All-new Audi Q5 vs BMW X3 comparison REVIEW! Which is the better SUV? (2026)

It's the clash of the premium midsize SUVs, the all-new generation of the Audi Q5, attacks the BMW X3, so also a new generation, just that the Q5 came a little bit later, and later also some remarks to the Mercedes GLC because it's also here inside this pack, but now it's about this head-to-head comparison, which one is the better one, which one is the better one for you and maybe for us because we are also thinking about a new vehicle, and these two are also quite high in the top hit list for us, so we will also take a detailed look for ourselves at these two vehicles here, here with Thomas Nautico Fuel in 4K, full screen, full length. Let's go with this comparison with the Audi Q5. Here without chrome rings in the front, I think the bright ones look actually quite cool. They are also available in dark, but in the bright styling, they are more visible. This is also an S-line, has a special front grille with a, I mean, it looks like an RS front grille. Meanwhile, don't you think so as well? Tambora gray is this very vehicle color and optional matrix LED. With the BMW, we also have optional matrix LED. This is your tanzanite blue, this very beautiful, almost Thomas blue color, and you see I dressed according to like blue top, gray bottom, so I fit to both vehicles then. Here the BMW double kidney, redesigned in this new generation, very prominent. Some like it, some don't. This is the normal look with the contrast here. You could also get an M Sport look. For example, we already had one M50 car already, but both are very distinctive in design, and I like it when the cars differentiate. Which one do you like best at first sight? Tell us in the comments. As for the length, when we go to the side here, the Audi Q5 starts at 4.72m, 186 inches. The length difference to the X3 then is that the X3 is 4cm or an inch longer, so both the very, very same segment. Both have 18 to 21-inch wheels. These are the biggest 21-inch wheels here with the Audi. We have also 21-inch with the X3 here today, so very comparable, but suspension is the difference. You have a base suspension, you have a fixed sport suspension with both, and here with the Audi, optional air suspension. That one is not available for the X3, but for the X3, we also have equipped the adaptive suspension, which is also an adaptive suspension, just without the air chamber, and we are going to test it on the road and also on the German autobahn, high speed, how they compare in driving. Towards the rear, they are also very different, and I like that difference here. The light strip goes all the way through with the Audi. Once again, the bright rings here are more two-dimensional, but you can still feel them. In the rear, no fake exhaust tips here anymore. They listened to your and to our feedback. These are real exhausts here in all engine versions, and BMW didn't have them on the X3 as well as I remember anyway, so both a very clean design. BMW also goes for more monolithic design here, very wide open areas and so on, and a very interesting light design as well. X3 20 means the petrol engine. It used to be 20i, but since they have the i numbers or the letters now for the electric vehicle models, they want to differentiate that the petrol engines are not called i anymore. That's the logic behind it, so to speak. You can see here, once again, as I said, the X3 a little bit longer, but not substantially, and really very completely different design. Here, we have the chrome design. You can also get the dark design around the windows, so both as possible, and the 21-inch wheels I talked about earlier here. They look great, of course, but I can already tell you for both vehicles, if you want a better driving comfort, then you should not go with the biggest wheels. Both Audi and BMW, so it's a cool shot, have a similar engine setup, so it's a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder petrol, 2.0-litre 4-cylinder diesel, then there is the performance engine, a 3.0-litre 6-cylinder petrol engine, and they also offer plug-in hybrids, and the very comparable engines here today, there's a 2.0-litre TFSI in Europe, 204 horsepower. The Northern American version would have 268 horsepower, and the X3 here with the 20, it's just called 20 now, as I said, here with 210 horsepower. However, the acceleration difference is 7.8 versus 7.2, but when you go for the X3 30, which is a standard also on the Northern American market, so just like a horsepower tune higher, then this one is quicker than this one, and if you go for the Northern American market versions, only 30 versus the 2.0 TFSI there, then it's almost equal in the acceleration figure, so it really depends on the individual engine. A big technology difference is that Audi changed everything to the Quattro Ultra, means front-wheel-based platform, and then power is also sent to the rear wheels. However, if you accelerate hard out of the corners, you can still have a rear-wheel bias, that's more flexible system, whereas the X3 AWD is more classic with a standard rear-wheel bias, so to speak. In driving, doesn't make the biggest difference as for the AWD system, but still, you can say that the X3 will be more rear-wheel biased, you know, over the whole average, and I can tell you that engine and transmission feel will be way different between both cars. Door closing sounds, BMW first, well, solid, and with