Land Rover Defender vs BMW X3

What's the difference?

The Land Rover Defender in its current form is a revelation in terms of, well, everything. The 110 is refined, sure-footed and comfortable on-road and it’s more capable off-road than ever before – and assuredly so.

It’s wholeheartedly embraced positive change – in terms of creature comforts, driveability and safety – and has lost none of the traditional Defender spirit.

The new Defender has managed to satisfy (placate?) die-hard fans and it’s attracted a whole bunch of new ones at the same time.

The 75th anniversary treatment doesn’t add anything of substance to the Defender package, but it doesn’t need to – that’s not the point – and to Landie lovers it’s all cream on top. 

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 new Defender manages to balance the distinctive shape and spirit of the old-school Defender with the new-generation’s style and presence – and the striking Grasmere Green exterior of this 75th anniversary variant and its interior touches all complement that blend.

This is unmistakably a Defender but one that’s been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, whacked in the face and torso by modern styling cues, while still retaining the heart of adventure these Landies have always been renowned for.

Just one thing about this special-edition Defender, though. The Grasmere Green is certainly an eye-catching colour, but that’s a ‘for better or worse’ scenario.

Mostly worse – for me anyway – because I noticed that during my time in this Landie I received quite a lot of annoyed eye-rolls from other drivers and passengers in traffic and I reckon the polarising colour was the culprit – or maybe they were just eye-rolling at me?

No matter, because if you can afford one of these I don’t think you’ll be at all concerned about what other people think of you…

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.

Beyond the subtle colour treatment, the interior remains as it is in the HSE variant on which this special edition is based.

In other words, the cabin has a premium look and feel about it, without sacrificing anything in terms of how practical everything is.

It’s a pleasant mix of durable life-friendly materials – carpet mats and soft-touch surfaces – and stylish touches, such as a metal Defender-stamped section in front of the front passenger. 

The leather steering wheel and shifter are standard, but a premium non-leather wheel is a no-cost option. 

Just one example of where JLR gets attention to detail in the Defender so right is the small hard-rubber textured patches on the back of the steering wheel, where your fingertips naturally rest when you’re driving.

It’s those kinds of seemingly minor additions – as well as grippy cargo-area floor surfaces and the like – that add worthwhile tactile elements to the overall Defender package.

Overall, cabin layout is user-friendly with all controls easy to locate and operate.

Storage spaces include a deep centre console, glove box, twin cupholders in between driver and passenger, sunglass storage, door pockets, and shallow spaces peppered around for your pocket gear.

Charge points include USBs up front, and a wireless charging tray.

The driver and front passenger get plenty of room and amenities and those behind them also fare well with adequate room for everyone. 

All seats are very comfortable (can this really be a Defender?) and the front seats are 14-way power-adjustable with heating, cooling and memory.

The second row – a 40/20/40 folding configuration – is heated and has a centre armrest. Second-row passengers have access to air-vent controls and USB charge points in the rear of the centre console.

The rear cargo area seems a bit small in this five-seater, although it offers a listed 1075 litres. With the second row folded down, there is a claimed 2380 litres of space. It has cargo-restraint points.

That area has a sliding cover which conceals your valuables from the prying eyes of nefarious types.

Obviously, there is a lot more to admire here for those who love the interiors of prestige cars, but rather than spending my precious time fondling leather accents or going ‘ohhhh-ahhhh’ over a sunroof or the warming qualities of a heated seat, I like to actually drive. 

And drive I did.

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.

As mentioned earlier, this Defender is a P400 MHEV (mild hybrid electric vehicle), so it has a 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, supported by a small electric motor.

That engine produces 294kW at 5500-6500rpm and 550Nm at 2000-5000rpm and it’s matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission. 

The P400 MHEV has a 48-volt lithium-ion battery, aimed at reducing engine load and fuel consumption, and it has a 7.0kW electric supercharger aimed at minimising turbo lag.

The Defender has permanent all-wheel drive and a dual-range transfer case with high- and low-range 4WD.

It has a comprehensive suite of driver-assist tech, including Land Rover’s 'Terrain Response 2' system, with switchable modes such as 'Grass/Gravel/Snow', 'Sand', 'Mud and Ruts', and 'Rock Crawl'. 

That system optimises throttle response, engine outputs, transmission shifts and diff control to best suit the terrain. It also has centre and rear diff locks.

Our test vehicle also has Land Rover's configurable terrain response system (giving the driver the ability to select and save powertrain, traction and diff settings for off-road driving) and a wade program, which increases air-suspension ride height and closes off the climate control vents to reduce the ingress of moisture in the air.

This Defender has an official 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.0 seconds, and I can confirm that this has plenty of punch off the mark and when overtaking on open roads. It has a listed maximum speed of 191km/h.

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.

Fuel consumption is a claimed 9.9L/100km (on the combined cycle), and we recorded actual fuel consumption on test of 11L/100km.

The Defender has a 90-litre tank so, going by that fuel-consumption figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of just under 800km on a full tank, factoring in a safe-distance buffer of 20km; 818km without the buffer.

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 Defender’s 75th anniversary touches are all cosmetic which is fine because, as is, this Landie is surprisingly impressive on-road, and supremely effective off-road.

This 110 variant is 5018mm long (including the rear-mounted spare tyre), 2008mm wide and 1972mm high with a 3022mm-long wheelbase.

It has a turning circle of 12.8m and a kerb weight is 2297kg. 

So, it’s not a small vehicle, but it never feels unwieldy to drive and it even manages to consistently feel lively and dynamic.

