Seems like a waste, trying to compete with Audi and Subaru. And who wants something cheap like the X3 which is built by a Saab contractor?

This does sound like a bad idea but I wouldn’t be so dismissive of Magna Steyr.

Who on Earth wants a small off-roader? The X3 is rubbish, so why make an even smaller pseudo-4×4 which won’t go up as much as a hill? NO, NO, NO!!!!! The soft-roader market is the one which is the most pointless. Why would you want to go off-road in a hatchback. Unless BMW make this a properly good off-roader, it will be pointless.
At the end of the article, it mentions successors to the M1 and Z8. This is certainly very welcome. The original M1 was very good looking and very fast. The Z8 was more of the same. BMW, give us a new M1 and Z8 please, and don’t waste your time with rubbish like X1’s and other jacked up hatches.

BMW could put out a dried purple dog turd on wheels and its BM-dingleberries (aka fans) would buy it. Styling- and quality-wise, they’ve been doing it for years.

Same “contractor” builds the G-class for Mercedes…not exactly “Cheap”. I don’t think they currently build anything for Saab?

Aston Martin… your point is well made. Unfortunately there is a huge demographic of soccer moms in New Jersey, Conn, NY etc. that just have to have the latest automotive fashion BS available. These crossovers are like shoes for them. They’d be happy with a one wheel drive jeep as long as it “looked” the part. The worst odd road “experience” for them is a little extra dust on the interstate.
BMW is in the market to make money, period. They will very likely sell all of them.

Make that “off road”

Really, they should do away with the X3 if they intoduce this. The X3 was poorly executed, and priced way too high for it’s size. I was in a market for one for a while, and figured I could get a year-old CPO X5 with a better warranty for less $$….

If they price this at a 1-2k$ premium to the RDX/Top Line Rav4/Loaded Subie/LR2/MKx…then they’d have something…but knowing BMW, they’ll price it out of the market like they did the X3. The X3 should have started at 25k…

Hal — ” I wouldn’t be so dismissive of Magna Steyr.”

I would not either. They are a solid firm. They build the G-Wagon and the X3. They also build very good guns.

X1 will kick arse.

last reports quote bmw officials to elect the X3 one of their main cash-cows in europe… dont think they will abandon it…

“homeboy”, they’re just trying to keep up with the number of Benz models available … just building something … someone (not I) will buy it, whatever it is.

And what’s with that messed up headlight design? WTF?

dear bmw, do not try to make cars for poor people, that is what ford and gm do, its probably the only thing they do well

going low end will be suicide for bmw and mb. if they must do it, do it under another brand name that people accept as synonomous with cheap garbage, like CHRYSLER! AHAHA! i kill me!

BMW doesn’t have to do this!

The real question is does this move bring BMW to far down market. Personnally I like the idea of getting a new BMW in the upper 20’s. Does it hurt their premium status though?

who wants a crossover smaller then an X3?, whats the point?

homeboy

golf4me

The X3 is pretty nice, we have had two x5s and one X3, and I would get another X3 in a heartbeat. Good car. I’m not using it to tow logs out of a peat bog so I’m not dissapointed about its off road prowess.

They like it in the UK

http://www.topgear.com/content/carsurvey/2006/features/04/1.html

I heard they were lowerin the prices in Britain anyway for the X3. I can get onwe pretty cheap here in the US anyway.

I’m hopin’ the y drop the uber six-pot turbo-diesel in it by then,

Sadly, many love X3’s back across the pond. However, most road testers totally slate it. For many, it is an affordable solution to owning a 4×4.

BMW is going to lose their prestige and luxury reputation if they keep on trying to make cheap, common cars.

BMW, and some others, appears to be addressing what is becoming more of an issue with fuel economy, size, and branding (their own). It is a smart move to provide the market with viable alternative in your lineup, and yet still offer the X5. Besides, world-class vehicle manufacturers do just that.

Excellent. Make it a worthy “dune buggy” and I’ll be the first to buy one, no questions asked.

The X3 is not a bad car really. Its not an “off road” vehicle, but does offer the winter security of 4WD when needed. The true off roader crowd isn’t considering the X3 or a new X1 anyway. They are looking for a little more cargo room and some form of 4WD.

When I went truly off roading I owned a Jeep Wrangler, that was highly modified. Believe me I didn’t want that Jeep as a daily commuter and traded it in in a few years.

I now enjoy the comfortable ride and semi luxurious ride of my own “soft roader” Honda Pilot. I know I cant climb a boulder with it, but I can ride comfortably for long distances, and still make it through the 2 foot snow bank left by plows at the end of my driveway.

Let me clarify the X3 CROWD is looking for a little more cargo room and some form of 4WD….not the true off roaders

who cares if it will be **** offroad, noone will take it there anyway, same and the x3 and to a lesser extent the x5

Aston Martin,
“who on Earth wants a small off-roader?” Not me, I’ve already got a huge one, but you wouldn’t have to go far to find an answer to your question. Just head out onto the street and ask anyone driving a RAV4, CRV, Sportage, Tucson… There is a big market for these horrible models, despite the fact that the buyers would find more space in a small estate car.

So you’re saying that we should buy wagons instead of small SUV’s?

If, as miket says, one is looking for a little more cargo room and 4wd a wagon will provide more room, handle better, use less fuel, cost less, be easier to get into, get out of and park and will not give the impression of an outdoorsman wannabe.

stupid

C’mon, guys, people never take crossovers off road. Am I wrong? Does anyone here have a CUV that’s ever seen dirt?

People buy em to get off the road, feel safe, and generally have a little bit more room. Or maybe the styling just clicks for them. Doesn’t matter. What matters is that there’s a market, and BMW is more suited to this market than to try and make a serious off-roader.

do they even promote their offroad capabilities? look at their website, the most offroady scene they show the x3 in is a dusty gravel road…. …

A hell of a lot more cargo room and 4wd can be found in an Audi quattro estate, mercedes 4matic estate or a Jaguar X-type 4wd. What would truly beat the soft-roader market would be a normal estate car with 4wd. This would provide the extra traction without looking very, very stupid. The cars I mentioned above are examples of these sort of cars.

meekin111: speak for yourself. Over here, with a foot of rain falling in a short time EVERYTHING gets muddy and slippery, especially when you have to go up a hill. This thing has got to have good traction, otherwise Jeep will crush it just like any other vehicle.

i find BMW SUV’s as the most useless car ever invented… if i buy an SUV (sport utility veichle) i want to atleast drive it through some slipperly mud and gras and not get stuck. and the X3 is the worst, no off roading capabilities at all, 0, my FWD toyota camry can make it further than an AWD X3 or even the X5..

which is funny, because if it wasnt for mercedes benz in 1997 releasing the M class suv, bmw would have never made an SUV. and atleast with the M class, not a brilliant 4×4 off roading suv, atleast you can drive it through slipperly mud and snow with little trouble. i know this because ive driven it up something a ford f150 got stuck in (4×4)

I really doubt that a FWD car could do better then a vehicle with an 4wd system, but to the previous poster’s point that there is just as much room in a sedan well that’s nonsense. Flipping down those rear seats and piling in gear was one of the reasons i bought an SUV. Sometimes stuff just won’t get through the sedan’s “pass through”