3.0 30d SE xDrive 5dr

Comfy, fast, economic. just fabulous

Ok so I never thought I'd buy a BMW, I've always been a bit of a Mercedes chick tbh, but I needed a new car and I saw this one, so I thought I'd buy it. It was a high mileage, ex-Lexus lease car so fully maintained, though it had a few sc***es and broken bits when I bought it, I got it for a reasonable price (£12k) having fallen in love with how it felt when I drove it on the test drive.

Since I've owned it around 90,000 miles have gone on to the clock and my car is as sweet today at 195,000 as it was when I picked it up with a lot of motorway miles on the clock.

It's really comfy, very fast, masses and masses of torque and my kids, even love it (and they are very picky!!!). The space in the cabin is great - 2 adult kids, 3 dogs and me plus a weeks worth of going away gear can easily fit in, alternatively I've had single beds, wardrobes, dining table, chairs, 2 adult pedal bikes and loads of other stuff in - it manages big loads no problems.

i get between 39 and 45 mpg (UK) out of every tank in a vehicle like this with a beast of an engine and the power, that's amazingly frugal. I recently drove a round trip of 200 miles (190 motorway) and was held at 60mph the whole trip on the motorway due mainly to roadworks and I got 48mpg - the fuel efficiency of this car really is class leading.

There was a recall on it, which was incredibly aggravating - my car spent 12wks in the garage and I was given a Vauxhall Mokka to drive around in, which was a good car, but very thirsty when compared to my X3 - loads of my friends, when I complained about my car being in the garage, just didn't get it - a new Mokka or a 6-year-old X3 surely the Mokka would be better and more fuel-efficient - how wrong they were.

In the period of my ownership, I have replaced the tyres 2 x, the last time being in February 2020. It's had new brake pads and discs once, about 2 years ago, and replaced the ball joint on the front ns in February 2020 - too many potholes methinks! BMW garages charge the earth - good customer service but I had to move away and now use Halfords who have been pucker.

Just before lockdown the arms on my boot stopped working and I can't find anyone to replace them, so the heavy boot has to be held open by someone whilst someone else loads it - really annoying!

Anyways, with clean air zone coming to my local city centre next year, 195,000 miles on the clock and the car being 8 years old with a small leak on the engine (according to my last MOT) I really need to replace it before it starts to cost me a lot in terms of maintenance/repair. I'd like another X3, but they are expensive, so what can I get instead????

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