the Audi, solid as well. Is there a big difference? I think both nice, and Audi Q5, instead of the doors, we start here. This is structured, but it's rather a little bit harder, I feel, overall, and then, here, it's a little bit softer, again, here for the elbow, but that could also be softer, but the main criticism point is here, this field here is like one button field for everything, and then, with capacitive control, and also, when you grab the doors from the inside, you touch, basically, here, or you, and this is too wide, so it's a little bit weird how they made the grab handle included with this button field, kind of strange, and also here, not sure if on the Northern American version, we have still here this opening or closing button, maybe, guys, you can report on that if you have the new version because this is where this here open and close usually was, and then, there's like just like a blindfold area, it's kind of strange, isn't it? But, there will also be discussion about the inside of the X3 door coming up soon. Cockpit of the all-new Audi Q5 generation, most obvious thing here with this huge black panel design, infotainment, digital instruments, and also a passenger display, which is not really used in Northern American or European market, it's more for the Chinese customers indeed, and if you have the base version, there is just a black panel, and that's it, you know, and at least, they should have done like ambient lighting or maybe like here this nice wood panel or something because this is pretty cool, you know, so it's a real mad wood, you can also hear that how I feel, it feels awesome, and that really spices up the vehicle here because otherwise, you have a lot of high-gloss black, it's something that customers never wanted, but car manufacturers still gave it to us. Also, here in the middle console, so much high-gloss black, then 4-dot design, adaptive cup holders, that's nicely done, this integrated shifting lever, inductive charging pad in the front, but also two USB-C chargers. Here, you can still change the driving modes, and you can also keep clicking them, so you don't have to confirm them in the screen, and another physical interface is here for the volume, glad to still have that, everything else in the system, for example, also the climate unit, where I still wonder, like, how am I supposed to press this? I have to do like this, you know, to press the climate or who gave the hand as a model to design this interface? I have no idea, you know, and then you just start talking to the car, maybe, or you just leave it on 22 degrees AC or 72 degrees Fahrenheit and say, like, I will never touch this again, so not good as for the interface. It does look clean, it does look futuristic and stuff, but to me, a little bit too blackish, you know what I mean? Steering wheel here has also very modern open-spoke design. What's cool is that you have illuminated fields here on the steering wheel, and also, there's some clicking feedback, also easy one-touch for the heated steering wheel, but it's still, like, this capacitive design that's, you know, so it's pro and con, I would say. Seats, they are actually quite good in the ergonomics. These are the sport seats. There are also normal comfort seats available. The sport seats have more, you know, accentuation here at the shoulders and so on. They're always mixed materials, so this is a seat mix of animal skin and leatherette. It depends on the part. Similar would be there's microfiber, for example, for the inside available, but they do not offer any animal-free solutions, so at Audi, a little bit more drawn back as for that, and I would wish that they offer more solutions as for that, and headroom here in the front, 1.89m or 6.02m, there's enough headroom left. There is also a version with panoramic roof available. By the way, there has been a lot of discussion here about the Audi rings. They look cool, yes, but they are rather two-dimensional. Before, they were more three-dimensional, and I think before they were better. They still look cool, but they felt better before. Let's take it that way, and here, I have to say, for a one-button solution, it's good because it's backlit and you have clicking feedback, but still, separate buttons would be cooler to me, and here in the instruments, when you start up the vehicle and see here, either this assistant view or when you click it through, this is the speed, and only when you go to the dynamic mode, then this becomes the RPM meter. However, here's what I found very interesting in the Audi drive selects. Here, the individual mode. There, you can then edit, and then Audi virtual cockpit layout and set this one to dynamic, and by that, you always have the RPM here, left and right, although you are, for example, in the balanced mode. This is how it would look like standard setting in the balanced mode, where you have the speed there, and that way, I can have the dynamic mode setting here, but disconnected from the real drive mode, and in the main infotainment system, I think it's quick enough, but here, also, the controls for seat cooling, seat heating, they're just hard to reach with this bar, which is beautiful in wood, but it's just blocking the way to the infotainment, and the ambient lighting integration right here, it also can be set to the changes to the driving mode, for example, here, dynamic to red, and when you hit the turning indicators, they appear right here