BMW says there’s no next-gen X3 M deliberate, and meaning the tremendous SUV solely will get to hold round for one full era. Which, by extension, implies that it would someday find yourself fairly laborious to discover a good one. Doubly so when the factor in query is an enthusiast-centered automobile that really drives fairly effectively. The BMW X3 M checks a variety of containers when occupied with what sort of automobiles would possibly change into extremely sought-after within the coming years. Even when it isn’t the primary place you’d look.
The X3 M Wasn’t the First; However It Would possibly Have Been the Finest
Positive, the X3 M wasn’t the primary BMW M SUV. That crown, after all, belongs to the E70 X5 M. However the tremendous SUV was the primary automobile ever to obtain the S58 engine you’ll discover throughout the lineup right now – together with below the hood of the legendary BMW M3. It made similar energy to the M3 that adopted, too – 473 horsepower. Competitors Bundle automobiles bumped energy as much as 500 horsepower and Automotive and Driver even managed to get one to dash from zero to 60 mph in a – frankly, doubtful – 3.3 seconds.
Aiding that blazing quick spring was little question the M xDrive all-wheel drive system. The BMW X3 M was the primary all-wheel drive M automotive powered by a six-cylinder, and set the bar and expectations for the forthcoming G80 M3 and G82 M4. Its smaller dimension – relative to the X5 M, anyway – and inline-six sound actually made it really feel like what it finally was: an M3 on stilts.
SUVs Are – Apparently – Collectible
For those who watched Barrett Jackson earlier this month and even thought-about classic truck and SUV listings on any variety of the web public sale websites on the market, it’s fairly apparent that there’s a marketplace for classic SUVs. And whereas early BMW SUVs aren’t fairly commanding the ludicrous costs that some restomod Broncos and Chevy K10s are, it’s in all probability solely a matter of time – particularly when you think about all of the fascinating excessive factors distinctive to the X3 M.
Restricted(ish) Manufacturing
There was just one era of X3 M. If there’s one other X3 M coming, it’s all-electric. In 2021, BMW Group produced 4,418 examples of the X3 M, in comparison with the whopping 113,831 commonplace X3 items. Assuming comparable manufacturing numbers for annually, lower than 30,000 X3 M SUVs will ever exist. That’s not removed from whole North America manufacturing of the E46 M3, which is round 26,000. However bear in mind – X3 M manufacturing in Spartanburg travels world wide.
I’m not going to proselytize an excessive amount of on the supposed rarity of the SUV, however let’s face info. They’re solely making them for slightly longer. Fairly quickly, really, will probably be too late to purchase one new – and there will probably be a finite quantity to select from that haven’t been modified, crashed, or had different misadventures that may make them undesirable to personal.
I feel it’s a disgrace that the X3 M isn’t coming again, as for my part it represented top-of-the-line merchandise BMW supplied. Immediately-recognizable styling, a sweetheart of a powertrain, wonderful ergonomics, and just-right sizing and dynamics (in comparison with bigger M SUVs, anyway) made it at all times a deal with to drive. Will the X3 M ever cross the public sale block for the cash we see E30 M3s get? Most likely not. However then, with all of its positive qualities, I wouldn’t be all that shocked.
