CR5 Issue 155 April 2018 digital

BMW X3: Truly
Capable
by James Baggot
The wheels are spinning, but the
BMW isn’t going anywhere. Every
revolution of the alloys acts as a
spade, shovelling sand and sinking
the new X3 deeper into the huge
blood-orange dunes.
But this isn’t a seaside resort. 25
miles from civilisation, we are in the
Saharan desert and we’ve spent
the last hour tackling one of the
toughest off-road routes I’ve ever
experienced. The fact that only
now, just a few feet from our final
destination, one of my colleagues
has managed to half bury a BMW is
a testament to the X3’s abilities.
Nestled in a lunar landscape,
beneath a carpet of stars so bright
they look superimposed on the sky,
is our camp. A series of Bedouin
tents have popped up between
the dunes, rugs laid out across the
sand and a sweet smell of mint
tea is wafting through the rapidly
cooling air.
The next day, we set off on our epic
drive towards the Atlas Mountains,
thrown head first into the madness
of Marrakesh. It’s an assault on the
senses, and tests defensive driving
skills to the limits.
It subsides as quickly as it erupted,
the roads opening up into out-ofthis-world
landscapes. Soon we’re
crossing the Tizi n Tichka mountain
pass, one mighty hairpin after
another. Our X30d – with a new
260bhp, 620Nm engine – is by far
the pick of the range, and on roads
like this, it’s swift and enjoyable.
At midday we arrive in Ouarzazate,
and the famous Atlas Film Studios.
We drive around the sandy site in
our BMWs, entering the gates of
Game of Thrones, a huge city set
made real by the thousands of
extras that are bussed in from the
surrounding villages when they’re
needed.
By dusk we’ve covered nearly
300 miles and have taken in the
stunning Anti Atlas Mountains. We
filter our way through M’Hamid,
the last conurbation before the
desert, in a dusty convoy. To the
locals we look like aliens, 15 brand
new BMWs disappearing off into
the darkness.
Our camp, not far from the Algerian
border, is an hour of off-roading
away. It would be great fun, if
only we could see where we’re
going. Just the lights of the cars in
front illuminate the impenetrable
darkness.
It’s this swamp of blackness that
unbalances the rhythm of one of
our colleagues when approaching
the camp. They fail to give a sand
dune the run up it deserves,
beaching the BMW in a position
that takes seven men and shovels
to retrieve it from.
The next morning, we’re told today
will be tougher than yesterday. Five
hours of harsh off-roading will be
followed by a dash back across the
mountains to the airport.
Warning soon forgotten, we’re
quickly back in the groove, drifting
the off-roader around sandy
corners and clattering over sharp
rocks. As the desert eases, we
experience the barren, flat, dry
river beds of the Ouef Draa, Iriki
Lane and Erg Chigaga, all stages of
the famous Dakar Rally.
As we approach Foum Zguid, on
the edge of the desert, our BMW
calmly tells us our nearside rear
wheel has lost pressure. BMW
chaperones soon arrive out of the
dust and whip the ruined wheel off,
and we once again make our way
back on to tarmac – after five hours
of bumping and crashing, the X3
feels like it’s riding on a cloud.
Back in the Anti-Atlas Mountains,
we start to make good progress,
giving us time to enjoy the X3’s
comfy new interior and smart
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multimedia system. But 100 miles
in, we hear a popping and a
hiss, and the now all-too familiar
warning chime caused by another
tyre losing pressure.
This time team the BMW team
isn’t close, and with no phone
reception we’re left waiting in the
searing heat for help to arrive. An
hour later, the support car pulls
up but now it’s not the tyre that’s
causing frowns, but the time. We
have 130 miles to go, back across
the challenging Atlas Mountains,
and even without hold ups it looks
like we’ll miss the only flight out of
Marrakesh that day.
So begins a rush to the airport
quite unlike any I’ve experienced
before. We head off on a threehour
rally stage. From screeching
hairpin bends to blink-and-you’llmiss-them
overtakes, the BMW
takes it all in its stride.
Through sweat, tears and clenched
body parts we hurtle into the
Marrakesh airport car park with
just minutes to spare. The flight is
closing, but we manage to get our
boarding passes and dash to the
gate.
Sat, perspiring, exhausted but
elated on the plane, I look across
to the newspaper hacks who’ve
endured the pan-Moroccan mad
dash with me, and we smile. The
BMW X3 may have two new tyres,
but it’s been returned unscathed
and we’re taxiing down the runway
just 25 minutes after we arrived at
the airport.
All credit to BMW. There aren’t
many firms who’d put their cars,
or a bunch of journalists, through
what we experienced. The X3 has
proven it’s a truly capable car, able
to transport you and your family
on any adventure – and I for one
am certainly looking forward to the
next one.