It’s true that, while most car companies turned to a cheaper and more space efficient front-wheel drive configuration for their vehicles, BMW has stuck to rear-wheel drive (RWD), while also offering all-wheel drive as an option on several sedan, coupes and station wagons and standard on most of its SUV models.
In theory, RWD is better for handling because the front axle does not have to steer and put the power on the road at the same time.
Now, following the availability of a rear-wheel drive version of the X1, BMW has introduced the first X3 model to feature this setup with the new entry-level X3 sDrive 18d that will be available in Europe from this fall.
The XsDrive 18d is powered by the same 2.0-liter turbodiesel with 141HP (143 PS) and 360Nm (266 lb-ft) of torque from 1,750-2,500 rpm found in the X1 and comes equipped with a standard six-speed manual gearbox and an optional eight-speed automatic transmission.
According to the official data, the manual gearbox variant accelerates from rest to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 9.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 193 km/h (121 mph), while the automatic model is marginally slower, at 10.3 seconds and 190 km/h (118 mph) respectively.
Obviously, the entry-level X3 isn’t about performance, but low fuel consumption. BMW claims that its EfficientDynamics-equipped model consumes up to 7 percent less fuel than its premium competitors: on average, it burns through 5.1 litres of diesel per 100 km (46.1 mpg US or 55.4 mpg UK) and emits just 135 gr of CO2 per km (auto: 5.4/43.5/52.3 respectively).
In Germany, the X3 sDrive18d will be priced from €36,200.
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