Top 12 Best Buys 2025: Premium Midsize SUV – BMW X3

Looking to upgrade to a new vehicle in 2025? These are the Car Team’s top picks in the premium midsize SUV category with the X3 reigning supreme. Find the full feature in the April 2025 issue of CAR Magazine!X3

Looking for a new or used vehicle? Find it here with CARmag!

Criteria

In terms of premium feel and price point, vehicles in this category sit above “mainstream” midsize SUVs. While cars like the modern VW Tiguan and Kia Sportage have closed this perceived gap, there remains an element of sophistication and status here.

Related: CAR Rookie Places Second Overall at GR Cup Round 1

Winner: BMW X3

Assembled at BMW South Africa’s Plant Rosslyn, the X3 reclaims the top spot in this segment after relinquishing it to its otherwise excellent X1 sibling in our 2024 voting. Fresh from its local launch, the fourth generation of BMW’s best-selling product introduces bold new styling, a more spacious interior and the firm’s newest infotainment and driver assistance technologies. Until a new iX3 arrives with its dedicated “Neue Klasse” all-electric platform, we especially appreciate that the modern X3 is available with the choice of a 2.0-litre turbodiesel powertrain, a plug-in hybrid setup with up to 90 km of electric driving range, or a flagship 293 kW/580 N.m M50. All models feature BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive technology.

Related: BMW Unveils Epic 80-Year Digital Model Encyclopedia

First runner-up: Mercedes-Benz GLC

Bookended by barnstorming new AMG 63 S E Performance derivatives, the impressive modern Mercedes-Benz GLC range, including the Coupé profile option, is similarly broad in terms of choice of powertrains.

Second runner-up: Audi Q5

A beneficiary of recent repackaging exercises, including the introduction of the new Black Edition models, Audi has breathed fresh life into its impressive SUV. The option of a Sportback body style remains a boon.

Find the full feature in the April 2025 issue of CAR Magazine.

Click here and browse thousands of new and used vehicles with CARmag!

The post Top 12 Best Buys 2025: Premium Midsize SUV – BMW X3 appeared first on CAR Magazine.


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