2013 X3- First Impressions

I have been reading posts on this forum with interest. I have owned several BMW's and recently picked up a 2013 X3 3.5, alpine white with mojave leather. I returned a 2009 335 xi off of lease. Below are some of my impressions after 300 miles with reference to issues that have been raised elsewhere:

Driving Dynamics---Initial "parking lot" impressions were that the suspension was soft and "boatlike" but I did a 180 degree on this after a longer drive. Highway road feel is excellent and solid with a very secure feel up to 110 mph. The X3 soaks up curves and tight turns well. I have the dynamic handling blah blah blah. I am very happy with the handling and again I stepped out of a 335 M-sport into this vehicle which made for a tough comparison.

MPG versus performance--- I want both! I see no reason to keep sending money to yahoos in the middle east that hate us and if I can do my part in reducing fuel usage I will! On the other hand, I want no compromise in passing performance and acceleration "when I need it". I believe this is what BMW is trying to do with their Eco/start-stop etc. etc. features while keeping sport/sport+ toggle switches. I like the approach. Having lived in Europe the past few years, I am used to start/stop and actually get irritated when I am stopped at a long light in the US with the engine running.

Eco-Sport-Comfort-Sport+ -- played with all of these. I prefer Sport with the I drive setting set to chassis only (not transmission) and then I use sport mode or manual to have the transmission shift the way I want. If I want to set and forget I use Sport +. Around town I use Eco.

Performance---I had the same engine in my 335 ix as what is in the X3 but with a 6 speed versus 8 speed transmission. Probably because of the weight, the X3 is slightly slower. 0-60 is not really important to me. What is important is 40-60 and 60-85. The X3 appears to get 2-3 mpg better than the 335 ix in mixed driving (I won't quote numbers since there are too many variables to obtain a real comparison) which I find to be very impressive since it is a heavier/less aero vehicle.

Interior Quality--somewhat disappointed. Obviously for cost-cutting reasons, BMW mixed a shiny black trim piece across the air vents and under the instrument panel with wave wood on the right hand side of the dash. Asked my dealer if they made a mistake! Can anyone with a 2013 comment on this approach or was it in fact a mistake. The "tobacco" leather I saw in a new X3 in Europe looked a little richer and I seem to recall a little better detailing between the tobacco and the black on the door.

Interior noise--much better than I anticipated. Minor wind noise from the large side view mirrors and very little road noise compared to my 335. The deflector on the sunroof is very effective when the roof is opened. It is actually reasonably quiet with the sunroof open at 70mph.

Color combo--I like the mojave. I do not like silvery roof rails and silvery kidney grills on the white. Would much prefer these to be black ( which is what you get on the 2.8). Also, there is a lot of white on the exterior. Not sure what other exterior color I would have liked but in retrospect might have tried one of the blues. I purposely did not get M-sport package (which I did get on my 335) since I did not like the look of the M-Sport front on the X3. I de-badged the vehicle.

Navigation--apparently there is an upgrade in-process since the owners manual describes a "professional nav" with many new features. My nav is the same as my 2009 335.

Engine Sound--not as nice as my 335

Tires--a pleasant surprise! The tires are Goodyear Eagle LS 2(sp?) run flat mud and snows. When I saw these I immediately thought I would have to replace them because I have had such bad experiences with Goodyear OEM tires. But after 300 miles they are quiet and handle well. Plus they are made in Germany which makes me feel better about quality control. I will likely keep them on the vehicle.

Acceleration Delay--Yup its still there! If you are in drive in any mode other than Sport+ there is a 1/2 second delay after stomping on the pedal to pass (I don't do jack rabbit starts). Only way to eliminate this is Sport + or manual shifting. My 335 had this up until the reprogramming one month ago and now it is gone in that vehicle. Not sure if BMW will fix this issue in the near future. I am fine with the "workarounds".

I, too received my 2013 X3 build 35i. car. I echo the driving sentiment as described above. Right off the bat we had two problems, though. First, after the first refueling, the "Canadian Emission Control" light came up on the monitor. Called the Dealership and they said that the gas cap did not properly close. They further said that it will go away after the next refueling which it did. The next problem happened after a car wash! The "Transmission Problem Light" came up on the monitor and the wife said that it felt like driving on neutral but still drivable. We called the dealership and was told to go in and get it serviced immediately! I will let you know tomorrow when the Service Department at Rahal's BMW take a look at it. What a bummer! I thought the BMW is the Ultimate Driving Machine!

Effie imperio

Amazing that BMW would send Goodyear tires made in Germany to the US for installation on the X3. I flat do not believe there is any significant difference in the Goodyears built here and those in Germany. My Michelin's are built here, not France, and the Scorpions that preceeded them were not built in Italy either. No wonder these things cost so much! Glad you like the new ride however!

Originally Posted by ecidi

I, too received my 2013 X3 build 35i. car. I echo the driving sentiment as described above. Right off the bat we had two problems, though. First, after the first refueling, the "Canadian Emission Control" light came up on the monitor. Called the Dealership and they said that the gas cap did not properly close. They further said that it will go away after the next refueling which it did. The next problem happened after a car wash! The "Transmission Problem Light" came up on the monitor and the wife said that it felt like driving on neutral but still drivable. We called the dealership and was told to go in and get it serviced immediately! I will let you know tomorrow when the Service Department at Rahal's BMW take a look at it. What a bummer! I thought the BMW is the Ultimate Driving Machine!

Effie imperio

As for the gas cap, that's part of the emissions standards. The fuel system is actually pressurized and counts on a good seal on the gas cap. If not sealed, the system detects it and alerts you. Very minor thing.

