The X3 has some serious punch

"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
07/23/2015 at 15:59 • Filed to: None

As it turns out, it is torquey enough to get a little bit of oversteer when pulling out onto a road. On dry pavement. In an AWD CUV. With the stability control on. This coming winter is gonna be fun. Also, since I know there are probably a bunch of you want to revoke my Jalop card for getting a crossover instead of the holy wagon. There’s a very good reason why we chose to. This 2011 we got is the current generation of X3, and is fully loaded with basically every option including the go-fast motor. Up until 2012, the 3-series wagon was still the E91, which was a decade-old design. Of course there’s the new one, but not only is it waaaaay too expensive for what it is, the twin-turbo I6 isn’t even an option. So yes, we went with the crossover.

DISCUSSION (48)

CalzoneGolem > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:04

I know there are probably a bunch of you want to revoke my Jalop card for getting a crossover instead of the holy wagon.

Fuck those guys.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:07

A crossover is a wagon with more usable ground clearance. #flamesuiton

Ash78, voting early and often > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:10

If BMW offered all the same stuff in the wagon for the same price or cheaper, I’d give you shit. But since all the good options and pricing (in the entire industry) go to crossovers right now, no love is lost. These still drive 95% as well as wagons, anyway.

I just don’t like the shortened cargo area. My folks have the Audi Q5 and it’s the same beef — on paper, it’s the size of a wagon, but practically that hatch area is more like a Golf. Nobody really likes to stack their cargo vertically unless really needed, but the cube statistics don’t really consider that.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:10

http://burgertuning.com/N55_Jb_BMW_Per…

In case you want some more grunt.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > CalzoneGolem
07/23/2015 at 16:11

Thank you.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
07/23/2015 at 16:12

Exaclty. People say “It’s can’t go off-road any more than a 3-series wagon” Actually, by definition, it can. Not that it will, but it can, and just might.

citizennick > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:14

My dad is interested in the X1. Not that exciting unless you consider the fact that right now they have a Camry.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
07/23/2015 at 16:14

My dad took the car to our dealer/mechanic/tuner dude. He said with a chip and a few other modifications, he can get it up between 340-360hp for about a grand. We’ll probably go for that after the winter.

CalzoneGolem > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:15

Also a higher center of gravity can be more fun.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:16

I’d put on a clear bra and rallycross it once I get the tune installed. Mind you, I also want to start Spec Scooter.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
07/23/2015 at 16:17

We’re actually getting a clear bra put on when we get the windows tinted. Should be sometime next week.

Party-vi > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:17

MPGs?

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Party-vi
07/23/2015 at 16:18

We’ve been getting 19 city, 26 highway.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:19

Cool. If I had money, I would pay you to install rally armor mud flaps and rallycross it, because despite the fact that most people consider the X3 to be the black sheep of the BMW family, the X3 is still a BMW, and a quick one at that.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
07/23/2015 at 16:20

Also, spec scooter racing (as in Vespas?) sound fun.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
07/23/2015 at 16:20

Indeed.

Brian Silvestro > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:21

TIL I’m the only commenter who will actually say the wagon is better on oppo nowadays

oppo sucks

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:21

Yup, as in Vespas, but all with generic Chinese GY6 motors to keep the playing field even. Races would be held in parking lots, and on karting tracks. For $2k, you can buy and race a scooter that you can also commute on.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Brian Silvestro
07/23/2015 at 16:22

Wagons are great, but in this case the wagon choices we had were either old or slow.

AM3R shamefully returns > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:23

Yeah idk about that. Super easy to get power out, the N55 is already putting out a little over 300. Shouldn’t have to spend a grand to get that little of a gain. Just a JB4 should get you around ~350. While not as big as the N54, the tuning options are still pretty good for the N55. Spend some time researching so you don’t get ripped off. Lots of great info on E90post (yeah I know it’s not an E9x, but they love their N55’s).

Brian Silvestro > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:23

Old, slow, manual, rwd, less weight, better dynamics

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Brian Silvestro
07/23/2015 at 16:25

Let me count the number of times we have/will autocross the family car...let’s see, if I count that one in Houston...hey look, it’s none.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > AM3R shamefully returns
07/23/2015 at 16:25

Thanks for the advice, I’ll look into it.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:25

As much as I loathe that BMW just cheapened and shrunk an X5 to make an X3, they're still nice cars.

