President's Day Car Shopping

[The G Man]

The wife and I went on a few test drive over the President's day weekend.

First up was the BMW X3, we drove the non turbo version. The X3 has plenty of power for everyday driving, but we both expected more from a BMW acceleration wise. The interior is typical BMW, it look cheap but nice to the touch. Handling is classic BMW, a lot of steering feedback and not artificially tight like our RX450h.

While I was at the BMW dealer, I test drove the 528iX for the heck of it. Overall, every aspect of the car was what I expected from reading the reviews. The 4 cyl. turbo is very quick, it’s a bit more responsive than the X3 in my opinion. The 8 speed transmission really took advantage of the turbo engine's power band, the power train always seems to be in its sweet spot. The handle was a bit better than the 535iX I test drove last year, probably due to the lighter engine. The biggest disappoint was again the interior, it look cheap and un-inviting when compare to the competition. The few 528iX we look at had MSRP of around $55000, which is bit over priced in my opinion. The same power train will go into the lighter 2013 3 series, the new 3 series should be a blast to drive.

Next up is the redesign 2012 MB ML350, the new direct injection engine provides more power than last year and fuel economy has also been improved. The interior of any Mercedes is a nice place to be and the ML is no exception. The MB tex, fake leather looks and feels very real. The ML drove more truck like than our RX450h and a took a while for my wife to get use to gears again. The MSRP was a bit more than the X3, $58000, but MB is discounting the ML pretty aggressively.

Our last stop was the Land Rover dealer, we test drove the Land Rover Evoque. The wife like the way it look every since it was introduce last year. The Evoque is still in limited supply and there is a waiting list for the car. The Evoque handled very well during the test drive, handle is as good as the X3 and better than the ML. The Ford 2.0 turbo engine has plenty of power and build quality is up to the Range Rover standards. The interior was a bit nicer than the ML and blows the X3’s interior away in my opinion. The back seat were tighter and cargo space is even less than the X3. Exterior design is very sharp all around, my only complaint was the back window is a bit too small. We kind of lost interest as soon as we learned that it was selling at MSRP with no discount. The Evoque is a nice SUV, but not worth the $57000 they were asking for.