BMW X Models 2006 News

Theoretically, you could launch just about any motorised vehicle in Germany - a Korean sports car, a Yank tank, a hulky bulky SUV, you name it - and it would end up feeling fabulous.The joy of driving the country’s speed-limitless freeways and its smoothly surfaced and spectacularly twisty back roads is such that it rubs off a feeling of wellbeing onto whatever you happen to be piloting.Even catching a bus can be invigorating, when the bus is doing the sort of speeds you could be hung, drawn and quartered for in some countries.So, it’s possible that I was more impressed by BMW’s revised and refreshed X3 than I would have been if it had been unveiled in, say, Victoria (which is pretty much the philosophical polar opposite of Germany).But it’s also fair to say that the baby soft-roader had a hell of a lot of ground to make up, because the original was a stinker.The former X3 was a product that didn’t match its label, like putting Grange in a cask, or attaching a Tiffany diamond to a beer-can ring pull.BMW’s badge cache is such that it can get away with quite a bit, but feeling cheap is one thing we won’t forgive.While the big brother X5 is an impressive bit of engineering and has the quality feel you expect from the Bavarians, the X3 looked and felt like a bargain-bin Beemer.The black-plastic nappy treatment around the rear was a poor styling decision, even for a company that let Chris Bangle bugger the 7 Series, but the biggest failing was the interior.A plethora of plastics more commonly found in disposable razors or kids’ toys meant that the pseudo SUV felt like a pseudo BMW.The men from Munich don’t stuff up very often and when they do, they tend to fix the problem quick smart (with the exception of iDrive, which the X3 is truly fortunate to miss out on - oh, and run-flat tyres).And so we have the tweaked and tricked-up X3, one of the quickest, and biggest, facelifts the company has ever performed.BMW folk counter that the update to a model only launched here in 2004 was timely because so many competitors in this segment are about to be launched and they wanted to get in first.Park the new X3 next to the old one and it’s like looking at Paul Vautin the footy player and Fatty Vautin the suit-wearing star.The flat-black bumpers are replaced by colour-coded panels, the double kidney grille on the nose is bigger and bolder and the rear-light cluster, which used to look like a cross-eyed robot, has been tidied up with some LED liveliness.Inside, the plastics are polished and there’s a lot more ersatz wood grain splashed about.Best of all, it’s actually got door bins and map pockets now, something you’d think might have been an obvious inclusion on the original, but you’d be wrong.And, to the delight of our American colleagues, there’s even an extra cup holder.The overall effect is a lift in class, so that you now actually feel like you’re sitting in a smaller but no less pleasant X5, which was surely the idea of this car in the first place.And it really is a car, or a rough and tough looking people mover perhaps, rather than an SUV.It handles, rides and gingerly goes off-road like a car, with a commendable lack of bodyroll, surprisingly good steering and, in the case of the 3.0-litre versions we drove, a raspy, rorty sports car sound.Honestly, is there anything BMW’s straight six-cylinder can’t do? If the Germans ever decide to go to the moon, their rockets will no doubt be powered by this masterfully engineered engine.This new and yet again improved 3.0si version offers 200kW (up 30kW from the old one) and 315Nm.Acceleration is pretty impressive for a big, tall car that’s pushing a bow-wave of air, with a 0 to 100km/h time of 7.2 seconds (an improvement of 0.6 of a second). The mid-range punch also makes it a great freeway car.BMW claims an excellent 10.1 litres per 100km economy figure with this engine, but we saw between 15 and 17.7 litres per 100km, although our driving did include some detailed testing, and proving, of the car’s top speed of 232km/h.As far as off-road credibility goes, the X3 can boast Hill Descent Control, which works pretty well, and DTC (Dynamic Traction Control).This system, which has previously been employed to allow the tail of the Z4 to flick and flout, is cleverly adapted here to allow you the wheel slip necessary to tackle sand, sludge and mud (sadly our drive program didn’t include any of these things, but it sounds workable in theory).The permanent all-wheel-drive system, xDrive, is also mightily clever. In general use it has a 40:60 torque split, but if necessary up to 100 per cent of torque can be sent to one end, all within milliseconds.Frankly, though, all this equipment is bar-boasting stuff. Realistically, who would take a car this botoxed and beautified off-road and risk getting it scratched?The X3 will also be offered with a 160kW 2.5-litre engine, priced at $65,900 for the manual and $68,500 for the auto, while the auto-only 3.0si will be $73,900 – price rises of $1500 and $1000 respectively over the old models.More than 50 per cent of X3 buyers in Australia, however, choose the 3.0-litre diesel (which, sadly, we didn’t get to drive because we were sharing our launch drive with Americans, who think "deeesell" is the devil’s work).The volume model rises in price by just $500 to $75,900, and also gets equipment upgrades, including a Bluetooth kit.We probably shouldn’t even tell you this, because it’s cruel, but in Europe the X3 is also being offered with a superb new super diesel, the 3.0sd, which uses Variable Twin Turbo technology to produce 210kW and 580Nm of torque.It’s so impressive, in fact, that it blows the 3.0-litre petrol version into the weeds, with a 0 to 100km/h sprint of 6.6 seconds and a top speed of 240km/h.We might not be getting it yet, but we’re betting this engine will find its way into some kind of BMW offering here eventually, and that it will be worth the wait.Stephen Corby is a senior roadtester for the CARSguide team whose work also appears in the Sunday Telegraph. A version of this review plus more news and analysis can be read in the Sunday Telegraph.

