I'm seeking information on the release date on the new version of the X3, supposedly moving forward from 2011 to the 2010 model year due to new competition from Audi and Mercedes.
X3 release I called, wrote, threatened my dealer, and spent hours on the internet and found nothing. Generally, we colonists have to wait for the Poobahs at the home office to honor us with whatever they feel we should have, when they feel we should have it. I am not happy that Europe gets models we never see and others years before we see them (X1). The icing on the cake is the MADE IN AMERICA X3 and how BMW will not even hint at a release date until they unload all their Magna-Steyr inventory. Maybe they should have read the tea leaves a little better and not made so many of the old X3s. Also, they seem to be years behind their competition Q5, GLK350. By the way, in a world where the economy is faltering and gas is problematic they make the X3 the size of the original X5 and slot in the X1 under it...but we can't get the X1. I had to look in the mirror to see if I were the red headed stepchild.
Well it looks like nobody else out the has had the same experience with BMW corporate and their dismissive ways with regards the american market. I guess BMW thinks that if they stuff in an M motor in the Behemoth X6 or X5 we would be grateful If they give me 4 years and 50,000 miles of free gas, maybe. Really, though, you guys out there who want an X1 should call or write the head office and tell them you live in America and kind of HATE that Europe gets the good stuff and we get the 7 year old X3 design. Well at least they put the turbo six cyl in the X5 this year. Now if they could shave off about 1000 pounds of blubber, they'd have something.
I found the information. I'm a little surprised at the level of vitriol, impatience, and negativity aimed at BMW in the above two posts. Not even the auto journalists have been able to slide behind the wheel of the next X3, and we have two "torpedoes" on this forum aimed squarely at its unseen broadsides. The vehicle isn't even on dealer lots yet, which means NOBODY outside of BMW has even test driven it yet. So how can you say how good or how bad it is if no one outside of BMW has seen it or tested it yet? Such a neck-breaking, headlong rush to judgement. At least wait for the review before firing anything (missives, weapons, debris, etc) at it. Did you know it takes on average of 18 months to two years for a manufacturer to bring a new vehicle from drawing board to showroom? Add another year for foreign manufacturers like BMW, who have to jump through one set of hoops to pass German certification, then have to jump through another set to pass AMERICAN certification. It costs about a million dollars to certify a vehicle for US sale. Blame the nanny government that insists that the vehicle interior fire two dozen "down pillows" (oh sorry - they're called airbags) on passengers in a car crash because a few of our IQ-challenged, highly lawsuit-prone citizens stubbornly refuse to buckle their safety belts. Before I turn into the same thing I am criticizing, I found the information you sought in less time than you can say "dealer incentive." Amazing what turns up when you enter "next BMW X3" into a Yahoo or Google search engine. I wound up with 11 PAGES of search results under Yahoo Search. http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/06/06/more-details-of-next-bmw-x3/ http://www.bmwblog.com/2009/01/24/video-2010-bmw-x3/ Now all I have to do is try to figure out why such an enormous fuss over this?
According to the BMW folks at NYIAS last Saturday, more like twice that. Plus, when they change powertrain offerings for a series after initial certifications, it costs about a million per powertrain. New engine? Recertify. Add a transmission offered in one model to an additional model? Recertify. Cha-ching! Right there with ya.
That's absolutely bizarre... ...yet I have no reason NOT to believe you. That must hit 5 series cars especially hard, since they STRADDLE the 1-series and 3-series cars as well as the 6-series and 7-series cars in terms of powertrain offerings. Jeez, think about it. I'm definitely in the wrong line of work.