in green. Oh, of course, you can't see the right side, so I only put the left side here, and it fits here to this green arrow, so not to the yellow turning indicators on the outside, of course. That's like the thought behind it. Rear of the Q5 here, on the top, it's a structure. It's not too hard, not too soft, something in between, I would say. Here's classic window lever, hardback, low part, there's at least like a rubber pad in the low ground, doesn't open too wide, but the ISOFIX covers, at least you can just push them up like this, and then easily close them again. Seats here can be set forward or backward, and you can also move between like a more upright cargo position or the more laid-back position here in the middle part. Also, nice build quality with adaptive cupholders, four-point design, I like that, and you can also fold down a ski hatch here if you like. Really large, super large middle tunnel, I'm going to say that, and then, when the car is powered, you also have seat heating and the climate unit here for the rear passengers next to two USB-C chargers. Now, to the space, this one here, the one without the panoramic roof, as I said, and headroom with 189, 602, no problem, also for tall persons. Legroom, when a tall driver is driving, these are the sport seats here now, might be a little bit different with normal seats, we're going to test that later, maybe, but you can see here, legroom-wise, it's not too much, really. It's not, I mean, these gaps here, these help, but, this is really limited as for the legroom. I've got to say, I have it in an all-the-way-backward position. Of course, if you're a little bit smaller than me, then your driver's seat would be more forward. Of course, I have to keep my height as a reference level, and, yeah, let's see how it will be in the X3, but the overall comfort as for the ergonomics is very nice in the rear, definitely. Now, comparing the rear of the BMW X3, first of all, inside the door, also with the fabric, but as I said, you can also have the leatherette here, just an option, and then here, this beautifully done, this area here, but Lea actually suggested that they should have done the door handle and also this area in the same material, like here, and I think she's absolutely right. Good idea because the way it's here doesn't look too good. Also, here, there's no covering on the inside and so on. Doors also don't open too wide. ISOFIX covers here can be slid up quite easily, and they don't fly around and so on. Also, the same high-grade leatherette in the rear here, so you have a very plush and soft seating, good quality. I like that, and you have a little bit more legroom in the X3 in comparison to the Q5. So, this is actually the, like, the best advantage. It's not that much more, but definitely notable, and here, headroom with 189, 602 is also no problem at all. Here, pulling down these, also high-quality cup holders with a four-dot holder design, and then here, middle tunnel, maybe not that massive, and two USB-C chargers, and you have a rear climate viewer, and look at that here. This is so new still. We can do this unlock or this unfolding together. Do you like these videos where people do that? There we go, and then we have also the rear climate unit here. You can also change where it's actually coming from and so on, so it's, yeah, that's actually quite cool, and here with the X3 inside of the doors, we also have something to complain, and I think we're right when we do that because here, I mean, it's a matte finish, not hydrous black at least, gotta say that, but this area here for the air vent, I mean, it's fancy, but who needs that, and then this is, like, one button area here. What is this? No, and, but I can promise BMW is working on that, so I have given your feedback about this one to BMW and also my feedback, and they said they promised to improve that for the next upcoming model and also maybe for mid-cycle facelift and so on, and then here, it's, like, the cool ambient lighting integration. This is a piece I do like. Then, pretty simple here for the window levers, and, yeah, I would like to see a felt covering at the inside of the door there. Welcome to the cockpit of the BMW X3 now. Different layout here besides instruments and infotainment, but no passenger display, and, yeah, most also don't desire that. This here, this fabric dashboard, it looks a little bit more weird on camera than it looks on real life, gotta say that because the cameras cannot make much of these very small structures. This fabric dashboard is an option. You do not have to go for it, and most probably won't. It is a very unique option to make it more special, but Leah and I also agreed that we would probably also configure just with the leatherette style there, and that looks also pretty cool, but you can have it, and here's the glove box, which is kind of small, I have to say, so this could be a little bit bigger. The seats are pretty cool. So, you get in the European market also fabric seats as base. They are also very nice. Here, the Meganza seats, perforated, it's a high-grade leatherette, and look at here, it's really soft, it's really plush, and it's a good example for this is the animal-free material, but it's actually softer and more comfortable than the animal material we can see in the Audi, and this is like going full circle, making it better for the animals, but also better for the customer, and that's then a logical