SUPERCARS and people-movers are off the menu at BMW. It says it is more focused on Formula One than creating a road-going supercar. And family vans are not part of its core business.Even so, expect changes as the German carmaker works hard to take the attack to its main rival, Mercedes-Benz.BMW board member and product chief Burkhard Goschel says the company will be doing some product tweaking for showrooms."We have talked about a so-called room-functional concept, which is not a people-mover but a car with a lot of viability and space," Goschel says."The new X5, which is going on to the market soon, will have an optional seven seats, but a people-mover is not our business."Though the X5 is getting additions to its arsenal for a battle with the Mercedes-Benz ML, GL and R-Class wagons, BMW is opting out of the supercar war, focusing instead on its F1 campaign to promote the brand.BMW will maintain its M-car efforts, but it will not produce high-end supercars such as the Mercedes McLaren SLR and Bugatti Veyron.The company is not ruling out a replacement for the limited-edition Z8 roadster, which starred as a James Bond car, but Goschel says the supercar market had been over-estimated and (tongue in cheek) says the company already has a supercar."We have a very good sports car. It is becoming successful and it has only one seat. We are spending a lot of money for three drivers," he says."There are a lot of high-end sports cars and in our opinion there are too many."They are losing money. It's not a profitable business."We feel very comfortable with going F1 racing and with the other sports cars we are building."He admits BMW might have a different attitude if it were not in Formula One."You don't see a supercar every day but you see the F1 cars every two weeks," he says.The company's engineers are also being put to the test in the environmental area, and they are aiming to introduce brake energy recovery technology next year.Goschel believes hydrogen-fuel cell cars, including the hydrogen-petrol internal combustion engine, are the right way to go, but he says the issue of hydrogen storage remains critical."It's difficult. It takes time to change the system. We are working strongly on hydrogen-fuel cells. It will grow up, but how fast I don't know."The issue is storing hydrogen. You need about 10kg for a good range. It should be in liquid form but some issues over storage in cars has to be solved," he says.

