concept from this year’s Shanghai motor show.With the iX3 launching in Australia in 2026, it’s expected that a performance focussed M version will follow, however BMW is yet to officially confirm it.When asked if BMW X3 owners are as passionate about ICE powertrains as M3 drivers, Reichelt said:“Maybe they feel today, no, but I'm absolutely sure when they drive the first M model of a Neue Klasse with a ‘Heart of Joy', with four engines on every wheel, and this power, they will love . But then we have customers, who love to drive ICE and more, it's okay, then we get an M3 with an ice engine.”Reichelt would not be drawn on an iX3 M, but said given the massive change with Neue Klasse models, and common parts, it would make sense.“When we go on the M side in such a big step, and we have such a high number of common parts communality, it has a logic to say we have the technology, we have the cars, we combine it. But I can't… confirm it today, but it has a logic way.”Meanwhile, BMW Board Member for Development, Joachim Post, said it was “feasible” to spin off a two-door sportscar from the Neue Klasse architecture.“The philosophy of BMW also has been in the past to, we say ‘baukasten’. That means that we have communal parts for different types of cars in different segments. Electronics control units, for example, a battery cell, all these things are the same, but integrated in a different package.“So for us as BMW, it's always core to think in that way, how we can develop a component that we can scale it in every of our cars. That's why we can be so fast to make now, this new technology, in two years, in 40 derivatives. That gives you the possibility to make scaling combinations, to make them feasible, to run from a business case, we will see what's coming up for future.”The carmaker will have 40 derivatives of Neue Klasse in the coming three years, but not all of them will be full Neue Klasse models like the iX3 and i3. Some will just adopt the in-car tech and new design language, for example.

BMW’s head of design says there was a degree of pressure overseeing the look of the new iX3, one of the most important cars in BMW’s long history.

When the BMW iX showed up a few years ago, it was a promising look at what BMW seemed capable of when it comes to electric cars. But in the time since the iX launched, there have been big strides in the premium electric SUV space, including new arrivals from European opposition like the Polestar 3 or even a new American in the form of the Cadillac Lyriq.

BMW believes its six- and eight-cylinder engines will live on well into the next decade, despite a shift to engine downsizing and electrification.

BMW has just revealed one of its most critical models in decades, the all-new iX3.

Hot off the back of the BMW iX3 reveal, the German carmaker is expected to reveal a new 3 Series sedan and then a new X5 large SUV.

Mercedes-Benz design boss Gorden Wagener didn’t hold back.In an interview with Top Gear at this week’s Munich motor show, Wagener gave his frank opinions of the latest work from his German rivals at BMW and Audi. The German took specific aim at the interior design of both the new Audi Concept C and the BMW iX3.“That interior looks like it was designed in 1995,” Wagener was quoted as saying. “It is a little bit too known, and there is too little tech. I have always claimed that I am a big fan of hyper-analogue things, but you cannot ignore a screen. When you have a small screen, you automatically send the message ‘congratulations, you are sitting in a small car’.”As for the BMW, which not only had a large central screen but also a narrow screen that wraps around the lower edge of the windscreen, well, Wagener wasn’t a fan of that either.“What the other manufacturer did? I mean, they showed the concept a couple of years ago with the information across the bottom of the windscreen. I have to say I'm not a big fan of that because it's so far away it’s hard to read. Everything will appear smaller so it’s distracting, and you need a device to operate it because it’s too far away to be touch-sensitive, so you have to put a touchscreen in there which they did. So it’s a pretty conventional solution, and actually a complicated one because you have information on different levels and I don't think that's intuitive.”It’s always good to get honest comments from anyone you interview, but Wagener may want to look up the phrase ‘people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’ because, to be blunt, Mercedes’ design has been… hit and miss in recent years (to put it politely).I will acknowledge at this point that design is subjective and each individual will look at any car through their own eyes and form a unique opinion. But as someone who drives a wide variety of cars for a living, so I get up close to them, I have to say the latest era of German luxury design doesn’t make sense to me.Let’s do this alphabetically and start with the Audi. The Concept C is meant to preview the next-generation of design for the four-ring brand, ushering in a new ethos of ‘radical simplicity’, according to the brand’s design boss, Massimo Frascella.The new design, with a new vertical grille and a sloping tail is a clear call back to the brand’s iconic Auto Union racing cars of the 1930s. Nobody loves Auto Union racing cars more than me (just ask the poor Audi Australia folks who accidentally brought it up once at a dinner and I proceed to bore them for the next 45 minutes with non-stop history of such things), but the new look just doesn’t work in my eyes. The ‘vertical grille’ looks more rectangular to me, which looks very much like it came direct from the 1930s, before the car industry learnt to make radiators in all different shapes and sizes so cars could stop having rectangular, vertical grilles.Personally, I like the interior, but I also happen to think Wagener’s right that most customers will want bigger screens — even though, personally, I think a lot of brands are pushing the limits of how big in-car screens should be.Overall, I think Audi has arguably the best-looking and most consistent design themes of the three German luxury brands, so it is a huge risk to change it. Personally, I can’t see this design language transferring nicely to the same variety of cars the current styling does.Moving on to BMW, the all-new iX3 is also meant to herald the start of something radically different for the Bavarian brand. The so-called ‘Neue Klasse’ design theme is going to proliferate across the brand in the coming years, whether you like it or not.Again, the looks are subjective, but what bothers me about the iX3 design is it is yet another huge change for the brand and its once signature ‘kidney grille’ look. Ever since the controversial ‘flame surfacing’ design era, BMW has taken its long-running kidney grille and distorted it into all sorts of different shapes and sizes. So much so that what was once an easily recognisable design element has now become something completely random. On one model it might be small squares, on another giant, gaping holes and now the iX3 a throwback to the tall, slender version of decades ago.What is the point of a ‘signature look’ if it constantly changes?Finally there’s Mercedes, and the car Wagener will have personally overseen, the new GLC EV. This replaces the EQC SUV, the brand’s first mainstream electric model, which vanished without fanfare after clearly underwhelming the market.Maybe Wagener was lashing out at his rivals after the current EQ range of electric models has received ‘mixed’ reviews for their looks. Mercedes tried to clearly differentiate the looks of its electric models from its conventionally-powered range, but that has also been met with ‘mixed’ reviews and the new GLC attempts to correct course.Unfortunately, in an attempt to make the electric SUV look more like a traditional Mercedes that appears to have copied a design from the 1980s, when the grille was huge and rectangular, and added an array of bling to it.Personally, it’s not my taste, but for Mercedes’ sake I hope there are buyers lining up for the SUV with the big chrome face.I certainly don’t envy Wagener and his colleagues and the task they have at the moment, trying to integrate modern technology while retaining a distinctive look and needing to stand out in an increasingly competitive market. But, to be blunt, if what was on display at the Munich motor show is any guide, then we may be entering a controversial period for all three brands.

The BMW M240i xDrive, one of our favourite coupes, has undergone a revamp, but not where you might expect. A redesigned dash, new screens and updated operating system are the big changes, meaning the big 3.0-litre turbo in-line 'six', all-wheel drive and superb chassis balance remain. But that raises a question: in the four years since release, has BMW's smallest coupe kept up with the times?