Brian Silvestro > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:26

Doesn’t make it any less fun??

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Brian Silvestro
07/23/2015 at 16:27

Fun wasn’t the primary objective in buying this car. It was on the list of things we wanted, but in a “get an X3 not a Q5” kind of way.

AM3R shamefully returns > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:29

Here’s a great resource. Lots of dyno sheets and whatnot so you can see what actually works. YMMV with the fitment on some parts.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthr…

functionoverfashion > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:32

My wife has an ‘07 X3 with the 3.0 (they all had that) and a 6-speed manual (they certainly did NOT all have that). It’s pretty darn fun to drive for what it is. I still like my E46 wagon better. But her car is just a *little* bit bigger, thus more comfortable for all 4 of us now. The cargo space is marginally bigger than that of my E46 but it does make the difference sometimes. Neither one can take all 4 of us, some stuff, AND the dog. That’s still a problem. The biggest draw to it initially was the size, the comfort for highway drives (my wife was commuting ~100mi/day at the time) and the manual transmission option.

tl/dr: nice car, we’ve got one too.

Jonathan Harper > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:33

Oversteer? You sure you don’t mean torque steer?

Brian Silvestro > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:34

I...disagree with your purchase

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > AM3R shamefully returns
07/23/2015 at 16:39

I’d recommend this if kinda would let me.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > functionoverfashion
07/23/2015 at 16:40

Too bad the new one didn’t come with a manual option. Not to say we would’ve gotten it, but it would’ve been a nice choice to have.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Jonathan Harper
07/23/2015 at 16:40

Quite.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Brian Silvestro
07/23/2015 at 16:41

That’s why it’s our purchase and your purchase was presumably something different :)

Brian Silvestro > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:43

Also that’s not a current-gen X3

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Brian Silvestro
07/23/2015 at 16:44

It’s the pre-facelift, but yes it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_X3_(F…

AM3R shamefully returns > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 16:59

One last piece of “wisdom”, you can pretty easily get the X3 to sound like this...

Jonathan Harper > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 17:05

Who was driving it? Ken Block??

I’ve driven a bunch of those, and never once come anywhere near having oversteer when pulling out onto a dry paved road. Torque steer, sometimes, if the surface is uneven.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > AM3R shamefully returns
07/23/2015 at 17:19

I noticed it had a bit of a growl to it. That blue one sounds lovely...we’ll have to look into it.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Jonathan Harper
07/23/2015 at 17:21

Me. With 300lbs/ft of torque and a rear-wheel bias, it will just nearly swing the back end if you punch it from a standstill with the wheel cranked hard. Just the slightest loss of grip to let you know the back tires are going a lot of the work. It’s not like it’ll get sideways or anything.

HammerheadFistpunch > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 17:54

“I know there are probably a bunch of you want to revoke my Jalop card for getting a crossover instead of the holy wagon”

Well...plus its not really your car/choice, right? Unless I misunderstood this is a family car, right?

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > HammerheadFistpunch
07/23/2015 at 18:11

It is, but since my parents are divorced I’m the second voice, and as my dad put it, I basically talked him out of an XC70 and into this.

HammerheadFistpunch > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 18:13

Gotcha. Not trying to be a dick or anything, just clarifying

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > HammerheadFistpunch
07/23/2015 at 18:15

Appreciated. And yeah, if my dad had his heart set on a certain thing, there wouldn’t be a damn thing I could do about it. Hell, he could decide tomorrow that I needed to trade in my car on an Accent, and I’d have to do it.

Vicente Esteve > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 18:17

Crossovers are wagons that can into off-road

THERE I SAID IT.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Vicente Esteve
07/23/2015 at 18:23

Barely, but yeah.

Vicente Esteve > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 18:38

Kinja'd!!!

U WOT

functionoverfashion > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
07/23/2015 at 21:51

One of the first things my wife and I ever talked about was the fact that her car was a manual. Of course it is, she said. Only manual transmissions in this family. Until the probable minivan in our future with the kids...