1. What is the state of the Australia luxury-car market at the moment?"It is stable on a high level, but it's a competitive market. "We expect to be traveling on the same level as last year on a full- year basis, and we are confident we can grow the BMW Group business.2. How does BMW rate globally?"On a worldwide scale, if you take away South Africa where there a very special regulations and BMW is an assembler, we have the highest market share in the world."We have 29.2 per cent of the luxury sector in Australia, and in Germany the figure is 27.4 per cent and the worldwide number is 19.9 per cent."3. Why is BMW doing so well in Australia?"Australians like our products and we have a very strong brand here. "We have other things which are particularly appealing to potential owners, like guaranteed future values for our cars. We are the only manufacturer to do that across the range. It shows the confidence we have because we know the situation with BMW residuall values."Others will follow us, because they do, but we are the first. That is especially appealing to luxury users, as they have the option to hand the car back at the end of their lease term."This program is fitted to the Australian market, but we have other things and there is also a good demand here for the BMW four-wheel drives with the X5 and X3."4. How has BMW been tracking in Australia over recent years?"Since 1999 we have grown by 79 per cent and, although we usually don't talk about our competitors, that is more than anyone else and gives us a lead of 20 per cent over the same time last year. "That includes the 4x4s but not the commercial vehicles sold by one of our competitors. It's passenger cars and four-wheel drives."If you look at other manufacturers there is one other brand which is doing well but coming from a low base, yet we outsold them 3:1 in 1999 and now we outsold them 3.3:1 in 2005."5. Looking forward, what can we expect in 2006 and 2007?"We are now expanding our range on the diesel front, and we will have the 120d and 320d in the second quarter of this year. There will also be the 323i Touring in the second quarter, and later in the year a new 3 Series coupe. Also the 323i sedan."We have now the revised Z4 including the M Roadster, and of course we have the Z4 coupe coming in the secnd half of the year and the M coupe version which will be very exciting."2007 is still quite a way down the track, so we will have a few renewals."In the 1 Series we are far away from having exploited the market potential and we will have a few very nice things that will fit perfectly in Australia. But that will be 2007."Also, a little bit down the track we will have . . . a sporty version of the X5. It is in the design stage and, from what we have seen, it will be a stunning success."6. You are also responsible for Mini as part of the BMW Group. How far away is the replacement car?"The new model Mini will be in the market in Australia next year. "In that life cycle it will also have several more variants that will also come to Australia and they will help to substantially grow Mini in the market. It was originally a one-model vehicle but will grow to a full product family."

If you mention the words diesel and engine to most people they trigger memories of noisy trucks and buses that crawl down the road and belch black smoke from their tails. Or they think of an overweight four-wheel-drive heading into the outback. But times are changing - and fast - in the diesel world.A new generation of high-tech, clean-burning diesel engines is coming on fast in everything from compact cars to luxury limousines and new-age four-wheel-drives. And eventually there will also be diesel-electric hybrid vehicles in Australia.Take a walk around the motor show and you will see almost all themajor brands have a high-profile and high-tech diesel engine.They are coming thanks to cleaner fuels with a lower sulphur content, as well as developments on what are called common-rail and direct-injection diesels - which deliver fuel at higher pressures and with better control to boost combustion.Turbos also get huge gains from low-pressure turbocharging, so most of the hero motors are turbodiesels. The old days of glow plugs, which took ages to warm then fire the engine, are also gone.Carmakers are also attracted to the massive torque available from diesel engines, which means strong acceleration at low revs, and the fuel economy benefits, which have become more important as petrol prices have risen.Diesel power has become so impressive that Audi, which is looking to stretch its domination of the classic Le Mans 24-Hour race, has fitted a turbocharged diesel engine to the R10 racer it will use in France in June. The motor show will highlight the arrival of several leading-edge diesels.BMW has its first diesel sedan for Australia, the 530d. It is a genuineluxury car and comes with impressive performance of 160kW and 480Nm of torque, aswell as fuel consumption of just 7.5 litres per 100km. But BMW is also pushing harder and will have its X5 and X3 all-wheel-drive diesels as well as a 320d - a huge hit in Europe and potentially BMW's biggest-selling diesel car - along with a 120d for a preview at the show.The Volkswagen group is big on diesel and Audi has just introduced a fresh 2-litre diesel A4 and even plans tointroduce a high-performance 3-litre diesel in the A4 later this year, as well asconsidering a diesel version of its A8 limo.Not surprisingly, Audi's turbodiesel hero at the show is the giant new Q7 all-wheel-drive wagon, which will be availablein October with a diesel.Volkswagen will have its diesel twins, the latest Polo and Golf, along for the party at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and intends to put diesel power into its upcoming Jetta and the new Beetle before the end of 2006.There is also a chance that Honda could preview the Accord Euro diesel it has developed for Europe.Even Jaguar has jumped on the diesel bandwagon, fitting a high-tech dieselengine to its luxurious S-Type sedan.The $101,950 S-Type diesel runs a 2.7-litre diesel with twin-turbochargers, whichbump power to 153kW, and has 435Nm of torque.Jaguar does not expect to sell too many but says that some customers will enjoythe new engine. "We know other luxury brands are doingthis but we are yet to see diesel onpeople's radar when they are shopping for a luxury brand above $50,000," says Jaguar spokesman Todd Hallenbeck.Still, the biggest problem for any car company is getting customers to take a taste test. The task for carmakers is to get customers to test drive the new dieselmodels."We know that anyone who drives one (an S-Type diesel) will want it," Hallenbeck says."We are not just talking about people with fuel economy in mind. We are talking about a $100,000 car here; these people can afford to buy any type of fuel they want."This diesel offers great performance, very, veryclean emissions and, by the way, it also returns fuel economy of 8 litresper 100km."Diesel power will also be coming from two of the pioneers in Australia, Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz, with the French company even doing a turbodiesel for the sleek 407 Coupe, which is its stand star.The two-door model is available with a 3-litre V6 petrol or the dieselengine.Mercedes-Benz has four new diesels this year in the latest R-Class, the compact B-Class, the mid-range E-Class wagon and its four-wheel-drive hero, the upcoming GL.

