Ford Everest vs BMW X3

What's the difference?

The Everest is a very impressive seven-seat 4WD wagon, with real off-road capability.

As standard, it has a lot going for it. It’s quiet and refined on-road, very capable off-road and packed with features.

Do you need any of the Wildtrak additions? No, but if you have the cash and fancy a nice-looking, feature-packed off-road wagon you could do a lot worse than an Everest Wildtrak.

I still like the Sport, though…

The X3 xDrive30e is a sporty SUV with fantastic ride quality and slick driving characteristics, although its specs seem a bit behind on the electrified front despite it being the most expensive PHEV of its peers.

This leaves it with an odd split personality of being particularly limited to tight city driving to make the most of its EV features, while its engaging nature beckons more to the open road than some of its rivals. A jack of two worlds perhaps, but a master of neither.

The Everest Wildtrak retains the same dimensions and design as regular grades, but its few styling differences boil down to a front bumper with darker accents, LED fog lights, black wheel arch flares and window trim, as well as Wildtrak badging and branding.

As mentioned, it has 20-inch Asphalt Matt Black alloy wheels with all-season tyres – but you can option 18-inch ‘Boulder Grey’ alloys and all-terrain tyres for no extra cost.

On the inside it has 'Ebony' leather upholstery with 'Cyber Orange' stitching, a panoramic sunroof, 360-degree camera, and interior ambient lighting.

Exterior paint jobs include the no-cost 'Arctic White', or choose from 'Aluminium', 'Meteor Grey', 'Absolute Black', 'Blue Lightning', 'Equinox Bronze' and the Ranger Wildtrak’s distinctive like it or loathe it 'Luxe Yellow' paint on our test vehicle.

The X3 is iconic BMW, having come to be the face of the brand for many buyers, the mid-size SUV exemplifies the Bavarian marque’s ‘kidney grille’, sharp and tall lines, and strongly defined body.

It’s part dainty luxury car and part buff Germanic tourer in equal measure. Suffice it to say fans of the brand will love it, but it’s not going to make converts of anyone else.

Newer design elements which adorn the X3’s body include the striking tail-light design, and little plastic fills below which combine with its contrast bumper and dual-exhaust ports to make for a sporty looking SUV.

The wheels look enormous and add enough chrome to the picture to keep it looking sleek, while subtle badgework has always been a hallmark of a good BMW.

BMWs have always had a relatively minimalist take on the interior design, and overall this is a space in which progress has been made at a glacial pace throughout the brand’s history, wild 7 Series limos being the exception to the rule.

This means the X3 gets the iconic centre-panel, ever so slightly oriented to the driver which houses the two centre air vents and climate control buttons, and a small panel below which houses the volume knob and shortcuts for the radio.

The digital revolution has very much come to the interior of this SUV though, as the top of the dash is adorned with a single enormous panel, and a second one set in the instrument binnacle in a classic fashion. It will all be quite familiar, even if you’ve skipped a BMW generation or two.

The wheel is a key touchpoint, clad in a lovely soft padded leather but with a chunky three-spoke design and massive notches at 10 and two for you to rest your hands on.

I don’t like this wheel in the brand’s more dainty sports cars like the Z4 where it feels too big, but it definitely feels at home in the X3.

Quality materials with plenty of soft-touch plastics and leather trims extend their way into the door, while the software is appealing in its design and fast to respond; clearly backed by strong hardware.

A final thing worth noting is the X3 has one of the more dated interiors in the BMW range. While it has been augmented with digital upgrades over the years, it doesn’t feel as contemporary as the incoming range of cars with the next-gen design elements. Take a look at the iX’s spectacular interior for what you’re missing out on.

The leather-appointed interior is comfortable and functional, but in the Wildtrak everything has an extra level of classiness to it.

There are plenty of storage spaces with sizeable bins, bottle holders in each door, cupholders for everyone – even third-row passengers get cupholders and places for their bits and pieces.

The driver and front passenger have access to two 12-volt sockets and two USB ports.

The portrait-style touchscreen is easy to use although there’s a confusion of choices going on and sometimes it takes a few substantial taps on the screen to activate the function you want.

The power-adjustable front seats are comfortable and supportive, without ever being too much of either. 

The cabin feels a bit too cosy – narrow but tall – and second-row seating is a bit squeezy for three adults, especially in terms of hip and shoulder room for larger blokes, but it’d be fine with slighter adults and even gangly teens. 

Second-row passengers get a pair of pop-out cupholders in the armrest, and can control their air con temp and fan speed, as well as open or close their air vents as they see fit, and use a 230-volt or 12-volt socket from their seat.

The second-row has a 60/40 split-fold seat back and the third-row has a 50/50 split-fold. There are five child-seat anchor points, and two ISOIX anchor points in the second row.