choice. This vehicle, this very one here is not equipped with the ventilation option, but I would advise you to go for it because then you have it all safe also in summertime, you have nice ventilation, and I can tell you, if you once had a vehicle with seat ventilation, you never want to go back again to one without it. That's the thing. Different colors also available. So, this is the brown one, but you can also have a bright leatherette, and also a black one is also possible, and, yeah, it's really very comfortable. The seats in the Q5 were also nice from the comfort, gotta say that, and these one here are, yeah, probably also class-leading. Headroom with 189, 602, no problem. There is a glass roof available. Here, however, is also just one that is fixed. You cannot open it, and that's why I would also not go for it, just keep this one. It's also nice with the gray ceiling here, I would say, and then to the front layout here, also there's one bow design with the instruments and the infotainment, then pretty cool ambient lighting integration. Some say it's too much. I really like it, and you also have this spectacular effect when you switch the driving modes, which is a little bit more complicated here, I feel. Confirm in the screen or confirm in the lower console again. You have this effect that it dissolves here in the M colors, blue and red in the sport mode. That's pretty cool, right, and, of course, if you know our review from the X3 so far, when you hit here the hazard lights, you also have this effect here. Yeah, some hate on that, but I think it's cool. I saw Lea just activate, and then in traffic, like, on purpose, when there's, like, a heavy traffic jam on a motorway, she's like, ah, now I can finally activate it again. Yeah, fine, why not? Steering wheel up and down, in and out, good thing here to just have it manual, it's easy, and there's also the animal-free material, which feels really soft and nice. It's a unique form of the steering wheel. You could also get an M steering wheel, which looks more classic. That would also be possible. Then, the lower unit here, I'm not really too happy with the material they used there, two USB-C chargers, inductive charging bed with ventilation on the left side, then this three-dot design here, that's pretty cool, but the bottom of the cup holders, again, yeah, there are some areas where they need to step up the build quality here in the X3. This is crystalline turning and pressing knob, manual unit here for the volume, this is shifting lever, and also soft enough for your elbow here, that's cool, lot of space here, but once again, the material finish here, they need to step up the game, because the X3 is, once again, a very good midsize SUV, but a lot of customers were dissatisfied with the new interior materials and the quality, and the seats are awesome, best in segment, but they need to step up these small details, like the inside here, like there, like at the inside of the door, and as I said, pretty certain that something will happen there soon, they have to, and driver POV here on the steering wheel, this is plus minus for the volume, we have a mix, this is like a real jog here, for example, also music right, left to proceed, on the left side, also mix here for the cruise control, present hold here to deactivate the EU speed chime, for example, and then the, there it is, digital instruments, you can pick also different layouts for that, and where you want to have the content, so you can play around with that, how you want to have that, and then the main infotainment unit, I think it's quick enough, here the climate unit, also with touch, but you can hear, you don't have this table here, you can easily reach this climate unit, this is the difference in here, in comparison to the Audi, but I would still prefer the physical dials, then you have a main menu, this is not the best overview, so to speak, you can filter by all the vehicle settings, for example, and then we also have this carplay integration, which goes full screen, key for comparison, which one do you like better, maybe the BMW one with the colored logos, a little more attractive, but both are totally fine, then remote unlock here, always a cool shot when both hatches are opening at the very same time, it does take us some takes for that, because sometimes it doesn't work immediately, but yeah, best result for you, let's take a detailed look here now first at the Q5 and the X3, beginning here, and here inside the Q5, 5 for 20 liters, let's check it out here, the width between the wheel arches, a little bit more than a meter or 40 inches, and the length here, also a good meter or 40 inches, and the total height here, 29 inches or 74 centimeters, and interesting is, first of all, I can fold seats here, remote unlock, there we go, and you see here, it needs a little bit more help to put them down, but then they're kind of fixed like this, also interesting that you have different possibilities, seats are either all the way back like this, or are in a more cargo position, and they're a little bit more upright, and when you move the bench, you can, of course, even gain a more length, if you're rather driving with two, you need more standard trunk length, so this is then all possible, and let's also check out the total length at this moment here to the front seats, which is at 70 centimeters or 1.78 meters. Now comes something very special, because you saw, where's