BMW X3 3.0d a premium offering

THE Bavarian brand won't be making the same mistake it made with the turbo-diesel X5 3.0d when it launches Australia's first oil-burning X3 4WD today.

Priced at a range-topping $74,400 – rather than being positioned as an entry-level variant as was the case with the X5 3.0d, which quickly became the X5 volume seller before its price increased – the X3 3.0d joins the $71,400 X3 3.0 petrol and the X3 2.5 ($63,900 manual, $66,500 auto) on sale here.

Unlike the others, the diesel X3 features a six-speed Steptronic auto, but otherwise it is specified almost identically to the 3.0-litre petrol version, which is also auto-only.

Of course, a 160kW/480Nm turbo-diesel is the other big difference, propelling the compact BMW 4WD to 100km/h in a claimed 7.9 seconds and consuming just 8.6L/100km on the combined EU cycle.