How we picked our new car!

0:00 Today is the big day. Woohoo, so excited! We're now just on our way to pick up our new personal vehicle. Exciting! We have finally decided, yes. And it will be a very interesting one, I can promise. But we also want to tell you how we did get there. And it was kind of a little bit unexpected, because it was not like 100% the choice we had initially. It was really difficult, yeah. It was kind of like a surprise to us as well.

0:31 It's not the car we're driving here at the moment, by the way. This is the smart #5 Brabus. But also a cool car. Very nice car, but the consumption is too high. But let's quickly make a recap of how that decision came to play. And that is also very interesting, because for us it was kind of like a mix of which car did we want, where was the big deal, like the greatest offer, because that's also important, and also not to neglect at all, where did we get the best service?

1:07 Which one was the nicest dealer? Like the personal side of the things. And that is so important. And manufacturers often forget that, how important that is, how good the dealer is actually, and how good the service is. So where did we start? Initially, I thought, hey, let's get something more comfortable. And Lea agreed. Yeah. Something more comfortable for long term, because we are also inside Germany, maybe to the walls of Germany, some other European countries, do some longer haul driving and then need something more comfortable than our current Audi S5, the convertible.

1:46 But not so large and not so big. Yeah. Not so long. For all the parking lots, you know. That was Lea, because, you know, the S5... Because we don't live in the US, so... Yeah, in the US, Lea said, like, X7, 7-Series, fine, you know. But not in Germany, no. I actually, I thought about, like, which car really impressed me in our driving reviews. And that's why I initially got the Audi S5 convertible at that time.

2:13 And one more car that counted for that was really the BMW 7-Series. And I really loved that vehicle. However, then Lea said, parking lot, basement, garage. Not that good. And of course, she's right. Yeah. Of course, she's right with it, even though I love the 7-Series. So I was like, OK, maybe not, maybe not. So I thought, maybe a used BMW 5-Series, G30, G31, the estate, or a used Mercedes E-Class, aiming about, like, €30,000 range or something like that.

2:48 And we were visiting some dealers to get some used car inside and so on. And both great vehicles, definitely. Also the year from the previous generations. And we were really closely looking into that. And also Audi A6 and Audi A7, the used ones, the previous generations. And E-Class. Yeah, yeah. E-Class, yeah. So also the E-Class, the used generation, definitely. When we went to an Audi dealer and we found out that the seats are really not that comfortable in comparison to new BMW 5-Series seats all-new generation.

3:24 And the same also accounted for the G30 and G31. I thought, like, wow, in the all-new BMW 5-Series, which can be criticized for many things, which they had in the G30, like they don't have like this split glass roof in the back for the estate and so on and other stuff, but the seats are way more comfortable, I felt. And Lea as well. And then at the same time, BMW released some great offers for the 7-Series.

3:50 7-Series for €420 net for business customers, like with the lowest kilometer rate and something. I like that. What? Like, no way, no way. We need that, oh my god, it's so nice. And I was going, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, how can you say no for the 7 Series for 400 something euros? Yeah, he's right. It's a great offer. Okay, like when you do some equipment and then you add like, you know, that you get to 10,000 kilometers a year, then it was not 420 euros, but a little bit more expensive, but still like around 600, 700 euros, something like that.

4:25 And without payment upfront, it's a no-brainer, you know. But then we also found, oh, there are good offers for the 5 Series, which is a little bit shorter. And let's also compare the E-Class offerings for like new cars, because then I thought, why would we go for a used 5 Series or E-Class when we can get the new one for such a low leasing rate? That doesn't make sense to buy used. And let's say buying a used Audi, we didn't have the best experience with that, if you might remember.

4:55 We really put a lot of money into the S5 because so many things broke. Hard story, yeah. Yeah, that was a tough one. And then they say, okay, let's get an offer for the 5 Series and for the E-Class. And that was like, wow, crazy. Because they were boasting like with equipment and higher kilometers and something, maybe like towards like 600, 700 something euros net. Still good offers. But then BMW, no payment upfront. Mercedes, 14,000 euros payment upfront.

5:27 So that was the difference. Like no... For what? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the E-Class has better suspension, for example, and it's more silent than the 5 Series on the motorway, especially. But for 14,000 euros more, no way. And the seats are not that good. Exactly. Exactly. 5 Series seats are also... Yeah. And because one of the favorite cars for Lea and also mine was and is still definitely the Mercedes GLC. Yeah. Yeah. And we're still thinking of getting that one because the leasing we did now...

