Denza B8 vs BMW X3

What's the difference?

The Denza B8 is an incredibly luxurious car that has a lot going for it, including three rows of seating, a 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity and an eye-popping price tag, but it's held back by its overall heft and cumbersome ride.

If you don’t absolutely need the third row of seating, the smaller B5 is arguably the better pick and while it’s also not perfect, it’s a very compelling package and you’ll be saving thousands of dollars in the process.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

This is a highly competent all-rounder, given that it has the comfort and practicality for urban family duties yet with its revered M breeding can produce a level of performance which, in competent hands, could hold its own at a track day where its capabilities could be safely explored.

There’s no way around it, the Denza B8 is a big car. It’s almost 5.2 metres long which makes it larger than a LandCruiser 300 Series and more in line with the likes of the Land Rover Defender 130.

It looks quite boxy and tough on the outside, though it doesn’t have any features that define it specifically as a Denza beyond the inconspicuous badging. There are many angles that are reminiscent of the aforementioned Defender.

The body lines look crisper than the smaller B5, as does the semi closed-off grille and LED light script that connect the big LED headlights.

Unlike the B5, the tailgate-mounted spare wheel is much more prominent in the B8 and this therefore exaggerates its heft, not in a good way.

Inside, it’s luxurious and high-end with lots of visual appeal. I particularly like the amount of soft-touch finishes around the cabin and the overall lack of glossy piano black.

While luxurious, there’s also a rugged edge to the interior. This is most present in the large grab handles which you do need to use when getting in and out.

The amount of physical buttons and switches inside is a nice touch as you don’t need to relate on the touchscreen all the time. The fact the gear shift lever rises up when you turn on the car also adds to the special, luxurious feel.

The fourth-gen X3, which has a lighter but stiffer body, shares the same wheelbase as its third-gen predecessor but at 4755mm end-to-end it's 34mm longer and it's 29mm wider.

It’s also 25mm lower, which combined with front and rear track-width increases and adaptive suspension damping to sharpen the handling underlines its sportiness and driver appeal, despite a substantial 2055kg kerb weight.

The new exterior design is characterised by short overhangs, flush door handles, a larger ‘split kidney’ grille, new LED taillights and L-shaped light elements for the LED headlights.

The new interior design is a classy mix of soft-touch materials and high-gloss hard surfaces in tastefully contrasting tones. The seats are upholstered in a new synthetic leather called 'Veganza' ('Espresso Brown' in our example) which according to BMW requires 85 per cent fewer CO2 emissions to produce than genuine leather (which is still available as an extra-cost option).

Combined with subtle use of ‘Magnolia’ fine-wood trim inserts, satin chrome, piano black, blue/red M highlights and slender ambient light-strips, it’s a cabin that exudes opulence.

Hopping into the B8 you need to acquaint yourself with how the flush door handles operate. Generally they pop open when you unlock the car but sometimes they can be a little delayed.

Also inside the car there are electronic door release buttons which are nowhere near as intuitive as regular door pull handles. Sure you’d likely get used to this over time but you’ll need to explain it to new passengers all the time.

The seats in Chinese cars usually look nice but aren’t that comfortable or supportive for long-distance journeys. The B8’s are the opposite, offering great support and almost limitless adjustability. Adding to this is the standard heating, ventilation and massage functions.

Ahead of the driver is a leather-wrapped steering wheel which feels nice and has plenty of physical buttons with a tactile click when pressed.

Behind this, the digital instrument cluster is clear and high-resolution and offers a number of different layouts and informative pages you can cycle through. This allows you to customise the display.

In the centre of the dashboard is the mammoth 17.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system which is the largest central screen I have seen in a car to date. It’s a big screen for a big car and Apple CarPlay satisfyingly takes up the entire screen.

Thankfully, the screen is snappy and has a native user interface that is easy to navigate around without getting lost. I particularly like the swipe-down control centre menu that allows you to change key settings without diving into sub-menus.

My only hassle with the screen is I struggle to reach the far left-hand side due to its overall size. Perhaps a trackpad would solve this.

As I noted previously, the amount of physical switchgear around the cabin makes adjusting key functions easy. Examples include physical buttons to change the drive mode, activate the surround-view camera, adjust the suspension position and switch between EV and hybrid driving.

In terms of storage up front there are two non-ventilated 50W wireless phone chargers, two cupholders with adjustable depths, a shallow storage section under the centre console, plus a fridge/hotbox under the centre armrest.

Moving to the second row and the luxury continues. The seven-seat model features a three-seat bench that three people can easily fit across as the floor is flat, whereas the six-seat model gets uber-plush captain’s chairs.