the cover here, you know, underneath, you can fold this one here up, and there's a very clever hidden storage for that, and you can remove these here, and also the same ones on the other side, but I learned now, I just keep the one side closed, and just open one side, because that's easier, then you can put it out like this, and just, you know, because then you save yourself from putting this one out as well, you just put here in like this, there, that works, and then you can keep this one in place, only put this one back again, yeah, it might not look like the most premium solution, but it's a clever idea, you know, so you can have this one stored, by the way, they intended to keep this small gap here, so they said that when you are parking like uphill and opening trunk, that your luggage doesn't come flying in your face, and then you can also easily store this cover back again like this, so it's a very nice solution indeed, also what I found very interesting is the foot kick sensor, you know, and all the signals do with a small light in the basement garage, for example, where it is, and it's activated quite easily, and sometimes I have the problem that when I'm standing here and activate that here, that it like crushes onto my head, but what this vehicle is offering is that it activates the sensor, but only if you move away from the trunk, and then it's closing, and then to the X3, 570 liters, 50 liters more, where is that actually? Because in the height, it's pretty much the same, 29 inches, 74 centimeters in the length, yeah, it's also about a meter and 40 inches here, maybe a little bit shorter, but it is actually clearly wider, it's here like 1 meters 10 or 44 inches, so the width there, you got some more liters, by the way, here this top cover, it appears to be maybe a little bit weird at first, but it's actually very easy to handle, and sometimes when you have like higher things, you can like secure them underneath this one, then when this is more solid, and this is more movable, and then here underneath, there you also got some more liters, because there you have a bigger storage than in this case, then to fold the seats, we can also go around, but we could also reach over here if your arms are long enough, not only two-thirds, one-third split, but also the hatch split available, and then here is a length of about, it's like 70 inches or 1 meters 78, but I also want to show you here, the cover here, it's actually easier than in Q5, you just have to press once in here, it's easily done, and then underneath, just have to fold this, you don't have to de-install anything, slide underneath here, and that's it, so this is an even easier solution to store it. Starting with the all-new Audi Q5, silent, and now the engine sets in, because that's the new MF Plus system you get at least in Europe, and it's very interesting, because you do have electric moments, although it's not an inbuilt hybrid, just this mild hybrid system, but at least you can have some starting slowly electric, or maybe the basement garage parking in and out, and so on, so this is then possible with this MF Plus system, yeah, for parking in and out, silent in the neighborhood, it's actually quite good, driving itself predominantly happens in the efficiency mode, even though in the comfort mode, it's also active, maybe not that often, you can play with that a little bit in the comfort mode, also the air suspension is set to a soft tone, together here with 21-inch wheels, and that is always the thing, so here running over the sewage system covers, and so on, you feel it's rough, because of the wheels, although the suspension is doing a good job, so the larger you go in the wheels, the less you really feel from that soft air suspension, that's always the thing, of course, in comparison to the X3, the Q5 offers the air suspension here exclusively, that is an advantage also, as for the flexibility, here this speed chime beeping, you can set it to your favorite button, and then deactivate it immediately, that's fine, I have to say though, with this MF system, sometimes then it feels a little bit strange, you have to get used to it, because when you are a little bit more sometimes, then you do feel you first get somewhat of an EV boost, so to speak, and it feels kind of like you're going electric first, and then the engine sets in, almost like driving sometimes with a plug-in hybrid, but nowadays the new plug-in hybrids that have larger battery, I usually said that they drive all electric, and then they're empty, and then you drive them with the combustion engine, of course, always depends on the setup, yeah, these 21-inch wheels, they look great, but they're just too rough for the road when you have some bumpy roads like here now coming, yeah, you do feel that, and then the best suspension can't help you much then in that respect, soon going to the autobahn and see how the suspension performs there, the 2.0-litre TFSI which we're driving here, in this case with 204 horsepower, 7.2 seconds in the acceleration figure, all-wheel drive, quattro, you've seen the badge, we have a quattro badge, yeah, that's good, for most cases it will be enough, but we'll see more about the acceleration on the motorway yet, first one to give you some city driving impressions, and overall, it feels nice in the handling, you feel that the motor can't be charged, it's always just stuff, you know, you put it in the right, there in the