5:56 Only one year. Yeah, only one year. So we can decide new quite quickly again. GLC is still on the table, but the Mercedes offers were not good at all. BMW offers were like way, way cheaper. And we want also a good deal, you know. So then E-Class and GLC were kind of like off the table. Then still thinking of, okay, buying used and, you know, keeping it. Toyota and Lexus are still good. They're good for the reliability, long-term reliability.

6:24 But then again, the offers from BMW were very good. We also thought about the Porsche Panamera. We had it here in this nice lavender tone. Lea loved that. And I mean, pretty cool car, definitely. But totally overpriced. Totally overpriced. Sorry to say that, but it's crazy. It's true. It's true. So then the Porsche was off for the moment. Then we, of course, also thought about the size of the vehicle and maybe also going all-electric. And Lea's most favorite vehicle for driving at this moment is BMW 3-Series and 4-Series.

6:57 And you guys also told us, hey, get an M340i or something. And Lea's like, awesome. However, the seats of the 3-Series and 4-Series are good, but not as good as in the 5-Series or X3, X5, 7-Series. Because we are both very tall. Yeah. So when you're not as tall as us... Then it's good, yeah. Then it's fine. Exactly. So we still love the 3-Series and 4-Series. Also considering like the 4-Series Grand Coupe, awesome car. I think 4-Series Gran Coupé, 3-Series i4 is one of the best overall cars to buy at this moment.

7:31 We don't consider everything driving fun, you know, chassis and everything. But we want a little bit more comfortable seats for long haul. So then the ID.7, BW ID.7, also one of the best overall EVs at this moment. Great seats also. Great comfort. Good efficiency. However, then we sometimes have, not actually sometimes, very often have the case of going like 500 kilometers one day, like 250 kilometers one direction, having an event, going back 250 kilometers.

8:01 And the ID.7 and many, many other EVs could not do that without charging. And we want something who could, like a car who could do that without charging. Then, of course, BMW iX3 and the new Mercedes GLC EQ. However, they were not available yet when we had to finally decide about that. So they are definitely like in the pot for the next car choice. So for going all electric, BMW iX3 and Mercedes GLC EQ are at the moment hot picks, especially the BMW iX.

8:40 Because again, more comfortable seats and also a little bit bigger battery. How efficient they are. We still have to test the iX3 on the German Autobahn and also the GLC EQ. The driving test is to be coming up in a couple of weeks, actually. So that will be really exciting. Then we've been thinking, of course, also, Lea also likes the BMW X5 or X6. Me too. We also went to one of the BMW dealers and checked out, you know, size again and interior comfort.

9:14 And that's also very interesting that the seating comfort looks better in the X5. The seats look more comfortable, but then the new ergonomic seats in the X3, they are actually more comfortable to sit in. That was a surprise. So, and then the question is like living in the States, for example, the X5, you would have room to steer around and also like, as I said, seven series. But like the size here of Mercedes GLC, BMW X3 or iX3 and so on.

9:43 It's more fitting. Because also when we go to some car shows, we often have to go like in some basement garage, car parking lots. Or for shopping. Or for shopping, yeah, of course. And then when you go like above a certain size, it gets a little bit tricky to put the car in and out. And then when you have like high pavement or sidewalk at the side left and right and so on, yeah, then it gets even trickier.

10:10 So Lea was really right. Of course, she's the voice of reason here to not like go for the largest vehicle. Although I like to drive large vehicles. Yeah, me too. Yeah, yeah. But it feels nice, but it's not so handy. You need to have like the proper surrounding for that. Definitely. You know, so. And then also another thought was I like to drive six cylinders, of course, when we still go petrol. But then again, the taxation rule in Germany, especially in Germany.

10:42 If you like self-employed, the thing is that if you do not pick a plug-in hybrid or do not pick a full electric vehicle, you basically waste money when you're self-employed. You know, so because in the taxes you have to pay for your private use per month is half with a plug-in hybrid or a quarter with full electric. So there's a high incentive taxation wise to go either plug-in hybrid or electric. And there are also, you know, some good offers there.

11:15 Yeah, because it was also the thought like, do we go all electric yet or not? Or do we make somewhat of a compromise? And then, of course, it's about the good deal again. And with the dealer, because, you know, you already heard it. We thought about a lot of BMWs. And then I contacted the next BMW dealer. And at some point they just didn't reply anymore. That was crazy. And I was like, okay, so they don't want to sell cars.