Regardless of variant, there’s plenty of room in the second row, even for adults.

Second-row amenities include a small screen on the back of the centre console box that allows you to change the climate control and change the seat heating/ventilation, among other functions.

There’s also a button that opens the fridge/coolbox so the second-row passengers can access it. This is a nifty touch though you’d want to make sure small fingers don’t get caught as the anti-pinch function isn’t the strongest.

A feature that’s unique to the six-seat version is a massaging function on the second-row captain’s chairs. This is a very cool touch that no other SUV at this price point offers.

Accessing the third row in the six-seat version is rather easy as you only need to walk down between the captain’s chairs. It’s also simple enough in the seven-seat version as long as you access it from the kerb side.

Third-row space is decent for adults, but this shouldn’t be surprising as the B8 is such a hulking vehicle. The backrests also recline allowing for extra comfort. Amenities include air vents in the headliner, USB-C ports and scattered storage. It’s enough for seats that will likely only get occasional use.

Around the back the B8 has a side-hinged tailgate which is a little problematic as you need to allow space for it to open up in parking spaces. This is hard when the car is already 5.2m long…

With all three rows upright there is 147L of boot space, which is fine, but this expands to a much more usable 920L with the third row folded.

The boot space is square and usable, though there is a large load lip which is body-coloured and would easily get scratched if you drop something on it. Not the best in a family-oriented vehicle.

Boot-related amenities include buttons to electronically fold the second and third row seats and lower the suspension to make things easier to load into the boot, a 12V socket, scattered hooks, as well as a small underfloor section to store the changing cables.

Although it stands out like a sore thumb, it’s great to have a full-size spare wheel on the back of the tailgate. This is very helpful in the unlikely and unfortunate event you get a puncture.

This would make a great family weekend escape machine, for which BMW quotes a 645kg payload rating. It’s also rated to tow up to 2500kg of braked trailer, which could pose a challenge given the relatively low 100kg tow-ball download limit (TBD is typically around 10 per cent of trailer weight).

BMW also does not publish a GCM figure (how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) so we can’t confirm if it can carry its maximum payload while towing its maximum trailer weight.

Even so, the M50 has a useful-sized luggage area which offers up to 570 litres (or 0.57 cubic metres) of load volume with the rear seat upright.

This expands to 1700 litres (or 1.7 cubic metres) with the rear seat folded flat, which can be handy for a multitude of tasks like transporting a mountain bike or hauling home flat-pack furniture.

There’s comfortable space for the driver and front passenger, along with useful storage including large bottle-holders and bins in each front door.

The centre console has two small-bottle/cupholders plus wireless phone-charging and a pair of USB ports. There's also a glove box plus another box at the rear of the console with a padded lid that doubles as an elbow rest.

The rear bench seat is surprisingly spacious, given that I’m 186cm tall and when seated behind the driver’s seat in my position I still have about 40mm of knee clearance, which is optimised by the concave shape of the front seat backrests.

The spacious and airy feel is enhanced by the ‘panorama’ glass roof which spans the full length of the seating area and allows generous headroom even for tall people.  

However, shoulder room is tight for three adults and the centre passenger’s feet must contend with the transmission tunnel, so even though it would be fine for three kids we’d suggest a limit of two adults for longer trips.

Rear passengers get privacy glass and pull-up roller sunshades, large-bottle holders and bins in each door plus net-type pockets and anchorage points for media devices on each front seat backrest. There are also two small-bottle/cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest.

The rear of the centre console has two USB ports, adjustable air-vents plus controls for zone temperature, airflow preferences and seat-heating.

The bench seat features a 40/20/40 split, which allows the centre backrest to fold forward independent of the two outer backrests to allow long loads like snow skis, home hardware etc to be carried if securely fastened.

A power tailgate provides access to the luggage area, which is equipped with a handy 12-volt accessory socket plus load-anchorage points front and rear, extra storage nooks for small items on either side and a retractable roller-type load cover. Overall, this vehicle offers good practicality for family duties.

Our X3 M50 xDrive test vehicle, finished in new 'Dune Grey Metallic', comes standard with a 3.0-litre turbocharged inline six-cylinder petrol engine incorporating 48-volt mild-hybrid technology, plus an eight-speed automatic and permanent all-wheel drive for a list price of $128,900.

You’d expect a high performance prestige vehicle costing six figures would be packed with desirable standard features and the M50 xDrive delivers, starting with big 21-inch 'M' lightweight alloy wheels shod with wide 285/35R21 tyres.

However, there’s no room for a spare (not even a space-saver) so you get a tyre repair kit instead.

