Looking to buy a 2003 BMW X3 car? Used Car Expert has thousands of 2003 BMW cars for sale from 2003 BMW car dealers and private sellers across the UK.
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 3 year old and sell it before it is 4 years old.
For advice on what to pay, see below and for more detailed depreciation and mileage & spec adjusted prices & graphs visit our price guide.