Steve Huntingford Steve.Huntingford@haymarket.com
Mileage 2928 List price £65,865 Target Price £65,865 Price as tested £63,970 Test range 218 miles
WHEN I WAS a young road tester at What Car?, we always used to recommend BMWs in SE trim. Deep down, we knew we were fighting a losing battle; almost everyone went for M Sport regardless, because they wanted the sportier styling and bigger wheels that this brought. And it wasn’t that we didn’t get the appeal of these features. However, on a purely objective level, SE cars were better.
You see, M Sport brings sports suspension. However, at the time, this was about as forgiving as an angry Twitter mob.Add in the run-flat tyres – with their stiff sidewalls – that were just starting to become common on BMWs and the result was a ride that was firm enough to make your vision blurry.
But no longer. My iX3 is an M Sport Pro (essentially an M Sport with some extra luxuries). But while this means it’s got stylish 20in wheels and sports suspension, trick adaptive dampers that adjust to the way the car is being driven ensure it’s just as capable of playing the comfortable cruiser as it is remaining composed in corners.
It also helps that, over the years, BMW’s engineers have got much bett
