Surprisingly, the roughest of these edges has something to do with the X3’s driving. Long recognized as BMW’s greatest strength, it falls short here. Its biggest flaw is its heft, and how BMW has neglected to mask that in any way. Having to carry two complete powertrains—it’s a plug-in hybrid after all—it tips the scales at a portly 2,140 kilograms. That puts it straight into Lexus GX category.

This mass is noticeable almost immediately as the X3 30e xDrive has difficulty breaking inertia. Even with 399 horsepower and 450 Nm of combine outputs available on tap, it never feels that brisk. Punch the accelerator and BMW claims a 0 to 100 km/h time of 6.2 seconds, but that’s only if some juice is left in the battery (more on that later). And while the stopwatch doesn’t lie, subjectively, it doesn’t feel as exciting. Over crests and through rougher patches of road, that weight is ever present. And while this lends it a feeling of solidity, it also reduces its agility. Point it through a curve or corner, and it’ll take it on like a sumo on a race bike. The steering too, is accurate, but lacks the communicativeness.

Having said that, the X3 is the champ when it comes to eating miles. Show it a long enough piece of road, and the experience is simply sublime. Road and wind noise are well suppressed, even if BMW’s decided to fit it with sporty mixed ratio 20-inch wheels.

Going back to the subject of the powertrain, the X3 now comes solely with a plug-in hybrid powertrain for the Philippine market. The “30e” designation means a marriage between the 2.0-liter TwinPower Turbo 4-cylinder and an electric motor. Like any union, when the two power sources work together, the experience tends to be more than the sum of their parts. Interestingly, it’s the electric motor doing most of the heavy lifting so it’s clear that it’s taxed. As a result, the X3 never comes close to its as-advertised 90-kilometer all-electric range. In stop-and-go traffic, the reading drops down to 2.79 km/kWh meaning its 19.7 kWh battery dries up after less than 55 kilometers. In light traffic, however, it proves to be more efficient—4.33 km/kWh.

The same experience could be said with the combustion engine. Keeping the throttle below 50 percent (it automatically switches to hybrid mode past that), means the gas engine doesn’t crank up. As a result, the X3 30e xDrive barely consumes any gas. During more spirited driving or when the battery’s fully depleted, you’ll see that figure go up quickly. With the total running mileage capped by BMW Philippines, it registered below 20 km/L, before settling in at 27.77 km/L. And mind you, a third of the time, it was running around with a full charge. Lesson here? To eke out the most efficiency here, pay no attention to its all-electric range and simply top up whenever you can.

Minus points in driving and overall efficiency aside, the X3 also falters a bit when it comes to the interior. Although it hits the basics with an ergonomically-sound driving position and all, it doesn’t feel as roomy as its hefty exterior size would suggest. While it scores top marks for head and shoulder room, the thick center console does rob some knee room (even if the pedal box itself is free of obstruction). Things are better at the back where there’s plenty of space to accommodate three people side-by-side with no issue. The middle person, however, will still have to straddle a large hump on the floor.

The cargo hold, at 460 liters, is sizeable enough and the load space is practically square with no loading lip making it easy to slide heavy things in and out. If that’s not enough, it grows to a cavernous 1,600 liters with the rear 40/20/40-split folding seats put down. There’s a small storage compartment right below it too, but it’s good enough to fit things like the early warning device and fix-a-flat sealant. If anything, the lack of any adjustable recline is a cause for complaint here.

Even more problematic is that the X3 just doesn’t feel expensive this time around. For the most part, the interior is well-assembled with soft, padded surfaces on the dashboard and nice, solid controls. However, there are a lot of hard, scratchy plastics and disappointingly, they’re found where passengers would interact with the car. The door pulls, plastic control panel with the words, “X3” printed on it, and the “jewelry box” center bin, to name three. The ambient lighting may also great in photos, but in real life, they look cheap—like the sort of glow sticks you get at a Coldplay concert.

For all its cost-cutting, material-wise, BMW has come back strong when it comes to on-board tech. The dual-screen layout remains the standard. The dual curved screens, with its high-resolution graphics, aren’t just a sight to behold; they’re also extremely easy to use and navigate. And while the BMW Operating System 9 relies more on touchscreen inputs, BMW has retained the rotary controller here. Plus, there are several shortcuts surrounding them too. Oddly, while there’s plenty to go by in terms of customization such as the way the door locks behave, it requires setting up and logging into a BMW ID for them to work.

You would think that the latest X3’s design would be a cause for concern, right? Actually, it’s one of this car’s best bits. The monolithic design, as the brand calls it, and its upright stance and lack of creases make it solid (the hefty door thunk hammers that point even more). It also helps visually increase its size, especially when you factor in the rim-lit kidney grille. Speaking of the grille itself, the front end’s challenging for some, but it’s also quite imposing once you take everything in.

For the past two generations the X3 has always been the most conventional member of the BMW family. Here, however, it’s managed to grow comfortable outside of its own skin. No longer saddled by BMW’s typical evolutionary take, it’s been revolutionized this time around. No doubt, there’d be skeptics and there’d be haters, but they can always head over to Lexus or Audi for that. For those who’re able to cut out the noise, the X3 30e xDrive M Sport promises a new chapter. While the driving isn’t as engaging as it used to be, and the interior could use a bit more polish, the overlying engineering’s still solid and that should suit well for those seeking a very good premium compact SUV.