2023 BMW X3 M Competition Tested: Ritzy, Racy, Raw

If you want to know just how adept high-performance SUVs have become at bending the laws of physics, check out the BMW X3 M Competition’s test numbers. It would be easy to assume that they were produced by anything but a tall shoebox of a car. A high-end sports car, maybe? A thundering muscle car? A powerful sports sedan? A 60-mph time of 3.2 seconds, a quarter-mile of 11.5 seconds at 119 mph, and a 0.96-g fling around our skidpad are strong stats for any vehicle regardless of body style. Oh, and the X3 M Comp delivers them with one of the most forceful personalities in the compact-performance SUV class.

BMW’s M performance doctors first turned their attention to the standard X3 SUV back in 2019. The fitness program they put it through was rigorous, comprising chassis reinforcements; a profoundly stiffer suspension tune; and fat, sticky summer rubber. And, of course, the patient received a heart transplant in the form of the then-new S58 twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six for its 2020 M debut. Shared with the M3, M4, and X4 M SUV, the engine boosted underhood muscle to 473 horses for the X3 M and 503 for the cherry-on-top Competition model.

The X3 M has changed little a few years into its life. That’s a mixed blessing. BMW refreshed the entire X3 line last year, and the M model received a few minor revisions: new front and rear fascias, a larger kidney grille, slimmer LED headlights, and revised taillights. The changes are almost too subtle to register. Updates inside the cabin included a new center console, a reconfigured 12.3-inch infotainment screen, revised ambient lighting, and improvements to the driver-assist systems.

We would have loved to be in the meeting when the M engineers decided, “Hey, this thing needs more power.” The Competition was already one of the quickest compact SUVs, in league with rivals such as the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quardrifoglio and Porsche Macan GTS for stoplight sprints. But more grunt is always a good selling point. Tuning changes to the S58 left horsepower unchanged but plumped up torque by 13 pound-feet in the X3 M and by 37 pound-feet in the Competition, bringing their totals up to 457 pound-feet and 479 pound-feet, respectively. That was enough reason for us to grab an X3 M Competition for testing.

Four model years in now, the X3 M Competition’s in-your-face attitude remains intact. It’s still at its best playing oversized M3, ripping down straightaways, and charging corners on two-lanes. It’s the engine that imbues the X3 M Competition with its ready-to-lunge vibe, and we love the stout six here as much as we do in the M3 Competition sedan. It idles with a menacing bass boom through the standard Sport exhaust, yowls sweetly to its 7200-rpm redline, and pulls like it’s running from the devil. All-wheel drive provides stunning launches and shuttles power between all four wheels seamlessly. There’s a beat of boost lag if you mat the throttle at low revs, but the rush that follows always makes us grin.

Though our backsides couldn’t discern the additional torque from the 2022 upgrade, the extra juice did manifest itself in our testing—barely. Our test car reached 60 mph a tenth of a second sooner than the 2020 model and grew that advantage to three-tenths of a second by 160 mph. It’s possible that the S58 will be the last great BMW inline-six, and if that’s so, we couldn’t think of a more fitting way for it to go out than lighting up other M cars and SUVs.

We wish we could be as enthusiastic about the X3 M Competition’s aggressive chassis tuning, which carries over unchanged. Despite the multitudinous adjustments available within the Comp’s drive-mode menus, there’s no combination of settings that calms the arthritically stiff ride. Mottled pavement jostles it rudely. At city speeds, the sticky 40-series summer tires pound over tar strips that most other cars ignore, registering them with a bass-drum-like thud that reverberates through the cabin. The ride does relax on glassy-smooth roads, but who drives only on those?

Trading off some of that chassis rawness for a more livable ride would make the X3 M Comp happier doing the mundane things that SUVs are enlisted for most of the time—like school drop-offs, grocery runs, and trips to Home Depot. Killer handling and ride comfort don’t have to be mutually exclusive, as performance vehicles ranging from Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing to Porsche Macan have proven.

The Competition package adds $7000 to the base X3 M’s $75,395 price, and it includes the more powerful twin-turbo six, upsized 21-inch tires, the Sport exhaust, heavily bolstered M Sport front seats, your choice of two-tone Merino leather combos, and more. Our test car was also optioned up with the M Driver’s package that raises the top speed limiter from 155 mph to 177 ($2500); the Executive package’s head-up display, panoramic sunroof, and heated front and rear seats ($3650); special-order Le Mans Blue Metallic paint ($3750); the Driving Assistance Plus driver-assist package ($1700); wireless charging ($500); and tinted M Shadowline lights ($250)—all of which ran the tab up to $94,745.

It’s an expensive suit of clothes, and dressed like this, the X3 M Competition is a thoroughly equipped and convincingly luxurious high-performance automobile. But as nice as the upscale furnishings are, they do nothing to leaven the X3 M Competition’s excitable demeanor. This ritzy hot rod might deliver great performance numbers, but we’d like it more if it wasn’t quite so raw.