Affordable luxury

As SUV sales soar among seemingly all car manufacturing brands, inching in the market with an affordable version is essential. When it comes to BMW, can those two words — affordable and BMW — be used in the same sentence? 

BMW believes “The Ultimate Driving Machine” can with its compact SUV, the BMW X3 xDrive 30. BMW offers seven SUVs from one to seven; with the ‘X’ representing SUV. The subcompact starts at $44,000 and the price goes up to more than $159,000 for the high-performance models.

The X3 30 base is $50,900 with the 2026 model driven at $60,325. What makes it special, besides the ability to say you drive a “beamer”?

Lots. With more than 100 years in the car business, BMW pays attention to details and is often at the forefront of tech and comfort. 

First, pair your phone to personalize your drive. Adjust mirrors, seats and heads-up display on your phone app and, once you connect, its ready to go. It overrides any previous driver preferences instantly. When renting a BMW, take the personalized info into the new ride.

Infotainment displays can be confusing. When navigating to the home screen, it takes numerous annoying “back” buttons to get where you want. Yet, what three things do drivers use most? Phone, music or media and navigation. To make it easy, BMW placed these three buttons on the center console. Just press Media, Tel or Nav, and you are there instantly.

Don’t want to press a button? Just say “Hey BMW.” This simple command can accomplish practically anything. I turned up the temperature to 69 degrees, navigated to the dealership and changed the ambient lighting to pink. The “Hey BMW” keeps your hands and eyes on the road. Trouble is, I got my bots mixed up, and I kept calling out Siri and Alexa. 

The sink-in, buttery-soft seats have an extender on both the driver and passenger seats, adding extra inches for taller folks. Back-seat passengers experience comfort with ample leg room and climate controls. The steering wheel circumference is thick with a sportier, racecar feel designed to reduce fatigue. However, with my small hands, that half inch seemed significant. 

The BMW is a smooth ride. With its adaptive suspension and weight distribution, you can barely feel the potholes and road bumps. It is one of the quietest drives I have experienced in the years I have written this column. BMW uses various insulators and thicker glass. It makes for a calming drive without any humming or wind blowing. In some vehicles, I double-check the window because it sounds like I have a window open. Not the BMW.

BMW’s iconic dual front grille, known as a “kidney grille,” has been standard since 1933. The sensors opens and close to either release the heating and cooling.

A “mild hybrid” system includes a 48-volt hybrid. This fairly new technology allows the engine to run more smoothly by exploiting the energy recovered during braking. It generates additional power for electrical devices and offers 27 mpg city/33 mpg highway.

For decades, BMWs has consistently make the “best luxury” list. With high resale value and comfort, affordable luxury is now also possible with a BMW. ♦