Looking to buy a used BMW X3 car? Used Car Expert has thousands of used BMW cars for sale from used BMW car dealers and private sellers across the UK.
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The US built X3 was BMWs first stab at the junior exec 4X4 market and it's a bit of a mixed bag. Good points are that it feels like an X5 to drive. Bad points? It's not an X5.
The X3 is a bit of a difficult car to recommend but in many ways that works in its favour. As a 2.5/3.0 petrol it's very cheap. And it still has a classy air.
There's really nothing to consider here. You could buy a newish' diesel model with high miles and a base spec or go for a slightly older, high spec petrol with less miles. Yes, the petrol will use more fuel but it's much, much cheaper.
Go for a petrol engine with a manual gearbox. If you can, try to pick up an SE spec car as BMW sport models tend to have a very harsh ride on UK roads.
The cheapest diesel auto you can get will cost £5000 more than a 2.5 manual petrol at £8000. That's 50% more. For a car that's done 40,000 more miles. Even if you go manual diesel you'll still pay over £1000 more and have double the mileage.
Diesel X3's hold their value well for the first 3 to 4 years then there's a big drop. Petrol X3's plummet like a stone from day one. Get one of those.
Used Car Expert recommends that you try to buy after a big drop in depreciation and before the next one, so with the current BMW X3 you would aim to buy a 4 year old and you can keep it for some time before needing to worry about a big drop in value.
Diesel BMW X3 cars lose most over the first year (from new to 1 year old), so that is the best ‘nearly new’ buy in terms of car for money.
Petrol BMW X3 cars lose least between years 1 and 3, so this is the best buy if you want to keep the car for a while.
Petrol BMW X3 cars lose least between years 2 and 4, so that is the best buy on older cars.
For advice on what to pay, see below and for more detailed depreciation and mileage & spec adjusted prices & graphs visit our price guide.