11:40 Do you want to sell cars? Do you want to sell a car? Exactly. What is that? Exactly. I think a lot of you guys can relate to that. And that also leads me into the aspect of the manufacturers can do so much and do so great cars. But then the service at the dealer is, you know, not good or you... I mean, even Lea told me, for example, she's sometimes afraid to go into a car dealer because of the way she is treated as a woman.

12:05 That's why close to where we live, some women even opened a car dealer. Only for women. Yeah. Basically led by... Of course, men can also buy cars. But it's led by women because they knew they were afraid themselves to go into a car dealership because of the way you're treated. They're like from up above and they're like, you know nothing about cars. And that's why, you know, like we pity you a little bit, you know, and it's just not suitable experience, you know.

12:34 But then we saw like these great offers from the 7 Series and the 5 Series from another BMW dealer. So we went to dealer group, which is a little bit far away where we're going to now right now. And, you know, I called them up and then they were like completely different, you know, like so, you know, welcoming and so nice and great service and just calculated a couple of different offers for me and with different equipment and so on.

12:59 And there was always like customer first experience and that is so key. You know, we also had like the other side with the Audi, for example, and with the Audi dealers where the service was also like when you have like used car and we have problems out with warranty and so on was also not really good, you know. So and that's why, again, manufacturers have to pay attention to how good the dealers are. It's so important, so important.

13:26 And yeah, there we definitely felt welcomed. So it was really like the thing of which cars did we have in mind together with where do we find a good dealer and also a good offer? Because, yeah. I mean, GLC is still on the top of the list, but there was just not an attractive offer for this vehicle, you know, and we don't want to like throw money out of the window. That was also also key aspect.

13:50 Did I miss any of the vehicles that were in consideration? Yeah, I think I think that list was quite complete now. Yeah. Yeah. But then at the end of the day, we had great offer for five series for BMW X5 and also for the X3. Another aspect was, of course, animal-free seats. We both want animal-free interior. Yeah. And not all BMW models have the animal free steering wheel yet. The iX3 has it.

14:22 The X3 has it. The 4 Series has it, the 3 Series has it. The 5 Series, yeah. Right, the 5 Series. So these five will have it now. But not the 7 Series yet. Yeah. Not the 7 Series yet. Because of the steering wheel. Yeah. Yeah, there will be a 7-Series facelift soon, where I expect that there will also offer an animal-free steering. Let's see about that. Not quite sure yet, but we'll see about that. Yeah, and then we had to decide between these final offers.

14:46 I know there's always the aspect here in the room saying, oh, Thomas is like a blind BMW fan, and that's not true. I don't have any specific brand preference. But the fun thing is really, like, from all, like, the past, like, almost two decades of car driving there, it kind of had the effect that, you know, they were turning out to be somewhat the best in, like, the overall performance in the premium segment. And the funny thing was that also when Lea started working here with us, and I asked her after a couple of years, what impression do you have, which brand would you actually go for at this moment?

15:26 Yeah, and then it was, I think, Audi. And then it was Mercedes. And then... And then BMW, yeah. That's how she started. Yeah, yeah, started. You know, that was what she was thinking. But then she experienced... But then now it's BMW, Mercedes, and then Audi. That's the thing. Yeah. That's the thing. And even, you know, Jonas, our other cameraman, like, the very tall guy, and he doesn't even have a driver's license. And I asked him, you know, after, you know, been driving also, like, 500 cars together with me in, like, so many years, which brand do you think is the best at the moment and has the best cars?

16:01 He's like, BMW. Yeah. But you can also tell us your opinion. As a cameraman. As a cameraman. Yeah. And not even having driven the vehicles. That is astonishing, you know? So really, no brand bias at all here. We treat every car the very same fair way. I do not care about brand image. I don't care when I drive a vehicle, what people say around me. I don't care at all. But just from experiencing them. They have to improve stuff, definitely.

16:29 They're not perfect, yeah. Yeah. And the recent BMW interiors, especially on the combustion side, the iX3 is better now with the interior build quality and so on. Yeah. That was really, really important. So that's why also the BMW X3 for example, at first was kind of like off the table because we were thinking, oh, they had made a lot of mistakes on the interior, on the interior build quality, you know? Yeah. But at the end of the day, we had to decide between 5 Series, X5 and X3 because best dealer experience, best offers.

17:01 Mm-hmm. Clearly best offers and still premium driving experience. The BMWs drive very well. There are a lot of new competitors, but they don't drive as good as the BMWs. And also that BMW has the most comfortable seats and also the best offer for comfortable seats as for animal-free materials. That was like our thought, like the key things. But now the question is, what's the final cast? Oh my god! And here we are.

