World Debut: The G45 X3 Is Here!

The fourth generation of the X3 (G45) lineage has finally had its wraps removed and has announced itself to the world. With it, comes a variety of changes to the outgoing G01 model. These changes encompass everything from the minimalistic interior to the newer style kidney grille (you can decide if it’s hit or miss).

Let’s start with the exterior, more specifically the obvious. The kidney grilles. Following in the footsteps of its recently announced family member, the F70 1er, the X3 received kidneys with half vertical and half diagonal slats. It’s an interesting style that I don’t believe hurts the look, just might take a little getting used to. After all, BMW has proven time and time again that their controversial designs are often big winners (any Bangle-era car + G8x family). In addition to the kidney grilles, the X3 also grew a tad bit. Being stretched 1.3 inches, widened by 1.1 inches, and surprisingly lowered by 1 inch. This adds to the overall sportiness and is enhanced by a .6 inch increase for the front track and 1.7 inch increase in the rear. Overall wheelbase is 112.8 inches. One final notable difference for the new generation X3 is the name. Ever since BMW introduced fuel injection, every model with it received a little “i” at the end of its name. BMW wants to reserve the “i” for cars within its i-division only. For example, on the previous generation X3 (G01), the top non-M variant was the M40i. The replacement is the new M50, gone is the little “i”.

This being said, I believe it is the perfect transition into what will power the new G45. Since we are US based, we will keep it only to the vehicles we will be receiving. For now there are two versions, the 30 xDrive and the range topping M50. The X3 30 xDrive will utilize the popular B48, a 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder good for 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. The more exciting M50 version will make use of an updated variant of the B58, a 3.0 liter turbocharged straight-six now good for 393 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque, an 11 horsepower increase! It will also sound great as it is mated to quad pipes, another trend BMW started for non-M cars. Both cars are solely available in xDrive, RWD is no longer an option for the X3.

Finally we turn to the interior. Gone are the physical buttons and in its place sits a 14.9 inch infotainment screen. This display acts as the hub and controls everything from heated seats to how many blinks you would like the turn signal to do. The software behind this screen is BMW’s iDrive 9 and for a first can be controlled by the rotary knob. Cars such as the new X1 and X2 as well as the 1er have had this feature removed. The interior also sports a new steering wheel (M50 only), this one flat bottomed as opposed to the typical round wheel. The G45 also makes use of bolder ambient lighting with the goal of livening up the interior, this helps match the style of its siblings and differentiate it from its older brother, the G01.

What are your thoughts on the new G45, is it an improvement over the previous G01 or does it seem to fall flat?

World Debut: The G45 X3 Is Here!

World Debut: The G50 3-Series Is Here!

The Bimmer Crew