FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2019 BMW ALPINA XD3

How big is the boot of the BMW Alpina XD3 & BMW X3?

Boot space in the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3 is really good, it will hold fourteen shopping bags when empty. That is the same as the Range Rover Velar and one less than the Audi Q8.

The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fits with three shopping bags beside it.

The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fits in the boot of the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3 with seven shopping bags beside it.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fits in the boot of the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3 with six shopping bags behind it.

The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fits in the boot of the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3 with three shopping bags around it.

Or you could fit a large size dog in the boot of the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3!

The boot floor of the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3 is lovely and flat, perfect for an emergency nappy change or impromptu boot picnic! It comes with retractable roller blind and cargo net that can be fixed across the back of the rear headrests. There is a 12V socket on the right of the boot wall and bag hook.

As well as bag hook, elasticated strap and netted storage area on the left. I found these good for suncream bottle and soccer ball storage!

How good is storage inside the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3?

Storage inside the cabin of the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3 is good throughout; there are two cup holders in the central console, they will hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup. There is a 12V socket there too.

In front of them is your cordless phone charging well and there is a USB port there too. There is also your plaque with the exclusive production number of your vehicle; this one is number 61!

The central console storage box is a great size with a USB socket inside it too.

The glove box will hold my wallet and iPad with the manual.

There is no glasses case in the ceiling of the Alpina XD3 or BMW X3 but there are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.

The front door bins are big enough to hold a large refillable water bottle and an iPad fits in them too.

There is a lined drawer by the driver's right knee which I found useful for my sunglasses.

In the back of the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3, the door bins will also hold a large refillable water bottle and my wallet fitted in there too.

There are net map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold but not conceal an iPad.

In the back of the central console box, there is a 12V socket below the rear aircon controls.

In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback of the XD3 are two cup holders. They are well sized to hold a disposable coffee cup or my reusable Luxey Cup fits too.

How noisy is the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3?

The BMW Alpina XD3 is a pretty quiet car.

The media system in the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3 is great, it is easy to navigate and use and I love the weather forecast feature!

You can have Apple CarPlay installed into all BMWs for an additional $600.

The sat-nav is easy to use and I was glad to see you could easily mute the guidance voice on the left of the screen until you need it.

I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!

The reversing camera image is fantastic in the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3, especially as the virtual car view is to scale which really makes maneuvering easy and the image is crystal clear. There is also a 360-degree camera view.

The indicators are quiet in the Alpina XD3 and wouldn’t disturb my sleeping toddler.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The fuel gauge on your driver's display screen tells you your distance to empty, which is a great BabyDrive feature.

The distance to empty display becomes extra important as a mum because getting fuel with a baby is a whole new world of difficult. If they are screaming in the car you definitely do not want your journey prolonged with a fuel stop! If they are asleep the turning off of the engine, doors opening and locking and unlocking, then re-opening the doors and closing, starting the engine again, beepers going off because you haven’t got your seatbelt on when you start the car or because you blink in the wrong direction, do you take them out of the car when you go in to pay? If you do will you get them back in the seat again or will they have a complete meltdown and you’ll be stuck on the fuel station forecourt with a screaming baby!! Hopefully you are starting to gather the anxiety that what was once a simple fuel stop can be for a mum!!!!

For this reason the distance to empty display can let you know if you have enough fuel to make it home with bub and then go out and get fuel another time when you will not have to take bub with you.

The doors and windows can both be locked from the driver's door.

Both the doors and windows are quiet and would not disturb small sleeping passengers when opening and closing them. as you can see from this picture the interior is available in this vibrant and exciting red leather too!

The Alpina XD3 is a lovely smooth ride, it is apparently smoother than when it started life as a BMW X3 because of the adaptive suspension that Alpina installs, which does make for a smooth and comfortable ride for little passengers especially when in comfort mode. I found when in sport mode the ride was harder and a bit of fun for Mum or Dad once drop off is complete!!

How many child seats fit in the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3?

I was hesitant to install child seats on the pristine, quilted white leather seats in the back of the Alpina XD3 and thought if this were mine I would definitely put down a seat protector!

There are ISOfix connectors in both of the rear outer seats. They are within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to.

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three rear seatbacks. The outer two are clearly labelled but the central one is not. There are other anchorage-looking bars on the back of the seatbacks which could be confusing but these are not top tether anchorages.

I could fit three child seats across the second row of the Alpina XD3, which I am told has the same dimension of seats as the BMW X3. I also found I could fit between two child seats and I am 162cm.

There are built-in window blinds in the rear windows of the Alpina XD3 which are fantastic for shielding rear passengers from the sun.

There is a lovely big, glass ceiling to the XD3 and a good amount of headroom for posting bub into their child seat from inside…

…and outside the car. There are handles above both rear doors to hang a child's toy from.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is plenty of room to feed bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed.

How comfortable is the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3? And how good are the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3 to drive?

In front of the Alpina XD3, the seats are beautifully comfortable and I could wear a ponytail while driving thanks to the adjustable headrests!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

The seats in this model are pristine quilted white leather, which would be interesting to keep clean! They are branded with the Alpina badging as are the floor mats, which look like gold coins and I'm sure most children would try to pick off thinking they had found pirate booty!!

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable at the sides. In the central seat, I could feel the firmness of the drop-down armrest in the seat back and the kick room is a little limited in the central seat. You can change the angle of the rear seatbacks which is good.

For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

The cruise controls are on the left-hand side on the steering wheel and easy to use.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones and one at either end.

There are also air vents on the back of the central console for the second-row passengers that the driver can reach easily.

You can control the front climate easily with the buttons on the dash and the rear aircon has its own set of digital controls in the back of the central console box.

The rear interior lights are located in the ceiling, in front of the door handles on either side of the car. I could only reach the one on the driver's side while driving!

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

There are handles above the rear doors to hang a child's toy on.

Visibility in the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3 is good, with child seats installed I still had good visibility out of the side and back window. I found the reversing camera was so clear it made reversing and parking easy.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, the Alpina XD3 was fine to park.

Aesthetically the Alpina XD3 is a good looking five-seater family SUV, the interior is beautiful and not many people would know that it is a limited edition 😉

How safe is the Alpina XD3 and BMW X3?

The BMW X3 scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2017 and it has been through the child occupant protection testing.

Scoring a total of 93% or 35.4 out of 38 for adult occupancy. Broken down into 7.34 out of 8 for the full-width frontal crash test, 7.42 out of 8 for the frontal offset test. Full marks for the side impact test and 7.30 out of 8 for the pole test.

For Child Occupancy protection the BMW X3 scored 41.2 out of 49 which is 84%.

Seven airbags come as standard; there are dual frontal airbags and side chest-protecting for the front passengers and drivers knee airbag and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags are standard for the front and rear side passengers.

As standard, all models of the 2019 BMW X3 comes with seat belt pre-tensioners in both the front seats and rear outboard positions, active bonnet, adaptive cruise control (ACC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for the city, Interurban and VRU, automatic headlights, automatic high beam, automatic emergency call (eCall), blind-spot monitoring (BSM), daytime running lights (DRL), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder and fatigue detection, forward collision warning (FCW), hill launch assist, lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), reversing collision avoidance, speed assistance – automatic / intelligent speed limiting (ISA), speed assistance – manual speed limiting, speed assistance – speed sign recognition and warning, tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) and pre-crash systems as standard.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!