17:32 We are at the dealer and we have the key already. Let's see what it is. Can you guess? Can you guess? Maybe I give Lea the key fob. And now she can open the vehicle and you can take a look. Now it's maybe clear, yeah. So tell us in the comments if you would have guessed this early what it actually is. And of course, we'll explain to you. The decision once again in detail.

18:03 Maybe that's unreal, right? Yes. There we go. Lea does it. Woohoo! Yay! There we go. It's a BMW X3. It's a plug-in hybrid. So two liter four cylinder. Yeah, I didn't get my six cylinder. But plug-in hybrid to have like the compromise. Also test out how far we can drive electric. If we maybe go all electric in the next stage. And this is of course very good in Germany for the taxation benefits.

18:35 And guess who picked this color? I mean, you see I picked my clothing color accordingly. I'm a little bit, yeah. You a little bit. Yeah, a little bit. This is like this Dune Sand color. And you know, I'm more for Thomas Blue. But Lea want to have something different in the color this time. And we first want to go for Brooklyn Gray. I'm not sure if there's something here. In the back, I think. I think. No, that's... No.

18:59 And... Maybe in the very far back there. You can see it maybe. But Brooklyn Gray is only with the M Sport package. And then you get the animal steering wheel. So we search for something different. The iX3, that's possible now. So if you would at some point maybe pick an iX3, then we would probably go for Brooklyn Gray. But this one in the Sand Dune color is pretty special. And the interior is very, very special. Yeah.

19:20 I mean, first of all, you can see here. Oh, the Autogefuhl number plate here. And meanwhile, you know, I think also the look is pretty cool. At first we thought, maybe the older generation looks better. But we really like it meanwhile. Also here with the light signature. We also got here the illuminated double kidney in there. So that looks really striking. And now a quick tour here. First of all exterior, then interior. So here, Lea looks stunning together with this vehicle, doesn't she?

19:45 Thank you so much. Then here the wheels, 19 inch wheels. These are the smallest ones actually. But they look actually... But they don't look like that. Yeah. Exactly. Because these are the Aero wheels. Here, these black inserts. Then they're also bi-color. And that's why they appear larger than they actually are. No, I can't turn that one. So I think it's a good choice because we want more comfort. Driving comfort. That's why we went for the smallest wheels.

20:12 And they are also the most efficient ones. So we also like efficiency. But at the same time, I think they look pretty cool. Then again, this Dune Sand color on the exterior. It looks a little bit gray here in this light. Yeah, yeah. Interior, it looks more grayish. Exterior, it looks more sand-ish. Definitely. But I love it. Oh, my God. Yeah, I think it really looks cool. Lovely new color. The rear, you also have these new tail lamp signatures there.

20:39 I think also... And a huge BMW logo. Yeah, that's pretty cool. It's also cool. Yeah. There we go. And then here, 30e is then the name for the plug-in hybrid. There we go. There were some things in the X3 to criticize on the interior. Yes. Definitely. Yeah. But now the front. But they also, you know, made some changes there. Soon more to that. You could dig into the front. So you need this grille. It's stunning. Yeah.

21:03 Yeah. Yeah. Illumination for there. Yeah. And huge double kidney, definitely. This one is not M Sport, as we said, for interior reasons. Therefore, it also has the silver accentuation here in the lower part. But I think it's also pretty cool. Yeah. Lea always wants to have the M Sport package. Yeah, it's a little bit cooler, but I'm fine with that. Yeah. If we maybe at some point switch to the iX3, then she can get one. Yes.

21:28 So now to the interior. I can get used to Lea presenting, by the way. It looks definitely better than I would be doing it. Do we need some light or is it fine? Yeah, maybe some light. Maybe some light, yeah. So here, that's new. Here they now made high gloss black to make it more premium. Not sure if I agree to this decision, but here these buttons, they look a little bit cooler now. And here, this one was just plain black.

21:55 And this is more like they're now like a matte chrome finish. I like it. So that is... Yeah, that's an improvement. Yeah, it's more premium now. That's an improvement. What I wish is definitely that they still add here some fabric at the inside of the doors. And then we picked here this bright interior. And fits very well, I think, yes. You can even see it with the seats soon. I didn't know that they have like copper accentuations as for the contrast stitching.

22:18 We didn't know that, but I think it also looks quite cool. And now, I mean, I think it's even better visible when I come from here. So look at the outside color and then the color of the seats. We were kind of like gambling a little bit that it fits. But it's crazy. It's almost the same color. You know, look at that. So it's rare that people go for the bright seats. Oh, I'm so happy now.

