What I’m looking for is to retire my current 10-year-old Honda and find something exciting. The car will be mainly operated by myself and sometime my wife (we’ll have a 2nd car for her later this year). We don’t have kids thus no need for large cargo.
I’m looking for something fancy and luxury, not aggresive or racing though. I’ve tried many compact SUVs:
GLC300: noisy on highway, interior not interesting. Engine feels worse than my 2.4L accord
Q5 P+: 19 too old, 20 not coming yet, nothing special
X3: drives good, even quieter than GLC, interior OK
Volvo/Lexus/Acura/Cadi: either too “old”, too “business” or “not fancy”
When looking around packages for X3, I’m mainly focused on:
ACC (from Driving Assistant Plus pkg)
Assisted Parking for my wife
Live cockpit / HUD (for me, it’s my first time driving a “fancy” car after all)
Ambient light / harman kardon (not sure if needed, but it’s a lease so all of them are less than half priced)
considering all above, I feel like I have to add Executive PKG and Driving Assistant Plus package w/ MSRP around $56,xxx, which seems not “common” or "popular’ from local dealers and LH.
I got some suggestions like picking x3 m40i where packages are more likely to be equipped. However,
I’m not interested in high-perform engines or racing
MSRP over $60,xxx for a compact SUV sounds crazy to me. Shall I go x5 instead?
Is there other options that I can take to have a compact SUV with fancy and luxury feeling inside? My budget is still around ~$550 before tax though (Macan is too expensive)
The question is do you want the space or do you want the gadgets? You’ll pay more to get the same equipment on an X5 but the X5 has the benefit of the 6-cyl and iDrive 7 standard.
The X3 is due for it’s mid cycle LCI in the next year. If you’re not itching and want the newer iDrive it might be worth waiting.
It’s all based on personal preference and need but based on what you wrote I would go X3 330 xdrive w/ premium package, driving assistant and parking assistant. Should be low $50s MSRP and put get somewhere in your target range and not hard to find in dealer stock. Also since you said you’re not interested in performance engines I would steer away from the 340 unless you can find a steal. But again, it’ll all come down to your needs.
No space requirement at all (young couples without kid). After searching around I find in the incoming 2021 x3 will have an EV trim but didn’t find anything about the new iDrive (do you mean the screen/dash, or it’ll be a new generation like self-driving?)
I’ll be driving during rush hours so i guess ACC will be a big benefit. What you said which is low $50s is actually most popular in local inventory. With ACC and premium package is also fine actually.
I think maybe the trade off is whether I want to pay more (this is one in my local dealer but they don’t offer standard MF but a marked up one) or just go with those standard ones in LH Marketplace. I’ll take a test drive this weekend to feel the difference. ty!
If space isnt a requirement go with the 4 banger X3. New iDrive is the digital dash plus updated infotainment. Personally I prefer the X3s more traditional gauges vs the weird new angular ones on the X5, but these are first world problems.
I have both. Both are 3.0 engines and I can tell you the X3 is a rocket. However I prefer the comfort of X5, it’s just a nice, quiet, effortless drive. X3 is all drama and gets uncomfortable after 2 hours but it’s fun. I am also getting older and have 2 kids with a dog so different needs. If I were you, no kids no need for space I would definitely look for that x3M unicorn deal that pops up here once in a while.
First set the budget and then get the most car you can afford.
X3 is on a smaller side, it’s a 3 series that sits higher and has cargo room. Having said that it’s not as wide as the X5 which can be uncomfortable for a someone like me who likes to spread his eagle when driving for a long time. I am not saying it’s a bad ride it’s just not as refined as the X5, totally different experience. I suggest drive both and compare.
OP - virtually same boat as your entire original post, only difference is wife wants sportier drive in next lease. She currently drives a 2018 Lexus RX350L ($55k MSRP, well equipped) and I believe these usually lease well and quite luxurious. We were able to get a very strong deal for 36/12k. Not as exciting to drive, but the interior quality is pretty nice and has a decent exterior look. Just wanted to provide this as an option as it appears the newer models only improve.
Having said that though, she’s now looking at X5 xdrive40i, X3M (quite interested in this unicorn deal 8.8.8.8 mentioned), Audi Q8 (Audi typically does not lease too well), Benz GLE450, Volvo XC60 (sharp look but seems to need interior refresh already and better performance).
When I said unicorn deals I meant some brokers here posting in the $600-700 per month range with MSD’s and taxes upfront. This is not a $400 unicorn deal, maybe for the base X3 but not for the M model.
I just talked with my wife about GLE450 (the new screen, the vent, the feeling…) but can’t just answer “why we need a large car for only two of us”
while good thing is I watched some other videos about x3 and changed my mind about the exterior/interior preference, which is limited in the inventory. Now I have more choices after removing the color preference.
I just want to know “what is a unicorn deal” and “how it becomes unicorn”. What I found from brokers’ spreadsheet is the higher rebate (3500 v.s. 1750 iirc) and maybe more discount. But they didn’t provide LH calculator so I don’t know the breakdown and details. I wanted know “the exact reason that makes unicorn deal occurs ONLY for m40i not x30i”.
Unicorn = something not seen / doesn’t exist, so it refers to essentially a once-in-a-blue-moon deal. You’ve likely heard of the 1% rule. Unicorn deals are more of the 0.5% rule.
All other things aside, you’re not going to be able to lease an X5 for anywhere near what you can get for an X3 m40i. The residual on an sDrive X5 is 55% for 10k, and there are no incentives, other than conquest/loyalty. Many dealers only have ones that are $62,000 or even $66,000 as the least expensive one. The X3 has a higher residual, and there’s lease cash on it.