Third-row seats can be manually deployed or stowed away. The third row is for kids only, I reckon, with shallower room all-around.

When all seven seats are in use there’s a claimed 259 litres of cargo space in the rear; 898L when the third row is stowed away; and 1823L of cargo space when the second row is also lowered. The area behind the third row has bag hooks each side, and luggage tie-down points on the floor. 

There is a 12V power outlet in the rear cargo area, plus the Wildtrak has a hands-free power tailgate.

The X3 is reasonably large on the inside, with a commanding road view and healthy space for an adult in both front seats. The tall roofline leaves plenty of room for someone my 182cm height, while leather-clad soft-touch finishes are present for your elbows and knees.

There’s a large bottle holder and thin bin in each of the front doors, and a wide centre console with a further two bottle holders with adjustable ridges and a large storage bay suitable for a phone below the climate cluster.

This area also houses a USB port and a little shaped notch for you to place the key, and the whole area can be covered over with a retracting lid.

Like all BMWs there are well hidden shortcut buttons for many of the functions which integrate into the design, and there’s a multimedia screen function for most functions, too, controlled through the centre dial system, or via touch.

It’s nice to have both, unlike some Mazdas which use a similar control system, but force you to rely on the dial.

The second row looks a bit flat from a distance, but you do sink into the leather-clad seats nicely, and unlike some rivals in this category, the second row is fixed and not on rails.

Room for a 182cm tall adult is decent, with a little more than adequate knee room and excellent headroom.

The leather trims continue, and true to the sense of being a premium brand the intruding piece of wheelarch is also clad in padded leather. No touching plastic in here.

A single bottle holder appears in each of the rear doors, with a further two in the drop-down armrest, and there’s a netted pocket on the back of each of the front seats.

Rear passengers get their own climate zone with an independent control panel as well as a 12V outlet and two USB-C ports.

Luggage capacity in the boot is rated at 450-litres (VDA), significantly down on the combustion versions of this car. Note in the pictures the stepped boot floor, which is adorned with a chrome trim piece for some reason, as though the car is always reminding you of the lost room.

Still, the squared-off space managed to fit our three-piece CarsGuide luggage set with relative ease and room to spare. There is a thin and narrow slot under the boot floor which serves as a location to place your charging cables.

This plug-in version of the X3 sits near the top of the X3 range, eclipsed only by the M40i performance variant and the fully-electric iX3. This means a starting price of $104,900, which initially doesn’t bode too well for the BMW given its rivals can be had at a lower price.

The similarly-specified Mercedes-Benz GLC 300e starts from $95,700, the Volvo XC60 Recharge starts from $97,990, and the impressively-specified newcomer on the block, the Lexus NX450h+ is the best value of the lot at just $89,900.

You’ll note all of those plug-in models are of the higher specification in their respective ranges, with each manufacturer clearly trying to draw buyers into this tough-to-understand tech by compensating the curious with gear which would otherwise be optional on a pure combustion car.

There are technical elements which play into the value of each when it comes to the PHEV drivetrain which we’ll look at later in this review (it’s particularly important when it comes to how you use and park your car) but we can at least say the X3 xDrive30e comes with a healthy amount of equipment.

Most of this matches the xDrive 30d below it, including large 20-inch alloy wheels, a set of M sport trims, brakes, and adaptive suspension, 'Vernasca’ leather interior trim, adaptive LED headlights and LED tail-lights, ambient interior lighting, a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and built-in navigation, a second 12.3-inch screen for the ‘Live Cockpit’ digital instrument cluster, tri-zone climate control, a head-up display, electrical adjust for the driver and front passenger seats, a 12-speaker sound system, and the functionality for over-the-air updates.

The specific inclusions for the xDrive30e include free optional paint colours, a panoramic sunroof, lumbar support in the driver’s seat, front seat heating, wall socket to Type 2 and Type 2 to Type 2 public charging cables, and specific i-branded interior elements.

Normally the sunroof and premium paint are part of a $5400 option pack, while the heated seats, steering wheel, and lumbar support seats are normally a $1200 option, meaning the PHEV variant only leaves you $3400 and a set of ‘Laserlight’ LED headlights worse-off than if you were to apply the same options to the xDrive30d.

Not bad considering it also packs a 12kWh Lithium battery under the boot floor, and a secondary electric motor integrated into its transmission. More on this later.

The Ford Everest Wildtrak has a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine producing 184kW at 3250rpm and an impressive 600Nm from 1750rpm to 2250rpm and a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The Wildtrak has a full-time 4WD system with selectable two-wheel drive (2H), four-wheel drive high-range (4H), four-wheel drive low-range (4L) and four-wheel drive automatic (4A = 4Auto) that sends drive to the front and rear axles as needed, and which can be used on sealed surfaces.