22:41 So we were also inspired by, you know, like, let's say older US specs of like Mercedes SL, Porsche Cayenne, where a lot of like older Lexus SUVs and sedans where they picked like white exterior and then the beige seats. So this was a little bit of inspiration. Because it says like, you know, summer or maybe desert, you know, or boho style. Lea is totally into that as for interior decoration. That was the idea behind that to have also something.

23:11 I mean, the X3 is not like a, oh, like super luxury screaming out. We are super rich car. We don't want that. We rather like understatement. But at the same time, make it a little bit more unique than with the color and interior choice. That was like the idea behind it. And I think that it's crazy how well it matches interior and exterior. So, yeah, that was actually pretty cool already. There we go. How are you feeling?

23:38 Very, very good. It's very comfortable. Yeah. And I love the steering wheel. It's a great material. Like, is this the animal-free material? And also the seats. It's super soft. Really nice. Look how plush it is. Yeah. Yeah. So that was also the thing with the seating comfort. And seat cooling and heating. Yes. For these seats. That's what we also ordered because then no matter if winter or summer, you're fine. You can cool it in summer, heat it in winter times.

24:06 Yeah. So the great comfortable seating position. Oh, and look, the ambient lighting is also pretty cool, right? Yeah. So as I said already, it's Thomas Blue. At least I can have Thomas Blue on the interior right there. So that's cool. We do not have physical dials for the climate. So everything will be in the screen right there. No, that's only in the screen. But at least you have here the huge... Yeah, the controller. Yeah. Yeah, the BMW.

24:30 I don't know why it's off. I don't control. Yeah. Just ignition. There we go. So you can see the screens. In the iX3, the screen is now a little bit more towards you. So here you have to see Lea has to reach over quite a lot then to the climate unit. That's one thing we have got to have to swallow in that case. So we would like to have physical dials or at least that you can easily access them.

24:55 Yeah. So that's the one thing. So not everything is perfect. But at this point for us, it was the perfect combination of great dealer service. Nice car. Great price. Great price. Great comfort. Because now we pay about like just about 600 euros net like as a self-employed. And then we have like put taxation on it for the private use. But that one, as I said, is 0.5% then per month on the gross price. Because it's a plug-in hype in Germany and it would be 0.25% if it's all electric.

25:28 So if we would, for example, as next, because this one only goes a year, this lease here, if the next one would be an iX3, it could be two, 300 euros, something like that more expensive and would still be the same price because of the better taxation for the electric vehicle. So that's also something to consider because now obviously you can order an iX3. Yeah, but I mean, I'm really amazed. Yeah, I'm very happy now. Because it is an unusual color combination, you know?

25:56 Yeah. But we just want to date it. And if we want to dare something, you know, because the car is not that daring as a choice, then we want to have like the color combination a little bit more daring. And I think it also looks really stunning then here with the blue and the blue and the ambient lighting together with that. That's actually pretty cool. So yeah. And oh, by the way, here the dashboard, it is, you know, it also is available with fabric, but we picked the leatherette dashboard.

26:20 It's also pretty soft, great quality, easier to wipe, better with dust. And I think it also looks a little bit classier, more elegant. The iX3 at the moment, only available with the fabric dashboard. Let's see, maybe at later stage, I would expect that when there's like a model year change or facelift, they also offer something like that because usually customers rather want to have this. We also had a great offer for BMW X5. That one, however, was quite larger.

26:46 And we also did some trips then with like, like GLC or comparable size vehicles. And then we were in some parking garage, and then we both thought, oh, this is getting already narrow. And then we thought, wait a minute, if we would have an X5, X6, 7-series or whatever. It's too large for Germany. Yeah. So this size of a car here is that we have great comfort, but at the same time, the size is not too large that we would have problems like in German parking lots and stuff like this, you know.

27:16 So X5 3-liter diesel would have been the best other offer we have, by the way. Yeah. I mean, you can argue back and forth. Yes. No. This is, of course, like a little bit more modern choice, but it was more also about the size, for example. Yeah. And steering wheels at the X5, not animal-free yet. That was to be very, very also like consistent in our message here. And we don't pick the panoramic roof. Yes. Because...

27:44 Fixed roof. It just gets hot. Yeah. You know, even if there is always the filter in the glass, these glass roofs, they just tend to get even a little bit hotter always, you know. So then we thought, I mean... It looks cool like that and it's fine. It's fine like this. And then the car doesn't really get hot in there. So this was then also the logical choice for us here. And yeah, once again, the other like GLC would have been way more expensive.