The Defender has a real planted feel on the road; it’s composed and very comfortable, no matter how hard you drive it. 

It’s also quiet. Very quiet, and oh-so-refined, with noise, vibration and harshness levels having been subdued to almost nothing.

The new Defender’s cabin is a pleasantly cocooned space, in which you feel insulated from the world around you. There is a bit of wind rush around the Defender’s wing mirrors, but nothing atrocious. 

Throttle response is crisp, and the 3.0-litre petrol’s 294kW and 550Nm are readily available for a punchy standing-start, or to safely and smoothly overtake another vehicle on the highway – or during low-range 4WDing, but more about that later*.

(* Okay, if you can’t wait, skip ahead to read about the off-road section of this test.)

The eight-speed automatic transmission is very cluey – it’s smarter than you and me – but I found the shifter’s size (stubby) and position (just under the multimedia system’s touchscreen) a bit annoying to work with as I preferred to use Sport/manual mode, sometimes requiring quick shifts up or down.

Road-holding is tremendous, especially considering previous Defenders were about as composed as wonky tractors, and comfort levels are exceptional for something that was once considered a form of punishment to travel in.

Our test vehicle was on 20-inch rims and 255/60 R20 Goodyear Wrangler ‘all-terrain adventure’ tyres and those are perfectly fine for driving on blacktop.

However, they became quickly gummed up with clay and mud during our 4WD testing phase, but more about that soon.

So, how does it perform off-road? Very well, thank you very much. It does what older Defenders can do – and more. And it does it all with supreme levels of comfort and composure – something that can’t be said of older Defenders.

In terms of off-road measures, the Defender has a claimed 228mm-291mm of ground clearance (courtesy of height-adjustable air suspension) and a wading depth of 900mm (again, with the benefit of the air suspension).

If the Defender’s under-carriage hits dirt, the air suspension automatically applies an emergency 75mm of extra height.

This Defender has approach, ramp (breakover) and departure angles of 38 degrees, 28 degrees, and 40 degrees, respectively.

So, it well and truly ticks all of those boxes.

On the dirt-track drive to our 4WD testing and proving ground the Defender demonstrated, as it has before, that it’s able to master and make bearable pretty much any road or track surface, no matter what sort of terrible condition that terrain is in.

This Landie was always stable and planted on the track, with plenty of the credit for that going to a robust monocoque chassis, as well as a multi-link set-up and fully independent air suspension, which as a combination works supremely well to smooth out surface imperfections at all speeds. 

Ride and handling at speed through deep-rutted and potholed sections of dirt road was impressively smooth and composed.

With the air suspension raised to off-road height and tyre pressures dropped to 26 psi, we were ready to put the Defender through its paces.

For those of you who haven’t seen any of my videos or read any of my yarns, our testing site offers more than enough of a challenge to push any standard 4WD to the limits of its reasonable use. I’ve even seen modified vehicles struggle on some of our set-piece challenges.

The terrain here is a mix of steep rocky hill-climbs, slippery descents, mud-holes and water-crossings and, depending on the weather, it can either be seriously challenging or pretty bloody dangerous.

No need for any concern though because the Defender did everything asked of it – and did it all with relaxed ease. I’ve driven an all-conquering 90 at this test site before and the 110 this time was just as impressive.

Steering has a light but precise feel about it at low speeds and that's crucial for such a big vehicle during low-range 4WDing, especially when picking your right line on challenges or manoeuvring along tight, twisted tracks.

There’s plenty of low-down torque from the petrol engine and in low-range that’s evenly applied.

The Pivi touchscreen system is the new Defender’s command centre and, using it, you’re able to cycle through the terrain response programs, you can set driving modes, and essentially operate everything. 

It's generally easy enough to use, but it is a bit tricky to operate on the move – and that’s one of the few niggles I have about this Defender.

The terrain response system, which enables the driver to dial through driving modes, including Mud and Ruts, and Rock Crawl is a clever set-up and would certainly feel out of place in an old-school Defender.

You can calibrate the system’s responses – acceleration, traction sensitivity, and diff control – to suit your driving style and the terrain you’re traversing.

The tread of the Defender’s Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tyres, as mentioned earlier, swiftly became gummed up with sloppy mud and we lost a fair bit in terms of reliable traction from that rubber on the rock surfaces we moved to straight after driving through a series of shallow mud-holes.

Wheel travel is decent with the Defender able to get useable flex out of that multi-link set-up and air suspension combo.

Another of my very few gripes about the Defender is the fact that while all of the off-road-focussed driver-assist tech, especially terrain response, is so seamlessly effective – it’s almost too good for its own good.

As the driver I almost feel removed from the experience of tackling the terrain I’m on.

Driving this doesn't feel like such a visceral experience as it does in the Defenders of old, or even as hands-on as it does when driving off-road in rebooted old-school 4WDs, such as the Suzuki Jimny, or the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. 

The new Defender is very capable, and comfortably so, but it feels a little bit too clinical and calculated in its execution.

In terms of its potential as a towing platform, the Defender has a claimed maximum unbraked trailer capacity of 750kg and a maximum braked towing capacity of 3500kg.

It has a maximum roof load of 300kg. GVM (gross vehicle mass) is 3165kg and GCM (gross combined mass) is 6665kg.

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 Defender has a five year/unlimited km warranty with five years roadside assistance. Pretty much the expected norm in this part of the market.

Service intervals are set for every five years or 102,000km (maximum), whichever occurs first – and that’s for a total cost of $2250, or an annual average of $450, which is pretty handy.

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.