Snow had fallen the night before and lay thickly across the road, with a fresh fall starting as we pushed BMW's shiny new X3 softroader through the icy mountain landscape above Launceston in northern Tasmania. It was an almost surreal scene as the white carpeted road chased telegraph poles into the distance, snow swirling across the invisible surface with only the guide posts to mark our way. The outside temperature display of our car read zero degrees Celsius, readouts in other cars actually dipped below freezing. As the road began a series of short sharp, climbing turns the high-priced Pirellis of some cars scrambled for traction. Other less fortunate motorists had slewed off the road while one unlucky camper van sat with its nose pushed into an embankment. At no time however did BMW Australia consider calling off the jaunt that took us in a large 200km plus loop around the Great Lake before heading back to warmer climes of Launceston. The much anticipated X3 joins larger brother the X5 that has been a "tear away" success for the company since its launch a couple of years back. Like other manufacturers BMW has discovered there is a huge demand for off-road and soft-road style vehicles, particularly in the luxury segment. BMW describes the vehicle not as a traditional 4WD, not in the current idiom SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) but as an SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle), with even more car-like dynamics, claiming it creates an entirely new segment. "The X3 will form a substantial pillar in our growth beyond the core brands that we have," spokesman John Kananghinis said. The X3 does not look that much smaller than X5 until you venture inside where the accommodation is more in keeping with that offered by a 3 Series model. But there is still a substantial amount of rear legroom and the useable luggage area is almost as large. There are three different models, a manual and automatic 2.5-litre straight six and a 3.0-litre straight six – the latter the same engine that powers the base model X5. Prices for the X3 start at $65,300 for the 2.5 six- speed manual, climbing to $67,900 for the 2.5 auto and toping out at $74,600 for the 3.0-litre six auto. We were able to sample both the 2.5-litre and 3.0-litre five-speed, tipshift autos and can report that both deliver plenty of punch. There's nothing disappointing about the smaller engine, certainly at the price. And there's not much to differentiate the cars, which all have the same tailpipe arrangement unlike the X5. The 2.5-litre straight six is good for 141kW of power and 245Nm of torque and in manual form can sprint from 0-100km/h in 8.9 seconds (auto 9.8secs) with a top speed of 208km/h.. The larger 3.0-litre engine produces 170kW and 300Nm and is good for 8.1 seconds, with a top speed of 210km/h (221km/h with the sport pack fitted). Drive is transmitted to all four wheels through BMW's XDrive system, with torque split variably and infinitely between front and rear wheels. Ground clearance is rated at 201mm. BMW claims the xDrive neutralises understeer or oversteer in fast cornering, but we discovered the vehicle still had a tendency to oversteer on the wet, slippery bitumen hairpins that we encountered. Overall, however, the X3 remained supremely confident in a range of conditions. Backing up xDrive is stability control, ABS brakes, Hill Descent Control and Cornering Brake Control. Standard equipment includes 10 airbags, multi- function leather-wrapped steering wheel with cruise control, 17-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, rain sensor and automatic headlight control, fog lights, climate control airconditioning, trip computer, and CD sound system. The quality is typical BMW with excellent fit and finish, but we disliked the overuse of grey, lower body protective cladding on lower spec cars, particularly those with lighter contrasting paintwork. Meanwhile, the rear seats seemed rather firm and the vehicle packs only a space saver spare wheel. The 3.0-litre diesel engine from the X5 is also under consideration for the car, but as yet is not available in right-hand drive – and if we get it will not arrive until later in the vehicle's life cycle.