28:10 5 Series, a little bit more expensive, also great offer. But then, as I said, like the E-Class, they just want to have like 13,000 euros upfront. Whereas BMW has just the leasing rate and that's it. And that's actually pretty cool. So we were kind of surprised that BMW has these great offers here. Yes. At this moment. And then it was kind of like a no brainer, especially because they still drive so well. You know, they're also like these new Chinese brands up and they do great build quality in the interior.

28:39 Yeah. Even better. And the infotainment is crazy good and fast. Yeah. Yeah. But driving is really, really good. This one is still better. Yeah. Yeah. So driving is really important to us. The Chinese car is a little bit wobbly. Yeah, from the driving experience. From the chassis and so on. Yeah. Yeah. Because they set it up like for, you know, a lot of traffic in their cities and so on. And this one is still a driving machine, you know, also, although it's an SUV, you know, so that was... I'm excited to drive it.

29:08 Yeah. Let's take it for a drive. By the way, just a quick info. Kilowatt hour net battery is about 20 kilowatt hours net. So we have like 80 kilometers or 50 miles of realistic electric range with this one. Then, of course, the petrol tank together with it. And one more thing here. So we picked this matte wood here for the middle console. I think it's real wood, right? I think it should be. It feels like that.

29:34 It feels like that. One thing they do have to improve is, for example, here, material quality at the inside here. This has to be better. It's very loud. Come on, BMW. You know, so I do expect that. And you have that here in the glove box. Glove box, yeah. Yeah. Why not having something like this at the inside of the middle console? And inside of the door, yeah. Yeah. And this one? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly this inside of the door and inside of the middle console.

29:57 That is the next thing BMW has to improve. And here, when Lea is driving, she can also easily sit behind it. There are cars with, you know... More space. More space, definitely. But you have enough space for adults. Yeah. So it works when we also, you know, drive our friends or parents around or whatever. Here, also soft... It looks very nice. This is nice here also. So this one was just plain black plastic before. Here, it is a little bit cheap, I think.

30:24 Yeah. Yeah. This is then the not high-gloss black thing because I'm not sure what's better there. Maybe with some light then you can see it. Yeah, with more light you can see it. This one is the plain. But I'm not sure if the high-gloss back here in the front is then actually better. I'm not sure about that. Manual sunblind? Manual sunblind, yeah. Why not? That's actually good. But really cool that they have the soft touch here at the rear doors like that.

30:42 And you know what that is. Of course, of course. We always go for the best sound system. Yeah. This one is, for example, also hard black plastic. Yeah. It's a smart #5 Brabus has it all. All the way covered in soft, by the way. But I mean, space is still okay. And once again, you can see like the matching of the exterior paint and the seat color is... Yeah, that's the best surprise for today. Definitely. Maybe quickly at the trunk, then we know.

31:07 And then, of course, we also take it for a spin. Can I open it with the key? Oh, yes, of course. The pro. Lea is a pro. Opens it here with the key fob. So here, what's missing here is definitely the remote unlock because it doesn't have one. And here the little... Oh, there's a small step because of the battery, right? Yeah, that's true. Yeah. So you can see you cannot fold up this. Have some space here, for example, for like this dock net.

31:33 Let's call it that way. Or like maybe for additional protection. There you can see it, yeah. interesting. I haven't seen an X3 packing before. So we always had the pure petrol this moment. So this is a little bit higher here. Like this is a small step. I think you can live with that. It's fine. It's fine. Then you have to fold the seats from there, you know. And then there's the shade. Or this cover. Yeah, there we go.

31:58 Yeah, but definitely also like for our standard luggage, this will all be fine. And of course, not to forget, 6.2 seconds is the acceleration figure. At least when the battery is not empty. 300 horsepower total system output. And you charge it here in the front. This is actually a good thing for our basement garage where we have the wall box exactly right here. So this is like a very short way then to plug it in there.

32:24 In the front. That's actually pretty cool. Most full electric vehicles have the charging port in the rear. Also for other considerations and so on. And of course, it's also still all-wheel drive. And interesting is also that the electric drivetrain is basically combined with the combustion engine. So no matter if you drive combustion engine or electric, you always have the same shifting. You know, so even when you drive it in the electric mode, you will have shifting.

