BMW X3

At a glance

Für wen ist dieses Auto geeignet?

The sweet spot between executive comfort and mountain capability — big boot for luggage plus hiking gear, plenty of power for overtakes on the Morača canyon.

• Premium road-trippers
• Families with gear
• Cross-border drives

The BMW X3 on Montenegro roads

Behind the wheel

The X3 xDrive20d is the most complete all-rounder on this list. The 2.0-litre diesel produces 190 hp and 400 Nm, the eight-speed ZF automatic is among the best gearboxes currently built, and xDrive sends power fore and aft intelligently rather than waiting for slip. From the driving seat the car feels smaller than its 4,708 mm suggests — the steering weights up off-centre, the brakes have immediate travel, and body roll is notable by its absence on fast sweepers. It is quieter than the C-Class at 50 km/h because the diesel insulation is genuinely thorough, and the seating position is raised enough to improve sightlines in tight medieval streets.

On Montenegro roads

Across the full Montenegro map the X3 rarely meets a road it dislikes. The 25 Kotor–Lovćen hairpins are dispatched in second and third gears without the car ever feeling wide for them. The Tivat–Ulcinj coastal cruise is effortless at 110 km/h with the adaptive cruise doing most of the work. The Piva canyon road — long sustained 8–10% gradients with tunnels and one-lane bridges — is where the torque and the all-wheel-drive traction combine to make overtaking a tractor a single, predictable move. The one limit is sheer width on the narrow Perast waterfront and the inner stone lanes behind Stari Bar; you plan those approaches, you do not improvise them.

Space and load

The 550-litre boot expands to 1,600 with the rear bench down, which in Montenegro terms means four adult suitcases plus a double pram, or two full sets of ski gear plus luggage for four to Kolašin, or dive kit for three heading to the wreck sites off Žanjice. Wedding parties doing Sveti Stefan get proper garment-bag hanging space across the rear. The load height is sensible — higher than the Octavia, lower than a full-size SUV — so lifting a heavy case in at the end of a hot day is not a workout. It is the default choice when luggage is the constraint.

Best journeys for this car

The X3 suits a four-person family doing a two-week loop that crosses climates: three nights in Kotor, three in Žabljak, three in Podgorica or Budva, with cross-border side trips to Dubrovnik or Mostar. It also suits two couples sharing a single car for a shore excursion out of the Port of Kotor, and photographers carrying tripods, drone cases and changes of clothing for both mountain and coastal shoots. Honeymooners based at a single address do not need it; the C-Class or Corolla is the more appropriate pick when the footprint never changes.

Practical notes

Real-world diesel economy is 6–6.5 L/100 km on the motorway and closer to 8 in heavy mountain use; either way a full tank handles a long day of driving. Parking is the only regular compromise — the Budva old-town perimeter and Kotor’s bastion-gate bays are tight, and Porto Montenegro valet is the sensible default. The xDrive system with stock all-season tyres handles Montenegrin winter on tarred roads without drama; for above-snowline Žabljak or Kolašin in January, fit winter tyres and carry chains by law. Summer AC is strong, with rear vents standard, which matters when the car is full and the outside temperature is 36°C at Velika Plaža.

The verdict

Pick the X3 when the brief is ‘one car for everything, two weeks, all of Montenegro’. Skip it only if you genuinely never leave the coast and never carry more than two people — in which case you are paying for capacity that never gets used.

Vollständige Spezifikation

Inside the car

• Panoramic Roof
• Adaptive Cruise
• 360 Camera
• Sport Mode