- BMW reveals new fourth-generation combustion-powered X3.
- Compact SUV is based on departing X3 and features four- and six-cylinder mild-hybrid engines.
- Will sell alongside more radical electric iX3 that gets bolder styling and new platform.
Soon you’ll be able to buy a brand new compact BMW SUV that rides on a revolutionary new platform and whose modern, confident interior and exterior design sets the tone for an entire generation of BMWs. But this 2025 X3 isn’t it.
The game-changer we alluded to in the intro is the iX3, an electric SUV that arrives next year, was previewed by this spring’s Vision Neue Klasse X concept and is the first BMW to get the automaker’s next-gen architecture.
Related: Next-Gen BMW X5 Will Reportedly Have “Mean” Looks And X-Shaped Lights
But since not everyone is ready to shift to electric power, the iX3 will be sold alongside the combustion X3 you see here. It’s a heavily updated version of the 2024 SUV that drops the ‘i’ from the model name – xDrive 30i becoming plain-old xDrive 30, and M50 replacing M40i – and ditches the base two-wheel drive car altogether.
Measuring the same 112.8 inches (2,865 mm) between the wheels as the outgoing SUV, the 2025 X3 disguises its carryover DNA with styling borrowed from the smaller X1 revealed in 2022. Small changes in length, width and height that give the new model a big extra helping of attitude, while still playing on the classic front-engine, rear-drive proportions.
The large-format kidney grille, illuminated on the flagship flagship M50 xDrive but optional on the base 30 xDrive, the only other model available, is something we’ve seen before on other BMWs like the XM. But new to the brand’s SUV lineup is the controversial grille pattern made up of both vertical and diagonal bars.
M50 keeps inline-six, gains mild-hybrid power
If you’re not a fan of the new gnashers you’ve got a big reason to fork out for the M50, which gets horizontal bars instead. Other reasons to go large include the standard adaptive dampers, M Sport brakes, 20-inch M wheels, M Sport rear diff, and quad exhaust tailpipes. But most of all, the 3.0-liter inline six, whose 48 mild-hybrid system helps it crank out 393 hp (399 PS) and 428 lb-ft (580 Nm), compared with 382 hp (387 PS) and 369 lb-ft (500 Nm) for the departing M40i.
Despite those wins, BMW quotes the exact same 4.4-second zero to 60 mph (96 km/h) time it did for the old M-lite model, and the more affordable xDrive 30 doesn’t make any progress in that department, either.
Its 2.0-liter inline four also gains mild-hybrid tech, lifting power from 248 hp (252 PS) to 255 hp (258 PS) and adding 37 lb-ft (50 Nm) of twist for a total of 295 lb-ft (400 Nm). But old and new cars are tied at 6.0 seconds in a race to 60 mph, the 2025 X3’s 27 added pounds (12 kg) of flab seemingly wiping out any drag strip gains.
One X3 that might go faster than the model it replaces is the X3 M. That should inherit the same 20 hp (20 PS) power boost recently gifted to the M3 and M4 Competition xDrive, taking output to 523 hp (530 PS), but we’ll have to wait a few more months to know for sure.
Wider, stiffer, lower
BMW does at least say the new X3 makes a better fist of corners, even if it’s no faster between them. The lower ride height on both models versus this year’s X3s, wider rear track, stiffer body structure and various geometry tweaks claim to increase steering precision and stability.
That sounds good to us, but won’t score as many sales as the updated interior design, which finally brings BMW’s now familiar curved dashboard display and combined infotainment screen and gauge cluster to the X3. The automaker’s OS9 tech makes over-air updates possible and gives owners access to music and video streaming apps, news, augmented reality navigation and in-car gaming, which turns your smartphone into a controller.
Look past the more modern dashboard and crisper styling and the 2025 X3 you’ll be able to buy in the final months of this year isn’t much different, at heart, from the still-popular version you can buy right now. But then neither is the sticker. Losing the rarely-bought $46,900 RWD sDrive base model ups the base price considerably, but like-for-like, the $49,500 xDrive 30 is only $600 more expensive than before. The $64,100 M50 doesn’t get away so lightly: it costs $2,220 more than the M40i, but it still undercuts its Porsche Macan S and Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 rivals.
Would you rush to place an order for the new X3 or would you wait to see how its electric iX3 sister stacks up before making up your mind?
