Budget Buy: $12,000 for BMW X3 vs Acura RDX

Used luxury crossovers on a budget, the BMW X3 and Acura RDX offer a lot of value at $12,000. But which is the better buy?

Balancing Fun and Practicality

In this wild used-car market, you can still rely on ye ol’ compact crossover for a solid value. Space, practicality, and in the cases of the Acura RDX and BMW X3, some luxury touches make this most ubiquitous of vehicles at least worth considering. These two crossovers in particular offer a good contrast in personalities to help parse what’s most important to you in a crossover. The RDX boasts great reliability and loads of standard features while the X3 has a turbocharged straight-six for adding some driving enjoyment to your daily commute.

At $12,000, you’ll typically find examples of the Acura RDX and BMW X3 right around the 2011 model year (give or take) and between 100,000 and 120,000 miles on the odometer.

Specs

The 2011 Acura RDX comes with just one engine, a 2.3L turbocharged four-cylinder making 240 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque. In the standard front-wheel drive set up the RDX gets 19 city and 24 highway mpg. Equipped with all-wheel drive the number dip a bit to 17/22 mpg. Both configurations get a five-speed automatic transmission.

The 2011 BMW X3 offers two options for powertrains. The first is the xDrive28i, which gets a naturally-aspirated 3.0L straight-six with 240 horsepower and 221 lb.-ft. of torque. Fuel economy with this engine comes in at 19 city and 25 highway mpg. Next is the xDrive35i and its 3.0L turbocharged straight-six making 300 horsepower and 300 lb.-ft. of torque. Fuel economy here runs a slightly better 19/26 mpg. All-wheel drive comes standard with either configuration, as does an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Driving & Performance

The Acura RDX is the up-market version of the Honda CR-V, but you wouldn’t know it from how it drives. The RDX’s all independent suspension provides compliant handling and a smooth, unperturbed ride. The all-wheel drive provides incremental improvements to handling, but the real benefits therein are probably better winter driving performance. The turbo-four is fairly peppy, but only after considerable lag. When it does kick in, the RDX feels well motivated. Steering is sharp, with good on-center feel. The five-speed automatic is the RDX’s weakest link is its hesitancy fails to be papered over by paddle shifters that fail to make the RDX feel at all “sporty.”

The BMW X3, on the other hand, focuses much more on its 3 Series DNA for an engaging drive that rivals the best in the segment. While power is decent with the standard 3.0L, the turbocharged version is much preferred in terms of performance. Responsive steering and standard all-wheel drive make the X3 feel planted and athletic. Unlike the RDX’s lackluster transmission, the X3’s eight-speed automatic is a high point, providing snapping transitions between gears.

Comfort & Interior

The 2011 Acura RDX’s cabin isn’t as slick as that of the X3, featuring more plastic surfaces and design elements that echo the crossover’s origins in the Honda CR-V. Still, overall quality is good as are the ergonomics. Space is ample in both the front and back with cushy front seats that are well-bolstered. Cargo measures 27.8 cu. ft. in back and 60.6 cu. ft. in total.

The 2011 BMW X3 gets a leg up in the looks department thanks to some choice deployments of wood trim (a take-it-or-leave-it feature for many). The X3 has a more premium feel than RDX, but functionality remains about the same. The seats are good here too, with even more aggressive bolstering up front (to accentuate sportiness no doubt). Space, however, isn’t as generous as the RDX, with rear seat legroom measuring 36.8 inches in the BMW versus 37.7 inches in the Acura. Cargo ends up a wash as space behind the rear seats measures 27.6 cu. ft. (slightly more than the RDX) but less in total at 55.6 cu. ft.

Trims & Features

The 2011 Acura RDX offers a lot of high-quality standard features that make even the base model feel like a premium product. Standard features include leather upholstery, a moonroof, rearview camera, dual-zone climate control, USB port, Bluetooth, 18-inch wheels, keyless entry, heated side mirrors, and ambient lighting. Additional options include navigation with voice recognition, real-time weather info, XM satellite radio, a 6-CD changer and premium stereo, and Acura Satellite Communications System.

The 2011 BMW X3 also offers a good deal of features in its base form. Standard features on the X3 include 17-inch wheels, leatherette upholstery, Bluetooth, HD radio, aux jack, 8-way power adjustable front seats, cruise control, 12-speaker stereo, and rain-sensing wipers. (The xDrive35i gets larger 18-inch wheels.) Options include real leather upholstery, heated front seats, 40/20/40 splitting rear seat, rearview camera, and navigation with text-to-speak feature.

Additional Considerations

On paper, the 2011 Acura RDX and BMW X3 match up pretty closely. But there are at least two critical factors we haven’t yet covered.

First are the relative aesthetics of the RDX versus the X3. This period in Acura design is best known for its front “beak” grille design. The hefty swaths of chrome come together right at the nose of the vehicle (again this was true of all Acura’s at the time). This was questionable back in 2011, and the design hasn’t aged well in the interim. The X3, by contrast, still looks sharp by modern standards.

On the complete flip side, we have the very practical matter of how these vehicles have and will continue to age. As a Honda product, the Acura RDX has a pretty sterling reliability record. The X3, while not as bad as some BMWs of a similar vintage, doesn’t have as good a reliability record and its maintenance costs per year come in at double or more than that of the RDX. In other words, know when picking the X3 that those used car savings may well evaporate once you consider maintenance costs. Even so, the X3 is the sportier, more enjoyable daily driver.

If you’re looking for a solid used luxury crossover buy at $12,000, the 2011 Acura RDX narrowly beats out the BMW X3.