BMW X3 3.0d M Sport 5dr (2006)

Not cheap but cheerful

Can't fault it really. The only thing to mark down is the running cost, but then even that's pretty good for a 3 litre. Diesel is always a bit of a downer as you lose some power, but the BMW X3 really doesn't feel to me like it's that much less powerful, and it's definitely not louder. Really nice and whisper silent in there.

The only trouble I've ever with it, which I suppose did mean a bit of noise, was a little gearbox noise, when it was idling and also when it was I think in maybe 2nd or 3rd, can't remember. It didn't last long as the dealer sorted it inside the warranty. You have to pester about these things but anyone who moans about that just needs to man up and read the warranty out to them until they realise you're not going away till they fix it. They do fix stuff in the warranty, but they just try and get out of it if they can, which I can understand from a business point of view. I mean in the end it would annoy customers and might cause a drop in business, but first of all it's not as if any company is better than another, they're all as bad, and secondly the staff in car dealerships don't always know that they'll be there for all that long, so they've not got that much reason to try and encourage you back in five or ten years when you might want to get another car. More likely they just wanna keep their books in good shape and maximise their commission or whatever incentive it is they've got to keep down the warranty repairs bill.

Anyway....... where was I?? The BMW X3 has got a lot going for it. Obviously it's chuffing vast inside, I've got alsations and they're always happy in the back. There's plenty of space for them plus my golf kit plus my son's golf kit, plus shopping if we decide to do that on the way home.

The seats are good and big too, all four of them. The middle seat in the back is a bit of a let down I've been told, but at least the seat belt clips are sunk into the seat itself, they don't poke out like I've seen on other cars, which must make the middle seat pretty much unusable.

Biggest downside on the BMW X3 I reckon would be the insurance and tax, which is a gripe with the government and insurance firms not BMW, so it seems a shame to mark the car down for that, but there we are.