BMW's boss, Helmut Panke, first qualified as a nuclear physicist. It's a training that's proving increasingly relevant as BMW seek to split every atom of the car market in search of new sales. Yet, as any leaving Cert science student will tell you, messing around in the minutia can prove hazardous to your health. Get it wrong and it can all blow up in your face.
The arrival of the X3 seems to be an attempt to nudge the brand into the imploding gap between ever-bigger saloons and the increasingly street-focussed off-roaders. BMW already has its excellent X5 - updated recently with a new xDrive system that improves its four-wheel-drive ability. The only problem with the X5 is the constant bun fight to get your hands on one, with a waiting list stretching into the autumn at the earliest.
So, with such demand, it's hardly surprising that Mr Panke sought to harness all that positive energy by introducing a slightly smaller version, and wisely co-developed with the Austrian firm Steyr, independent production experts. The car is largely derived from the 3-series, but suitably strengthened and enlarged.
All seems in order. Here's a car that will satisfy several irritated buyers on the X5 waiting list and also win over some of those saloon buyers looking for off-road looks but easier town parking.
However, there are problems with Dr Panke's equation. First, there's the looks. The X5 has huge street-cred. It looks muscular, meaty and slightly menacing - everything you look for in an off-roader and can hold its own in any car park comparison with the biggest off-roaders.
Yet the X3, like other "soft-roaders", is a more diminutive affair. The cabin is set further back than one would expect, adopting a more hunched approach, like an X5 in a squatting position and though it's lower than its off-road sibling, it's actually wider.
Sitting on 17-inch alloys as standard - or 18" if you're feeling sporty - it isn't even as tall as a Land Rover Freelander. The driving position does give you the benefit of sitting slightly higher than the general traffic. Yet, unlike the fully-fledged SUVs you often can't see above the car in front. Instead you get a great view of its roof.
All that extra width means the cabin is surprisingly spacious - far more so than any of the other "soft-roaders" we've tried. In particular the rear seats are wide enough for three adults and there's plenty of legroom.
Our test car was the 3-litre SE version, complete with cream leather interior. The trim was what BMW refer to as "brushed aluminium" but it looks too close to chequered tin and is best avoided. We were disappointed with the quality of the plastics, which were not to the usual BMW standards. Let's hope that this is not a sign of what we can expect in the upcoming 3-series. On a more positive note our car also featured the optional two-pane panoramic sunroof, an excellent way to make the cabin feel more spacious and airy.
This is a town car. The brochure gives that away if nothing else, dominated by shots of the new X3 traversing city streets and smooth country roads.
But we couldn't let it pass without taking it into the rough. One of the test routes we use for four-wheel-drives features a little-used road that leads to large sweeping sand dunes and a rocky beach. The road is so potholed that on the bank to the right there's a well-worn track where others have preferred to take to the muddy edge rather than negotiate the cavernous road cavities.
Surprisingly for a city slicker, the X3 can dive into the deep rocky gorges at a decent speed and still leave your fillings intact. When we reached the grass covered dunes the X3 managed both ascent and descent with little gripe, the grating of the hill descent echoing through the cabin on the steeper inclines. It should also be remembered that we were on summer tyres, best suited to long stretches of tarmac than soggy sand. The greatest limitation, however, to its off-road pursuits, is its ground clearance, which is perfect for loading kids and shopping but a bit low for traversing summits.
It's on the road that the X3 excels. It's perhaps the most car-like off-roader we've driven, weaving through bends at saloon speeds with no noticeable body roll. While sports suspension is an option, the normal set-up is firm enough for Irish roads - some may find that's its too firm for their taste, particularly passengers. That's the price you pay for such rock-solid handling characteristics.
It's also got permanent four-wheel drive, via a new xDrive system, which near-instantly apportions drive to the axle with the grip to use it the best. What all this means is that when you come barrelling into a corner and find it pinches tighter than you first thought, there's a far better chance you will not spend the next 30 minutes untangling hawthorn bush from your bumpers and body panels. It may seem like we're harping on about its on-road ability, but even on a wide open, empty roundabout, when we tried to force the X3 to step out of line it point-blank refused to budge.
The engine line-up is desperately lacking a diesel option. A 2-litre diesel is in the pipeline for next year, and we expect to see the acclaimed 3-litre diesel make an appearance in years to come. But for now there are only the 2.5-litre and 3-litre petrol six-cylinder units, both tried and trusted and very good.
At around 1,800 kg the X3 is a no lightweight and even the 231bhp 3-litre unit needs to be worked for a lively performance. That said, it always answers the call with a smooth snorty hum. Mr Panke would know also full well from his physics lessons that weight needs energy to move it. So while we didn't really drive this car hard over the first few days, we still only managed 21.5 mpg. Owners will be doing well to match the claimed 24.8 mpg official average in the real world.
If we had a choice between the two engines we'd opt for the 2.5-litre, for a variety of reasons. It seems far more eager to please at the slightest tip of the accelerator, while the 3-litre seems a little lethargic at times.
This indolence is largely due to the gearbox. We found the auto box sapped some of the pace from the engine, though changes were smooth and there's plenty of control in the Steptronic manual override, which leaves you in control right up to the redline at 6,500 rpm and down to about 800 rpm. After a while we didn't bother with the full automatic option, even in town traffic.
The six-speed manual gives the engine freer rein, and would be our choice, but one not open to those opting for the 3-litre version, where only auto is available. That's yet another reason to go for the 2.5-litre.
Finally, with virtually identical top speeds between the manual 2.5 and auto 3-litre ( 129mph as to 130mph) and acceleration times (0-62mph in 8.9 seconds against 8.1 seconds for 3-litre - it makes the extra €7,000 seem like money ill-spent.
There's a lot of good technology in the X3, and BMW are getting the early jump in a market that's set to explode in coming years as premium saloon-style models get a shot of off-roader in their underbelly.
Mr Panke has been busy splitting the BMW nucleus and generating positive energy each time. It would seem that these days BMW could probably stick a badge on the front of a shopping trolley, reshape the front into its distinctive kidney grille and there'd still be a waiting list.
But we fear his X3 formula may prove more unstable than before. The crucial element he's got wrong is price. Starting at €59,950 for the 2.5-litre SE, it's far too close to the X5 version. A 3-litre model comes only €2,400 short of an X5 with the same engine.
That means the biggest competitor to the X3 will be its larger sibling. And in that battle there's only going to be one winner. The X5 is better finished inside, and in the all-important golf-club car park, will come across as the more premium motor.
There's not enough clear blue water between the products towarrant its introduction and parking aside, we'd always opt for the X5. After all, there's always parking sensors.
Perhaps the long waiting list for the bigger model is what will help sales of the X3, but that's hardly a firm foundation for sales success. We just hope that if BMW need a sales boost for the X3 in the near future, they move its prices down rather than the X5's up. It'll undoubtedly be a hit in the school car parks this year, but it wouldn't knock the X5 off our shopping list. Mr Panke may just have got his formulae mixed up.