32:50 And that is for some, it might be cool. Pure electric drivers might say that's maybe annoying. So it really depends. Oh, and Lea wants to do the door closing sound. And now the BMW door closing sound. Listen. That's nice. That's nice. And the rear, of course. There we go. Maybe even better in the rear, right? Yeah. And here, of course, the handles. These are the more classic handles. Manual. The iX3 has these new like flush folding in handles.

33:19 So that is what I prefer here with the combustion engine. Yeah, the manual version definitely. All right, here we go. Now we take off. Yay, first driving. Yeah, it's not the very first driving because we want to get some experience first. And you see, we changed clothes. I got a new haircut. Yeah, it's three years later. No, just kidding. Just a couple of days. I'm pregnant? No. Yeah, exactly. I was thinking about doing that joke, but then I felt like...

33:46 Really? Yeah. I was wondering, yeah, Lea gave birth, meanwhile, and so on. But I didn't want to irritate you. I didn't want to irritate the viewers, but then she went for the joke. Yeah. Good one. Yeah, so the thing was when we were finished filming at the dealer, it was already dark and then it didn't look that well. Then it was raining all day the next day and so on and so on. But now finally a small driving part for you.

34:12 And yeah, we are really excited because, I mean, yes, there has been a lot of criticism, especially about some interior parts of the iX3. But honestly, it drives... Driving is... So nice. Yes. So nice. And that was also one of the main parts. We just had the smart #5 Brabus, which is in the EV segment. Very good offer. But they are also the different... And that was always a nicely driving EV, you know, but the driving here is so excellent, especially for an SUV.

34:40 You know, we took the 19-inch wheels to get a little bit more comfort. And it's not the softest suspension. We do have the adaptive suspension in here, so it's like full spec. But the driving is so nice. It's really calm also when you're standing here. Especially in the corners. That's very nice, yeah. It's very calm when you're standing... For an SUV, yeah. ...and driving. And like Lea often complains, especially in some SUVs, that she gets sick.

35:03 Mm-hmm. Yeah. Passenger. But here... It's fine, yeah. Yeah, it's really, really great. So it gives you so much confidence in driving. It's very smooth. Yeah, we don't have dual glazing at the windows, but it's still also on the motorway, very silent in the drive because the windows, yes, no dual glazing, but they're pretty thick, the windows. And that also makes it silent. I'm in this car and I'm already sleepy. Really. That's something. Because it's so silent.

35:26 That's crazy, yeah. Always when I'm driving and I look over and Lea is like... Yeah, that really speaks for the vehicle. Not because it's like boring, because it drives sporty, you know, but really because it calms the passenger down. That's the thing, you know. But climate control would be cool here. Yeah. Really. Physical AC. When you need to change the... And it's also far away, you know. So when I'm relaxed here in the seat and then I'm reaching over here.

35:51 I cannot... So that's also the reason why in the iX3 the screen is like here. That was their logic, like bringing the screen closer to the driver and the passenger. But then like the instruments further away. I think that's... Now we get the idea, you know. But both, you know, the X3 and the iX3, they drive really, really well. If you're interested in a direct comparison iX3 versus X3, then tell us in the comments that we know if, you know, people are interested.

36:21 It's also interesting for us. Yeah. But maybe we want to change it to the iX3 then. Yeah. After that, like when the lease is over, there are still the thoughts. At this moment, really going to say that this one here comes way cheaper in the leasing than the iX3. Oh, yeah. Can you press the set button? To deactivate this EU speed... I'm always like... It's so easy here. Like just press and hold the set button. And then this speed chime thing is off.

36:48 When you do it. Yeah. Thomas is always driving and I don't know. Sometimes I still forget. But it's super easy to do that. He doesn't hear it. Yeah. And then great quality of the steering wheel. Nice, comfortable seats. We're also using seat heating, steering wheel heating. Seat cooling, of course, we'll use in summer. And we love the color match from outside and inside. It's awesome. When you open the door, you're like, nice. Yeah. And always like, even when you look at the front hood and then you look here, you know, at the middle console, you see that it's so great to have this color match, you know, it's really emotional.

37:20 I got to say, though, that the fabric seats in the X3 we had in the test vehicle... Maybe a little bit more comfortable. Yeah, maybe even a little more. They're really great. But when you have kids or animals, then it's easier to wipe it. Yeah, exactly. So if you're thinking about going for a base X3 with these fabric seats, they are not available in the US or in Canada, but you get them in Europe, you can very well go for them.

