2025 BMW X3 Review: Less Aggression, More Appeal

BMW’s kidney grille used to be an acquired taste. Now it lights up.

That little detail probably tells you everything about where the X3 is headed. Gone are the days when BMW’s mid-size SUV needed to flex like it had something to prove. This fourth-generation X3 has arrived with a different kind of confidence—the sort that comes from knowing you’re already at the top of your game.

The numbers back this up. Since 2016, the X3 has been BMW’s best-selling SUV globally, outselling even the larger X5. Which raises an interesting question: when you’re already winning, why change the formula? The answer, it turns out, isn’t about being louder or more aggressive. It’s about being smarter.

The Design Manifesto

The first thing you notice is what’s missing. Those aggressive character lines that used to slice across BMW surfaces like a knife fight? They’ve been smoothed out, replaced by clean surfaces that catch light rather than carve it up. The X3 still has presence—it’s actually grown in every dimension—but it’s presence without the posturing.

What we’re seeing is essentially BMW having stopped trying so hard. The kidney grille still dominates the front end, but now it glows with LED outlines instead of just scowling. It’s a neat trick: keeping the brand’s most recognisable feature while making it feel less confrontational.

This isn’t about playing it safe. If anything, the move from muscular to minimal required more courage. When every other SUV is trying to look tough enough to climb Everest, BMW decided to look good enough for the boardroom. The 19-inch M Sport wheels fill the arches nicely, and the diffuser at the back adds just enough drama without overdoing it.

The Interior Revolution

Step inside and you’ll find what BMW politely calls their ‘jewellery box’ concept. It’s a fancy name for the centre console, but the description isn’t wrong—ambient lighting frames everything like a high-end display case. At night, the cabin transforms into something that wouldn’t look out of place in a luxury hotel lobby, all soft glows and hidden vents.

The dashboard is wrapped in recycled polyester with a knitted texture that feels surprisingly premium. Sure, you might worry about keeping it clean in Delhi’s dust, but it’s a bold move away from the usual leather-and-plastic playbook. The curved display setup—a 14.9-inch touchscreen bleeding into the 12.3-inch instrument cluster—handles most functions, though BMW’s insistence on hiding the air-con controls in submenus remains mildly infuriating.

What’s more interesting is what this interior says about BMW’s target customer. The focus has shifted from the weekend warrior who wants to feel sporty to the executive who occasionally wants to drive themselves.

The Performance Philosophy

Here’s where BMW could have gone wrong. Soften the ride, prioritise comfort, and lose the plot entirely. Instead, they’ve managed something trickier: making the X3 more civilised without neutering it. The 2.0-litre diesel produces 194 horsepower and 400 Nm of torque, which isn’t earth-shattering but delivers with the kind of smooth urgency that makes sense in traffic.

The real revelation is the ride quality. BMW ditched the run-flat tyres for regular tubeless ones, and the difference is immediately obvious. Where previous X3s felt like they were constantly reminding you they were sports SUVs, this one settles into a more mature rhythm. Adaptive suspension comes standard, so you can still firm things up when the mood strikes, but the default setting is genuinely comfortable.

The steering still tells you what the wheels are doing, and body roll remains impressively controlled for something this size. BMW hasn’t forgotten how to make a car change direction with authority. They’ve just realised that not every journey needs to feel like a qualifying lap.

Closing Perspective

Starting at ₹75.8 lakh, the X3 sits right where it needs to—competitive with the Mercedes GLC but offering something different. This fourth-generation model represents BMW’s understanding that today’s luxury buyer wants capability without the constant need to prove it. It’s still unmistakably a BMW—the kidney grille glows to remind you of that—but it’s a BMW that’s grown up, settled into its success, and figured out how to appeal to more people without losing what made it special. Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is simply get better at what you’ve always done well.