BMW Strives to Make A Cheaper X3…Do They Sacrifice Quality?

BMW hits a lot of market segments, from the uber-wealthy to the middle-class suburbanite. Like their main competitors, Mercedes and Audi, BMW makes cars to fit different budgets, but driving prices even lower is a big goal for the big three. The Globe and Mail has done a great story about the Bargain Bimmer, talking about the new X3.

Pricing on the new X3 will come-in just below $40,000 in Canada but over $45,000 in the US an uncommon trend in the car world. The US X3 is more expensive as BMW is only making the decked-out X3 xDrive30i, however still comes with leatherette.

The first question that I have when I hear about a “Bargain” car is, what trade-offs did they have to make to make it cheaper? Looking at the shot above the interior doesn’t look much like a BMW except for the logo itself on the steering wheel. So here are the limitations to BMW’s Bargain X3:

• Unable to upgrade from Leatherette to Leather
• Manual seats
• Manual air conditioning

All of these three features are deal-breakers for me, I hate leatherette, manual seats are annoying, and I can never go back to manual air conditioning.

The car itself actually isn’t built by BMW either, it’s built by Magna. That being said it was still one of the reliable cars in Germany so Magna sounds like they know how to make a good car…however buying a new car with less features never makes sense to me.

So Bimmer.co gives the bargain X3 a Thumbs Down.