Article Summary
- BMW South Africa’s new half-day X3 course includes steep grades, water crossings, side slopes, and articulation obstacles.
- The locally built BMW X3 takes center stage at xDrive Park near Johannesburg, with sessions limited to 10 participants.
- BMW offers similar off-road experiences at its U.S. Performance Centers, continuing a tradition that stretches back decades.
BMW spends plenty of time telling us its SUVs are actually “Sports Activity Vehicles,” but most X3s will spend their lives dealing with little more hostile than potholes and parking curbs. BMW South Africa is offering owners the chance to change that. A new off-road course puts the latest X3 into considerably messier surroundings, and the resulting photos might be some of the best we’ve seen of the fourth-generation SUV.
The new program is part of the BMW M Driving Experience South Africa and takes place at BMW xDrive Park in Midrand, near Johannesburg. Importantly, the facility itself isn’t new — BMW says xDrive Park opened in 2018 — but the X3-focused off-road course expands what drivers can do there.
The BMW X3 Gets Put to Work
Rather than simply sending participants down a gravel road, BMW has constructed a half-day course designed to demonstrate what xDrive and the X3’s electronic driver aids can actually do when pavement disappears. Drivers encounter steep climbs and descents, cross-axle articulation obstacles, side slopes, water crossings, skid-control exercises, and even recovery situations. The idea is to combine driver technique with systems including xDrive all-wheel drive, Dynamic Stability Control, and Hill Descent Control.
And, judging by BMW’s accompanying photos, the X3 doesn’t exactly stay clean. The images show the locally produced SUV climbing uneven dirt obstacles, kicking up dust, and putting considerably more suspension articulation to use than the typical grocery run demands. Here, “locally produced” matters, too. BMW specifically calls the X3 its “local hero,” as the G45 is made in South Africa. Using it as the centerpiece of the course therefore makes considerably more sense than importing an X5 or another larger model simply because it looks more conventionally suited to off-road duty.
The course costs R4,950 (roughly $306 USD) and is limited to 10 people per session. Participants also receive a certificate after completing the program. BMW says the off-road course joins existing South African offerings including Advanced Safety, M Advanced, and M Drift courses.
A Familiar BMW Performance Center Formula
For American BMW fans, the concept should look familiar. BMW’s Performance Driving Centers in the U.S. also combine pavement with dirt. The current BMW Performance Driving Experience offered at both the East and West locations includes time behind the wheel of an X model on an off-road course before participants move onto the track and sample other BMWs through corners and straightaways. The East location in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is particularly appropriate: BMW’s Performance Center sits directly across from the company’s massive U.S. manufacturing plant.
BMW’s fascination with taking its SUVs off pavement stretches much further back. The company says its Driving Experience program launched its first major off-road tour in 2000, taking the original X5 through Morocco’s Atlas Mountains and desert terrain. Later trips ventured into Kenya, Namibia, and Botswana, with BMW Driving Experience South Africa eventually handling regional tours. So, the new X3 course is arguably one of the most authentic extensions of something BMW has been doing for decades. Most owners probably won’t ever ask this much of their X3. Even in my BMW X3 review, off-roading was hardly at the top of our to-do list. But these photos are a good reminder that BMW’s midsize SUV can get a lot dirtier than its usual suburban habitat suggests.
