When we review a car, we often find ourselves at the mercy of the elements. In the case of the 2018 BMW X3, that turned out to be a good thing. A rapid succession of bitter cold, unusual warmth (for Chicago), rain, ice, snow, and then more bitter cold over a period of seven days taught me that the X3 is an excellent cold-weather car. The interior warms up very quickly for a car of its size (with a heated steering wheel that becomes hot to the touch), the handling in snow and ice is exemplary, and it's a great car if you need to give someone a jump start. But that's just part of the picture for the X3.

Generation next

Eric Bangeman

Eric Bangeman

Eric Bangeman

Eric Bangeman

The 2018 model year marks the beginning of the third generation for BMW's mid-sized crossover-slash-SUV. And the X3, with its high driving position, definitely feels like more of an SUV than a crossover.

On the outside, there are not many differences between the 2017 and 2018 X3. The 2018 model is a couple of inches longer and a half-inch wider. The added length appears to be between the axles, as the wheelbase is 2.2in (5.6cm) longer this time around. The model we tested, the X3 xDrive30i, sports a 2.0L 248hp (185KW) turbocharged, inline four-cylinder engine capable of 258lb-ft (350Nm) of torque. If the four-banger isn't enough for you, you can upgrade to the M40i, which offers up a 3.0L, six-cylinder engine with 355hp (265KW) and 369lb-ft (500Nm) of torque. There's an eight-speed transmission that responds differently depending on driving mode—and paddle shifters if you want to go the manual route.

The 2018 X3 starts at $42,450, but to make the car interesting and fun to drive, you'll need to pile on some extras. Our tester included the $2,850 Convenience Package (keyless entry, panoramic moonroof), $1,300 Parking Package, an $800 Driving Assistance and $1,400 Dynamic Handling Package (which still left me without adaptive cruise control or lane-keep assist), and the $3,300 Premium Package (heated steering wheel, heated seats, satnav, and heads-up display). Pile on some more stuff (CarPlay compatibility, wireless charging for a Qi-enabled smartphone, and a Harmon Kardon surround sound), and the sticker price is $57,620. And that's without the full driver-assistance package.

In my review of the Audi Q5 , I rightfully caught some flack from readers for not commenting on how Audi charges a pretty penny for its driver-assistance tech. You've got to spend $8,000 for the Prestige package just so you can pay another $1,800 for the Driver Assistance package. BMW isn't quite as steep, as you can get adaptive cruise control and lane-keep-assist for $2,700 on top of the base model.

That said, it would be great if luxury automakers would act a little more like the Toyotas of the world and make this stuff standard. Unfortunately, the xDrive30i I drove did not include the Driver Assistance Plus package, so I was unable to see how BMW's tech compares with that of Audi and Alfa Romeo. (However, Jonathan Gitlin does discuss it a bit in our recent review of the BMW 530e.)

I drive iDrive

BMW

Eric Bangeman

Eric Bangeman

Eric Bagneman

Eric Bangeman

Eric Bangeman

The most notable improvement to the X3 from the 2017 model year is iDrive, BMW's infotainment tech. The X3 comes standard with a 6.5-inch display, which sticks out from the top front of the dashboard above the center console. The Premium package ups the display to 10.3 inches (and adds the aforementioned heads-up display).

iDrive offers three ways to interact with it. I used the rotary dial and buttons on the center console, just to the right of the gear shift lever, the most. The dial lets you move through the menus and menu options; pressing down is the equivalent of a mouse-click. For things like address entry, you can trace letters on top of the dial with your finger—a nice touch. There are also buttons above and below the dial that act as shortcuts, including satnav and media. You can also make selections on the touchscreen display if you're not wearing gloves, but I found it easier to use the dial and buttons, in part because the display was just out of reach from my natural sitting position.

Lastly, iDrive has a pretty capable voice assistant, courtesy of Nuance. You can call on it for directions, traffic incidents, and to make a phone call. If you have CarPlay capability (and it's a $300 extra; no Android Auto support), the voice assistant will turn you over to Siri for calls.

I recently rented a 2017 X3 for an overnight road trip, and BMW has made some significant improvements to iDrive from last year's model. The screen itself is much nicer, and the graphics are crisper. Although you'll have to sometimes navigate through three or four levels of the UI to get to certain settings, the intuitive design makes it simple. iDrive defaults into a split-screen layout with radio, phone, and navigation tiles when you turn the car on. You can customize the screen as you see fit and can have the GPS map—or anything else—take over the entire display with the push of a button.

BMW's $300 wireless CarPlay support is going to become even more costly. The company plans to charge an annual fee for CarPlay support beginning with the 2019 model year, which means you'll be renting part of the car you otherwise own. If you have an Android smartphone, you're out of luck, as it's not supported by BMW. (And since we're on the subject of smartphones, BMW offers an $800 wireless charging option, which uses the Qi standard.)

I'm not sold on BMW's instrument panel. It's an odd combination of physical and virtual, as you can see in the image above. The panel doesn't offer much that an old-school analog panel would, aside from the bottom bit, which can show a compass, basic trip info, and fuel consumption. Audi's approach of going all-in with an HD display is a better use of the space. The rest of the X3's dashboard looks sharp, especially with the wood trim.

Listing image by Eric Bangeman