most correct place, and still the inductive charger said it's not possible, so yeah, that's why I also try to keep it in just a cable position, I always charge the phone with the cable, it's more efficient, it's more reliable to me, at least I feel that, now my phone is talking to me, yeah, you know that with modern tech, sometimes strange things happen, so, by the way, when there is no shortcut to the speed limit chime, and you have to do it in the infotainment system with some vehicles, I always try to talk to my personal voice assistant, and I just always say like, hey, Lia, and then she's like doing all the stuff in the infotainment system to deactivate some of the assistance systems, and so on, so, yeah, it's always good to have a personal Lia voice assistant next to you, when the car doesn't offer their shortcuts, at least here, it's also possible, it's for the main, so, start the electric, then the combustion engine sets in, you also see this rpm meter, and talked about this before, horizontal rpm meter, kind of strange, and then you have the real rpm meter, when it click on that one, right, then you have to click through to dynamic mode, and then we have the proper rpm meter there in the middle, yeah, I hope that Audi will offer some new old visualizations for this one very soon, let's now accelerate it out, and now it's time for the dynamic mode and the German Autobahn tests, so we wait till the road is clear, and then we'll accelerate this one year out with the Q5 from 50 kilometers an hour, let's go, that's 150 kilometers an hour, I mean, this is not the performance version, in most cases will be enough, the engine is not too lively, I would say, transitions between the gears are okay, let's see if the BMW does that better, of course, the LIA meter does not go off, because she's used to like two seconds, whatever, extreme supercars, EVs, and so on, yeah, I do see that the LIA meter more often goes off when there's like a classic combustion engine though, and it's like, yeah, that's the thing, but here in the motorway, that's very well, here the air suspension also plays a role in the dynamic mode, car is lower, it's also more stable, a little bit stiffer now, lane change at higher speeds, 120 kilometers an hour at the moment, we can also do it a little bit faster once again, 130, still also pretty silent, because here in the front, we have dual insulation windows, not in the rear, but in this segment, this is kind of standard, the DLC also has it in a similar fashion, for example, you're also nice feeling going on the brakes, also go back then to a different mode, you soon approach a tunnel, see about the noise insulation there, it's really good behavior here on the German Autobahn, so you feel that they have the experience with this model and also develop it for the German Autobahn, even when we were driving a little bit faster, it wasn't that loud, how did you feel it, good comfort and that's really when the motorway is well made, then the air suspension does a good job and like keeping it floaty, it's not a super floaty air suspension though, it is still set on a somewhat sporty note, you know, in a tunnel, 80 kilometers an hour, like 50 miles an hour, also, oh yeah, now we see the M, also how it changes to the driving mode, you can check here, for example, when I'm going through the different modes, efficiency is green, dynamic now is red, there we go, but you can also individualize that, that it's not dependent on the driving mode, but you can just have it like you want it in here, when I hit the turning indicator, they can see how it looks like at night, yeah, you see that, the assistance, yeah, this is not you see, the girls want more ambient lighting, definitely, yeah, in the Mercedes, you'll see, we have it in your face, y'all, very interesting, yeah, I think it's good, yeah, in the X3, it's also more, definitely, but now you can see, that's, I would like to, you know, that it's always there, you know, I'm not sure, I tried to find a setting, but here with the with the interior lighting, but it seems to be, that Audi says, we don't need it, when it's bright, maybe there, let's say, protective lighting, okay, I'm not, I'm not, no, no, it's always, everything is on there, right, so, that's why I also need my digital voice assistant, Leah, so, hey, Leah, can you check, if the ambient lighting is also working at daylight, we could ask the car, actually, let's see, yes, activate the, I'm afraid, I don't know, how I can help you here, that was a quick answer, let's try it again, hello, activate ambient lighting, while daylight, interior lighting on, okay, now, at least, ah, interesting, hello, how can I be of assistance, does the ambient lighting only work in night time, I'm afraid, I didn't understand you, does the mid-lighting only you walk in night time, okay, seems to me, that the voice assistant is not exactly on the level, as some other cars, let's take it that way, but the car drives well, hey, also in the corners and so on, good dynamic driving, so, it's fun to drive, it's sporty, also, you're out of the corners, really nice, you can excuse, maybe, that it's, you know, it is front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, so, that's the thing, also, you know, with the new quattro systems here, in most situations, you won't feel it that much, rather, when you have, like, a base version and then you have one that is front-wheel drive or that is