Sounds like your transmission errored and it went into "limp home" mode. Typically this means it selects one middle gear and that's it to keep from stranding you somewhere. Sometimes cycling everything off and back on will reset it. There should be some message about the transmission state too.

They should be able to get you fixed up quick.

Sorry to hear your bad experiece. To set the expectation right: yes, it is an ultimate DRIVING machine, but not an ultimate RELIABLE machine...

Originally Posted by ecidi

I thought the BMW is the Ultimate Driving Machine!

Effie imperio

Joe, thanks for your reassurance. It made sense to me. How do you cycle off and on through the gear shifts? Can I do this manually if it happens again?

effie imperio

Originally Posted by ecidi

Joe, thanks for your reassurance. It made sense to me. How do you cycle off and on through the gear shifts? Can I do this manually if it happens again?

effie imperio

If the transmission goes into a failsafe mode (and there should be a warning to that effect somewhere), you're stuck in that one gear which is predetermined. Turning the engine and all power off should reset it. When you power up again, the computer will attempt to use normal mode. However, if the problem is still persistent, then it will remain in failsafe mode.

I only mention the cycling off and on as sometimes a minor computer glitch or bug may trigger this condition. Turning everything off and back on more or less reboots that module and may get past it. If it happens multiple times, definitely get it into the dealer to find out what's going on.

Originally Posted by snowboardjoe

If the transmission goes into a failsafe mode (and there should be a warning to that effect somewhere), you're stuck in that one gear which is predetermined. Turning the engine and all power off should reset it. When you power up again, the computer will attempt to use normal mode. However, if the problem is still persistent, then it will remain in failsafe mode.

I only mention the cycling off and on as sometimes a minor computer glitch or bug may trigger this condition. Turning everything off and back on more or less reboots that module and may get past it. If it happens multiple times, definitely get it into the dealer to find out what's going on.

Thanks, Joe. I am not messing around with this gear problem. The car is going in tomorrow for service at the Rahal BMW Dealership, which is located just about 10 minutes away from my home. I will report back. Thanks again.

effie imperio

Effie:

By any chance was the car wash one where a belt pushes the car through? Are you aware of the complex procedure to make sure the car stays in neutral when traveling through this type of car wash, i.e. If you set the car in neutral and then turn off the ignition (with a double press of the start button), the transmission will automatically go into park so even if you (or an attendant) thought the transmission was in neutral it might not have been. The transmission fault could have occurred as a result of the belt or chain trying to push the vehicle through the car wash.

Uncle J:

Yes, I was as surprised as you are about the German made tires. I didn't even know that Goodyear made tires in Germany. Although my driving experience has been good on them, three reviews of 5-series owners with these tires (no mention of manufacturing location) complained about repeated bubbling in the sidewalls. We will see how it goes with these tires........

Originally Posted by versaten

Effie:

By any chance was the car wash one where a belt pushes the car through? Are you aware of the complex procedure to make sure the car stays in neutral when traveling through this type of car wash, i.e. If you set the car in neutral and then turn off the ignition (with a double press of the start button), the transmission will automatically go into park so even if you (or an attendant) thought the transmission was in neutral it might not have been. The transmission fault could have occurred as a result of the belt or chain trying to push the vehicle through the car wash.

THe wife said the engine was running with the transmission on neutral. Hope they find the problem tomorrow.

Ephraim Imperio

ver, keep an eye on that bubbling thing -- remembering of course that most OEM tires leave something to be desired. What do the tirerack reviews indicate?

Originally Posted by UncleJ

ver, keep an eye on that bubbling thing -- remembering of course that most OEM tires leave something to be desired. What do the tirerack reviews indicate?

I got these Goodyear Eagle LS2 run flat OEM tires made in Germany on my 2013 BMW X3 build 35i and I am really worried about "bubbles" after reading the reviews of users at Tire Rack.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....LS-2+RunOnFlat

Originally Posted by ecidi

I got these Goodyear Eagle LS2 run flat OEM tires made in Germany on my 2013 BMW X3 build 35i and I am really worried about "bubbles" after reading the reviews of users at Tire Rack.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....LS-2+RunOnFlat

The size of the tire matters in this case when looking at the complaints. On the 5 series boards, there are a lot of LS2 tires that bubble. If you look at the X3 boards, I haven't heard of anybody to complain of a bubble yet. The 245 series for whatever reason seems to be ok.

Originally Posted by ecidi

Thanks, Joe. I am not messing around with this gear problem. The car is going in tomorrow for service at the Rahal BMW Dealership, which is located just about 10 minutes away from my home. I will report back. Thanks again.

effie imperio

I am reporting back about my problems with the transmission. I took my car back to my dealership. They said mechanically there is no problem with the transmission going into fail/safe mode. The problem is an issue with the computer that controls the transmission. They drove the car around for two days trying to replicate the problem and was able to replicate it only once. Definitely there is a problem they said and will need a computer fix to fix the glitch! No one in the Dealership know how to repair the glitch so they sent more than 20 pages of computer information about the transmission problem to the computer department at BMW, Spartanburg, SC. If they can't fix it there, it might even go to Germany for a fix. What a bummer!! The Ultimate Driving Machine turned into the Ultimate Unreliaable machine!!!!:vi olent:

Reporting back on my transmission problems! My dealership found the problem!
The Mechatronic module that controls the transmission is defective. Spartanburg sent a replacement mechatronic module and all is well with my transmission and operating normal again. You all probably know already that the 2013 X3 35i is a Mecathronic vehicle.

epharim imperio