Hi all,

a friend of mine is interested in buying a BMW X3, around July or August, so we went to see it at the Cyprus Auto show. By entering the show, the first car we saw, was the new Freelander 2. It was in a light orange colour (Tambora Flame I think) and it looked very nice. Nice design, the interior looked great and well equipped.
Then we went to BMW to see the facelifted X3. He was disappointed to say the least. The differences weren't that obvious from the 1st model and the interior was poor. On top of that, they had a light blue car (similar to laguna blue), with a beige leather interior on display which didn't look that nice.
On top of that, the price of the standard equipped X3 was a few pounds cheaper than the highest equipped Freelander, the HSE model if I remember well.
Now, to the point. We don't see that many Freelanders here in Cyprus and don't know how it is in the reliability department. It looks better than the X3, better equipped, more comfy and I guess better in off roading.
Has anyone any experience with any of them? Which one would you buy and why?

Thanks, George

 

X3's are for people who can't afford drug dealer-mobiles (X5's), but Freelander 2's seem like very decent unpretentious cars.

 

X3 3.0DS M Sport... 286bhp from a 4x4 in black with 19's.

They actually look really nice and are good for 15 sec 0-100 They also drive like a car and not a 4x4.

Yeah the Freelander is okay, and looks a bit better, but the engines will be cack, the build quality suspect and the reliability iffy.

Maybe a Rav 4 is a better option?

 

Good question.

BMW X3 - why?

Hateful things. Or they were until they were facelifted recently. As Moff says, the 3.0sd is a phenomenal thing performance-wise considering its size.

But for the huge amount of cash you'd have to pay for it, you could have so many better BMWs (the X5 being an obvious choice given he obviously wants an SUV/SAV), or indeed better cars.

If it has to be one of these two, go for the Freelander, because the X3 is just too damn expensive. Buy an X5 instead.

 

I really confused as to why the X3's are depreciating that much.

Been looking at the 3.0sd for my wife, and they are still

 

The thing is, here in Cyprus the taxes for vehicles over 2.2 litres, are ridiculously high. The option is either the 2.0l diesel X3 or the 2.2l Freelander. For example, the 350Z is 30000 CY pounds more expensive than the S2000, so the Z is worth around 65000 UK pounds. The same goes for the 3L X3. It will cost 35000 UK pounds on top of it's price, so really not worth it.

 

I totally agree with that. I have always told him that it isn't worth it but he insisted so I gave up.

 

God if it's the 2-litre diesel X3 we're talking about, then for goodness' sake avoid it like the plague.

I'd rather eat my own face than buy one of those.

 

 

I don't know a great deal about them, but there is a brand new CR-V just out.

2.2 Diesel, less pretentious than the BMW XR3 & more reliable than the Explorer-sorry-Freeloader.