The standard equipment list also includes adaptive LED headlights (with matrix high-beam and blue design detailing), a power tailgate, an ‘Iconic Glow’ illuminated kidney grille with M-specific elements, quad exhaust outlets, a panorama full-length (fixed) glass roof, a choice of six premium metallic paint colours and more. The 'M Sport Pro' visual enhancement package is also included.

Step inside and the driver is treated to a head-up display and an elegantly curved digital dash display, which spans about two-thirds of the cabin's width. It seamlessly incorporates a 12.3-inch driver’s instrument display (made from recycled polyester) and 14.9-inch multimedia display controlled by BMW’s latest 'iDrive System 9' software.

Premium audio is provided by a 15-speaker 750-watt Harman Kardon surround sound system, which includes digital radio and wireless Apple/Android connectivity. There’s also wireless phone charging.

The driver gets a thick leather-rimmed and heated 'M Sport' flat-bottom steering wheel and the driver and front passenger are also treated to sumptuous bucket seats with multiple power adjustments and heating/cooling.

Up to three passengers can share the rear bench seat and indulge in the luxury of three-zone automatic climate control, heating for the outer seating positions, privacy glass, roll-up sunshades, two USB-C ports and lots more.

Power comes from a plug-in hybrid set-up combining dual electric motors and a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine.

Total system outputs are a meaty 425kW and 760Nm. They need to be, as the B8 has a kerb weight of 3.3 tonnes. Despite this, Denza claims it can still do the 0-100km/h sprint in just 4.8 seconds.

Power is sent to all four wheels with a rear mechanical diff lock as standard across the line-up. A front diff lock is only offered on the six-seat version.

What’s most surprising about this big beast is it offers a segment-meeting 3500kg braked towing capacity. It also has up to 700kg of payload, depending on the variant.

According to BMW, the M50 xDrive features the most powerful inline six-cylinder petrol engine fitted to an M Performance model.

This 3.0-litre unit clearly benefits from BMW’s twin-scroll turbocharging technology, which combined with variable valve timing and an extra 13kW/200Nm from the 48V mild-hybrid technology produces a stomping 293kW of power at 5500rpm and 580Nm of torque at 1900rpm.

It also has a ‘boost’ function, which provides an extra burst of power for short periods when maximum acceleration is required when overtaking etc.

It’s activated by the left paddle-shifter on the steering wheel and automatically optimises transmission/chassis settings to suit. There’s also a drive mode selector, with ‘Sport’ offering the most responsive and engaging experience.

The eight-speed torque converter automatic is a refined and efficient transmission well suited to this full-time all-wheel drive application. Rapid-fire manual shifting is also available using the steering wheel paddles.

Feeding the dual electric motors is a 36.8kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. Denza claims it allows for an electric range of 115km, according to NEDC testing.

The battery can also be used as a power source for appliances using vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality at rates up to 6.6kW.

AC charging is offered at rates up to 11kW, whereas DC fast-charging is offered at rates up to 120kW.

Additionally, there’s a 91L fuel tank. Denza claims this allows the B8 to have a total range of 1040km (NEDC).

Fuel consumption depends on how often you charge the battery. Denza claims the B8 will use 2.0L/100km from 100 to 25 per cent battery charge and 9.9L/100km under 25 per cent battery charge, both according to NEDC testing. Regardless, this is better than all similarly sized petrol- or diesel-powered SUVs.

BMW claims an official average combined consumption of 8.2L/100km but the dash display was showing 9.9 at the completion of our 210km test, which included a mix of suburban, city and highway travel.

Our own figure, calculated from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, came in slightly higher again at 10.5L/100km, which given our test vehicle’s two-tonne-plus weight and performance capabilities is still reasonable economy.

So, based on our figures, you could expect a realistic driving range of around 600km from its 65-litre tank, which prefers premium 98 RON petrol.

Behind the wheel, the Denza B8 primarily acts as an electric vehicle (EV), meaning it’s largely quiet inside the cabin when driving around normally.

Once the battery charge gets down lower, the petrol engine typically switches on to top up the battery. It largely acts as a generator and a lot of the time you can’t tell whether it’s on or off.

You’ll likely only notice it if you floor the accelerator or go up a steeper hill. Even then the engine largely stays quiet and in the background.

When the battery charge gets down low enough and you gun it, the petrol engine can directly power the front wheels. This is rare, though, because the car leaves at least 25 per cent battery charge in reserve.

With 425kW and 760Nm thanks to the dual electric motors and 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, the B8 is far from slow. In fact, for a 3.3-tonne beast it absolutely hauls thanks to the instantaneous torque the electric motors provide.