It has selectable drive modes including 'Normal', 'Eco', 'Tow Haul', 'Slippery', and for off-roading: 'Mud/Ruts', and 'Sand'.

These all adjust engine outputs, throttle control and transmission behaviour to best suit the terrain you’re on and the driving conditions you’re exposed to.

The Wildtrak has a locking rear diff.

The PHEV version of the X3 pairs the brand’s usual 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with a relatively powerful electric motor integrated into its eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission.

On its own, the engine produces 135kW/300Nm, while the electric motor is capable of punching out 80kW/265Nm. When working together, the EV components can provide a further electrified boost, for a total of 215kW/420Nm, allowing for a 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.1 seconds. This makes the 30e only slower than the M40i and 30d variants in the rest of the X3 range.

The xDrive30e is capable of travelling up to 135km/h under electric power alone, with a surprisingly small 12kWh battery delivering around 41km of pure EV range.

As the electric motor is mounted in the transmission it is capable of driving all four wheels via the brand’s 'xDrive' system with torque vectoring.

Somewhat amusingly, the German documentation for the X3 includes a section for “off road characteristics” (I suppose it is an SUV after all…) and for those interested the xDrive30e can ford at up to 500mm depth, has an approach angle of 25.6 degrees, a departure angle of 22.8 degrees, a breakover angle of 20.0 degrees and a ground clearance of 204mm. Enjoy the trails.

Official fuel consumption is 8.5L/100km on a combined cycle. 

Our fuel consumption on this test was 15.4L/100km after a lot of 4WDing.

The Everest has an 80-litre fuel tank, so, going by those fuel figures, if your trip involves a lot of high- and low-range 4WDing, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 520km out of a full tank.

Here’s the tricky bit. The X3 xDrive30e has an official combined fuel consumption of just 3.2L/100km, but this will depend heavily on how you drive it.

You see, the BMW hybrid system is very keen to drive under electric power alone, even in the so-called ‘hybrid’ driving mode. This will mean you will extinguish the battery’s 41km driving range (or 35km according to our test vehicle on a full charge) quite quickly, whether you like it or not.

Plus, the charging capability is a bit slow. At 3.7kW, the PHEV X3 charges its 12kWh battery up in 2.6 hours on a faster public outlet or garage wall box, or around five hours on a wall socket.

To put it in perspective, the Lexus NX 450h+ showed me nearly double the amount of electric driving range on a single charge (65km as-tested) and was capable of charging up at a rate of 7.2kW, meaning a two hour flat charge for twice the range on a public outlet.

The summary boils down to: If you charge up at home, this won’t be as much of a problem, if you need to rely on public charging, it could make a difference to the PHEV you pick.

You can prolong the life of the battery using the ‘battery level’ mode which lets you set a target for battery life and have the car switch to primarily combustion at that point.

This can come in handy if you have a lot of open-road driving, and want to conserve the battery for driving around town where it is most efficient.

On my week with the car I saw an impressive consumption figure of 2.2L/100km according to the trip computer, under the official number, while my energy consumption came in at 20.7kWh/100km against a claim of 16.4kWh/100km. I did make sure to charge the car up at every opportunity, however.

Like all BMWs the X3 xDrive30e requires mid-shelf 95RON unleaded fuel, and has a 50L fuel tank despite the addition of its high-voltage battery.

The Everest has always impressed me as a refined drive and it’s one of the best large SUV wagons on-road.

The V6 is a gutsy unit, consistently delivering sustained power and torque at low and high speeds. It’s torquey and plenty of its 600Nm is available across a broad rev range. 

The 10-speed auto transmission has had the previous-gen’s thrashiness between ratios smoothed out – and if you want to take over duties yourself you can do so via the 'e-Shifter' in this 4WD wagon. 

At 4940mm long (with tow receiver; 4914mm without) with a 2900mm wheelbase, and at 2207mm wide and 1837mm high, the Everest is a sizeable SUV, but it never feels too bloated to steer accurately, with a well-weighted helm keeping it under control. 

But you do have to drive with absolute focus, otherwise it’s long undercarriage may suffer the consequences – but more about that soon.

The cabin is very quiet, with nothing much intruding in terms of NVH (noise, vibration and harshness), other than low-level wind-rush around the wing mirrors. 

The suspension set-up – with coil springs at every corner – helps to produce smooth, composed ride and handling.

So, while it is impressive on-road, it’s not too shabby off-road, either.

For a large 4WD it feels nimble, even on tight overgrown tracks, but, as mentioned earlier, it requires the driver’s full attention at all times.

Approach angle is 30.2 degrees, departure angle is 25 degrees, and ramp break-over is 21.9 degrees.

The Everest has a long wheelbase making its undercarriage vulnerable to scraping rocks, tree stumps or exposed tree roots, especially during more technical 4WDing sections.

