MT GARAGE

ARRIVAL: 2018 BMW X3 M40i

“The engine and exhaust noise is clear and present from the driver’s seat, but some of this is piped in via the speakers.”

Brian Vance

EPA CITY/HWY/COMB Fuel Econ:

20/27/23 mpg

Base price $55,295 As tested $68,670

 W ith a blip, rip, and a snarl of its exhaust note on startup, the BMW X3 M40i has entered our fleet for a year of amassing miles.

This tuned and tweaked version of BMW’s mainstream SUV is the performance offering for the third-gen X3. Press the start button, and it’s obvious this is not a standard-issue X3. As soon as the straight-six fires up, the engine goes into a burbly, deep, high-revving idle that most certainly announces your daily departure from the neighborhood to anyone with ears. More important, though, it’s a daily reminder that this X3 craves more than just jaunts to work, Home Depot, and the grocery store.

The 2018 X3 M40i replaces the standard car’s four-cylinder turbo with a turbocharged inline-six that makes 355 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. This gives the M40i a notable 107 hp over the X3 xDrive30i. But this is not a full-blown M car like, say, an X5 M. Rather it’s a BMW that’s been massaged by the M division with a slew of added parts and tuning meant to sharpen the driving experience.

What this means is that M has enhanced the driving experience here but not as thoroughly as it will when it rolls out the promised X3 M later in 2019. Yet letting the M division work its magic into the X3 makes a lot of sense; most agree that the X3 has embodied BMW’s core driving dynamics ever since the gen-one vehicle went on sale here in 2004. So yes, take your crossover with an already-good