However in the standard drive mode there is a noticeable input lag from when you push the accelerator pedal hard and when the car starts accelerating. This is reduced in the 'Sport' drive mode.

Although the B8 may produce lots of power and torque, it feels its weight. When you accelerate hard it pitches back dramatically, much like the Jeep Grand Cherokee. It’s much more pronounced than in the smaller B5, but still smile-inducing.

As standard, the B8 line-up gets an adaptive hydraulic suspension system that is claimed to be able to self-level the car. Despite this, the B8 gets a considerable amount of body roll regardless of which drive mode you select.

Many Chinese cars have floaty, comfort-oriented suspension tunes over firmer and a more dynamic-feeling ride, and the B8 is no exception. It feels like a 3300kg+ SUV.

The kicker is, like many body-on-frame vehicles, the ride gets busy on harsher roads with more frequent bumps. As a passenger you get jostled about in the cabin.

The steering tries to disguise the overall heft of this SUV but as a result it can feel overly assisted and vague at certain points. Depending on the drive it either artificially adds or reduces resistance.

Unlike the related BYD Shark 6, the B8 gets diff locks and a low-range mode which uses a clutch pack on the rear electric motor to allow for more controlled, low-speed crawling.

The adaptive hydraulic suspension allows the car to be lowered down or lifted up. In its highest mode there is a 890mm maximum wading depth.

Interestingly, compared to the smaller B5, the B8 feels more sorted off the beaten path. Its added heft helps round off bumps more easily, plus there’s added momentum behind it.

Lastly, in terms of noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), the B8 is a very quiet car to drive. As I mentioned above, the electric-first nature automatically makes this a quiet car.

Surprisingly, given the B8 is a huge 3.3-tonne box on wheels, there is very little road and wind noise. It seems Denza has put a big emphasis on sound insulation.

First, the fun stuff. It certainly feels like ‘the ultimate driving machine’ when you slide behind the chunky leather-rimmed flat-bottom steering wheel and hold it in your hands.

The driver’s seat offers not only powered adjustment of backrest and base-cushion rake, but also four-way lumbar support and side-bolsters that can tighten their embrace of your upper torso to contend with high cornering loads.

There’s also manual extension of the base-cushion length for greater thigh support and a big left footrest to brace against, so you could not ask for a more accommodating and purposeful driving position.

The steering is perfectly weighted and the quartet of enormous disc brakes provide ample bite with superb pedal feel. Combined with its adaptive suspension and wide grippy tyres, the X3 is a family car that’s also invigorating to drive, particularly when you select the ‘Sport’ mode.

The enhanced engine response and sharper steering that result (even the instrument panel display changes) make any twisting mountain road an engaging experience, enhanced by an intoxicating exhaust note that only a BMW M six can deliver.

The turbocharged engine offers an unyielding surge of acceleration from well below peak torque at 1900rpm to maximum power at 5500rpm, making BMW’s claim of 0-100km/h in a scant 4.6 seconds sound credible.

You can also manually change gears using the steering wheel paddles, but we found the gearing and shift calibrations so good that we preferred to leave it in auto mode.

However, the X3 M50 has two distinct personalities, as in more relaxed drive modes it’s just as happy serving as practical family transport during the week for grocery shopping, daily school runs and other common tasks.

It’s also a comfortable tourer for family getaways, with long gearing that requires only 1500rpm to cruise at 100km/h where low engine, tyre and wind noise allow highway conversations at lounge room levels.

No ANCAP rating as yet but this X3 comes with a long menu of standard safety features including multiple airbags, AEB with pedestrian/cyclist/junction detection, front collision warning with brake intervention, lane-keeping, active cruise control, head-up display with speed sign recognition, front and rear cross-traffic alert, tyre pressure monitoring and lots more.

There are also ISOFIX and top tethers for the two outer rear seating positions.

The Denza B8 is covered by a six-year, 150,000km warranty, whereas the battery pack is covered by an eight-year, 160,000km warranty. There’s also three years of roadside assistance.

This isn’t a standout warranty in the mainstream market, though compared to premium marques it’s a notable step up.

Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first.

The first five years' of servicing totals $3762, which averages out to just over $750 per service. This is just a tad more than the smaller B5, but it’s much cheaper than premium rivals.

It comes standard with a five-year, unlimited km warranty.

Scheduled servicing is determined by BMW’s vehicle monitoring system which advises when a service is needed, typically around 12 months/15,000km.

A capped-price servicing package covering five years/80,000km (whichever occurs first) totals $2475, or an average of $495 per service.