BMW X3 M Competition 2019 UK first drive

The latest member of BMW’s rapidly expanding performance line-up, which just so happens to be a mid-sized SUV rather than a saloon, coupé or convertible. 

This, the first X3 to ever receive the full M division treatment, gets the adjustable all-wheel-drive system last seen in the M5 super-saloon and an all-new straight-six engine that is also destined for the next-generation M3 in 2020.

If the ‘B58’ motor powering the X3 M40i can be considered M-lite, the M Competition’s ‘S58’ engine is very much the real deal. It’s a near-ground-up redesign, with a forged crankshaft, twin monoscroll turbochargers, indirect intercooler and lightweight cylinder head helping produce a peak 503bhp and 443lb ft - more power and torque than any six-pot yet unleashed by M division. 

Having already experienced the X3 M Competition and its slightly sleeker, slightly pricier X4 M Competition sibling on road and track in New York, we’ve now introduced one to British roads for the first time.

Heroically quick, as you’d expect given its substantial power output. The six-cylinder engine note may be less evocative than an AMG V8 or Alfa Romeo’s twin-turbo V6, even with the exhausts set to their loudest, but there’s no denying what the X3 lacks in aural charm it makes up for with startling pace.

More impressive is that power is delivered in such a linear fashion. The twin-turbocharged S58 does an uncanny impression of a naturally aspirated motor, with none of the mid-range shove exhibited by its rivals and usable power right the way through the rev range.

The four-wheel-drive system that was so configurable in the M5 isn’t quite so adjustable here, with no pure rear-wheel-drive mode, but sending power to all four corners lets you hustle the near-two-tonne SUV to 62mph in little over four seconds.

Handling is as precise as you’d expect from a car wearing an M badge, with the kind of grip and body control that lets you drive with real conviction. Steering feels direct at all speeds, and while not as engaging on the limit as the rear-biased Stelvio, it delivers a feeling of agility unexpected of a machine this size and weight.

This level of involvement does come at the cost of everyday ride quality, though, with the adaptively damped suspension delivering a somewhat brittle ride that doesn’t translate brilliantly to UK roads. The X3 rides well over larger bumps and undulations, even in its sportier modes, but high-frequency vibrations transfer easily into the cabin. It is far from the worst in the class for suspension set-ups better suited to a race track than the road, but when even stretches of A-road Tarmac that could feasibly be called ‘good’ feel coarse, the ride might grate when experienced every day.