37:46 That's also why we are thinking like in the iX3. We would get one at some point, maybe Brooklyn Gray exterior, and then these gray fabric seats interior or here, what you can do very well, like we had in a test vehicle spec, blue exterior and gray fabric interior. That's all. Or again, the Brooklyn Gray on the outside and then inside the gray fabric seats. But the iX3 has no seat cooling. Yeah, not yet. Yeah, not yet.

38:12 So maybe it's better with the fabric seats. Yeah, exactly. When you have the fabric seats, they are better in the passive. The car is in passive ventilation so to speak as long as there's no seat cooling in the iX3. But here we do have it so we can also go for the veganza seats here. Yeah, that's pretty cool. So very happy with the comfort, very happy with the driving. Like all... everything feels so natural coming in this car, you know?

38:35 So that's really cool. Besides like maybe the no climate knob thing. We're still struggling a little bit with this BMW ID thing that the car recognizes who is driving and then loads the user settings. Now, when we entered the car, everything worked. Carplay and seat and mirrors. So we're still struggling with it a little bit. What is like the best thing to set it up that the car always recognizes who enters the car? Maybe if you have some experience with that, please share it in the comments.

39:05 Now it actually quite well works. So we activated one option yesterday. Maybe that did the trick now. But we were like so far struggling with it a little bit. It's also interesting here with the electric consumption because so far, honestly, we have not been driving long haul yet. So we were driving this vehicle so far all electric. We haven't fueled it once. And also motorway up to like 142 kilometers an hour or something like that. So like around 80 to 90 miles an hour.

39:35 It drives all electric very well. But there was this electric issue with the pedal. Yeah, the thing is there is one mode now like electric only mode and you can set it that it always starts in that. But you can also deactivate it. And so far in the older plug-in hybrids when you pinned down the throttle, the combustion engine went on and you had the maximum power. When you have this electric only mode activated then you can pin it down, but the petrol engine will not start.

40:04 But you can also deactivate that option so that in case you need it it does start. And we did that now because we had one situation where Lea needed I need a little bit, yeah. They just want more power, you know. Yeah, so that one, it will still drive electric when it can. You know, but it's not that you have then this really, like, very hard fix for that, you know. So that one, that option will deactivate.

40:29 So stuff like this, you know, experience. But here, we have under 24 kilowatt hours on 100 kilometers for the pure electric consumption. That is not as efficient as the iX3 would be as a pure EV. But not that bad for an SUV. Like the smart #5 Brabus, the pure EV was, like, at 27 in, like, the same kind of driving we did. So this is more efficient in the pure electric driving than the smart #5 Brabus as a pure EV.

40:56 Yes. Yeah, the smart is not a very efficient EV. That's kind of the thing. No? Yeah. There. We have to go there. Yeah, but really quite efficient for the plug-in hybrid vehicle. I'm going to say that. And it drives electric very well. It does do shifting. And I love the turning indicator sound. Turning and also, like, hammering in the turning indicators is awesome. The only thing I do not like in driving is because you have this shifting.

41:24 The EV motor is integrated in the transmission. Yeah, you feel that. You sometimes have that. I mean, sometimes you think it feels more natural and sporty, like, you know, like a car you're used to. However, when you're driving really slowly, like here now, and sometimes, let's say, you're, like, maybe in second gear. Then you're braking to the traffic light. And then, let's see if I can... Now it didn't do it. So, yeah, hard to reproduce. But sometimes it does it.

41:48 That then shifts down. A little jump. And then you get a little jump. And that can be a little bit irritating. We also had it even with the M5 plug-in hybrid. Yeah. You know, we talked about that. So, I think this is something maybe BMW has to work on. Yeah, but besides that, we're really... We're really happy, yeah. ...so happy with the drive. So, yeah, very happy with our pick. And, yeah, since this lease... Do you think that fits to us?

42:12 Yeah, tell us in the comments. Tell us in the comments, yeah. And the thing is, we... Since this lease here doesn't go that long, we kind of have to start thinking which is the next one. There's, of course, a difference when you, like, buy and keep it. So, it will definitely stay exciting here. Yes. So, and, of course, yeah, I'm always, you know, giving you the advice. I'm still looking forward to your feedback. Yeah, what you're thinking about our choice.

42:36 And also... Yeah. What could be the next one. Yeah. Maybe all electric or not. And which one, this will be still an exciting journey. And, of course, we'll keep you updated here with our experience about the X3 because this is, like, no more like a long-haul pure customer experience. Yeah, looking forward to what's nice or maybe also... Critical, yeah. ...bad things we experience. Let's see about that. Yeah.