The sidesteps are also pronounced enough to be magnets for damage when off-roading.

Low-range gearing is good and the Everest has an electronic rear diff lock to enhance this wagon’s dirt-grabbing abilities.

Driver-assist tech aimed at making 4WDing safer and easier for everyone includes off-road driving modes such as Mud/Ruts and Sand, which adjust engine outputs, throttle, transmission, braking, traction and stability controls to best suit the driving conditions.

Hill descent control kept the Wildtrak to a controlled 3.0-4.0km/h while we tackled short steep downhills.

Wading depth is 800mm and while I didn’t get to test it this time – no mud around – I have tested the Everest previously through water and it has performed admirably. 

The Wildtrak as standard has 20-inch alloy wheels on Goodyear Wrangler Territory HTs (255/55 R20). A 20-inch tyre doesn’t give a 4WDer much flexibility in terms of how much air you can drop out of it for off-roading and correct tyre pressures are crucial for 4WDing.

Ford offers an easy fix, though, in the shape of 18-inch black alloys on all-terrain tyres as a no-cost option.

If you’re thinking about using your Everest as a touring vehicle be mindful that the Wildtrak’s payload is 741kg, gross vehicle mass (GVM) is 3150kg, and gross combination mass (GCM) is 6250kg. 

The Everest’s towing capacity is 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked).

One of the things I came to love most about this version of the X3 is how seamless the hybrid system is, and how unusually quiet and comfortable this car proved to be.

Sure, it’s a luxury mid-size SUV, but I came away particularly impressed with how the adaptive suspension tune pairs so nicely with the electrified acceleration to make for a sleek driving experience.

Despite its dimensions, the xDrive30e feels light and springy over bumps, filtering out the worst of the road while keeping a good level of control at the wheels.

The stock steering tune in the car’s standard ‘hybrid’ driving mode is nice and light, too, making this mid-sizer feel smaller than it really is to pilot, and you don’t feel the extra weight of the battery pack at all.

The combustion engine is so quiet it is at times difficult to tell when it enters the mix, aside from the fuel consumption meter on the dash suddenly coming to life.

It too is a smooth unit, providing partially electrically-assisted acceleration in most modes which makes it hard to tell when the transmission changes cogs. It’s as though you get the best of both worlds this way.

The car is a bit too keen to rely on its electric driving, and, as mentioned earlier, this will mean it drains its battery relatively quickly unless you take extreme measures like the battery saver mode.

The result is a car which is far better suited to shorter city-based journeys than long tours through the country. At least the turbocharged engine and BMW driving dynamics are left intact should your battery run dry.

The regen braking is mild (able to recoup a max of 20kW at any given moment), although the indicators on the dash are neat for letting you know the limit of your electric acceleration and how far you’ve travelled without using the combustion engine.

On my week with the car I managed over half the distance with the engine completely off. Think of the fuel savings.

Elsewhere the X3 offers great visibility thanks to a boxy shape with big windows, and solid electric acceleration, with decent handling, too. I’d say it feels sportier than the Lexus NX or Merc GLC equivalents, with the ride a bit more forgiving than that of the Volvo XC60 Recharge.

As an EV then the xDrive30e is notably limited, but as an SUV which threads the needle of being both engaging and comfortable, it’s possibly the best of the current premium mid-size SUV PHEV pack.

The X3 range has a healthy list of standard active safety equipment, with items like freeway-speed auto emergency braking, rear auto emergency braking, lane departure warning with lane keep assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and adaptive cruise control.

It also has a speed limit assist function and a rather cool parking suite which gives you a 3D surround picture of the car capable of adjusting to particular angles when objects get close.

The X3 has the standard array of dual front, dual side, and dual head curtain airbags, as well as seatbelt pre-tensioners. There are dual ISOFIX points on the outboard rear seats, or three top-tether mounts across the rear row.

The base X3 offerings have a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating to the 2017 standard, although this plug-in hybrid variant was not available at the time.

The Everest is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

Ford offers a five-year roadside assistance, and a capped-price service plan.

Service intervals are scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km and the maintenance cost for the first 48 months/60,000km (the first four services) is capped at $329 a pop for MY22 or MY23 Everests.

As always, check with your preferred dealer for up-to-date pricing.

BMW languishes with just three-years of warranty coverage. The brand along with its Mini subsidiary has become a notable laggard in the space now, its last remaining Audi rival has moved on to match the five-year and unlimited kilometre promise of its VW parent.

Servicing on BMW models is ‘condition dependent’ meaning the car’s computer will keep track of when servicing needs to happen based on how the car is driven and other factors.

A five-year ‘basic’ service pack is available inside the first 12 months of purchase and covers visits inside this period or 80,000km whichever occurs first. It costs $2010, or $402 a year.