rear-wheel drive, there you will feel the difference even more. Now, switching to the BMW X3, I have the 20i here, the northern American version would directly start with a 30i, in Europe, we have the choice between the two, actually, so, this version here, weaker than the one in the Q5 we have here, the 30i would be stronger, on the northern American market, the 30i and the GFSi that is offered by Audi, they are almost the same in the acceleration figure, so, it's in, like, six seconds for the X3, 5.8 for the Audi, here, this very comparison would be acceleration 7.2 for the Audi and 7.8 for the X3, so, this one in here, in this case, is slower, if you then go for the 30, that would be quicker in the European version than we have with Q5, so, a little bit of choices there, interesting is that we do have the adaptive suspension equipped here in the X3, this is the optional suspension here, but there's no air suspension available, and we also have 21-inch wheels, here, by the way, press and hold the set button, and you can also deactivate the speed limit chime, the EU speed limit chime easily, so, comparable wheels, and the same goes also for this vehicle, the wheels are too large, they look cool from the outside, but they reduce the comfort significantly, and since we do not have an air suspension here, which can even out that effect a little bit, the ride is notable, so, definitely a harder, sportier ride here already in the X3. What is, however, better is throttle feel, and also how the engine is approaching, and also the transmission feel, you know, so, there is also some kind of a small MF system here, which is not that elaborate and sophisticated than the one we know from the Audi now, that one has way more electric moments, and so on, but here, you also have some recuperation, but only to a small extent, but you feel that when you press the throttle, everything feels more natural, there's no, like, sudden hump in it, whereas the Q5 sometimes, like, hops forward a little bit, sometimes in the connection between the electric and the combustion engine, which then goes on, but also on the combustion engine itself, you know, and from that dual-clutch transmission, sometimes goes, like, and here is more, like, really smooth, you know, when you are on the throttle, you have the feeling that you are directly connected to the engine itself, and the transmission, which is here a converter, automatic, and this is, yeah, just smoother overall, so, how you can basically talk to the engine is a way more linear and direct connection here in the X3. Funny, on the other hand, however, that this vehicle here feels smaller, and it has probably something to do with the interior layout, maybe also with the seating position, which are great in both vehicles, the seating positions, but it's kind of weird, I mean, they are the same length, and so on, but driving-wise, the X3 feels smaller and more agile, whereas the Q5 feels a little bit larger and, in a way, also more sophisticated. Steering feel here, it's really good, nice and direct, and we can also switch the driving modes, you press the lower button, and then you can confirm in the screen or confirm here. It is possible, I'll test that now, to change the driving mode, bless you, it is also possible to change the driving mode with voice command. I'm sure if you would want to do that, it might be easier. Sport mode. I'm not quite sure how to help you with that. Sport mode. Sport mode on. There we go. So, this would also be possible, the RPM go a little bit higher, and you also feel the suspension is even rougher, so this is a really, really sporty suspension setting in combination with the 21-inch wheels, it really goes like that's very, very interesting, but you always have the choice to do that, and then you can also go to the S shifting mode, this is separated here with BMW, because the best acceleration is in sport mode with shifting mode D. Shifting mode S is rather if you have some winding corners and want the RPM to be even higher that you can accelerate out the next corner, but it's not the best S for 0 to 100 acceleration, always interesting, definitely. We'll go back to the sport mode very soon when we do a full acceleration on the German Autobahn, which we're heading to right now, and let's drive a little bit more agile. We'll go off the motorway here, and then just make a turn and go to the other side where we can drive even quicker, but here the exit of the motorway, standard suspension setting, here you feel that the X3 is really engaging to drive, and it's really funny, because I feel like I want to drive this one quicker, I want to drive this one faster. You're having fun, is that okay? Yeah, it's good. It's always a good sign when Lia is also having fun. Yeah, oh, you do have handles on top there, like this, they didn't, a lot of new cars are saving that, there's no coast reductions and so on, but definitely the X3, it feels more engaging to drive, even in the standard mode already, and of course also in the sport mode, then you have to live with the kind of rough suspension in this case, but the Q5 more has like this, you know, premium laid-back focus, whereas the X3 is more like, okay, like, when is this traffic light finally jumping to green, and I want to take the next corner, you know, and this also fits a little bit to the core, so usually we have these results where, like, from sportiness to comfort, like we have BMW, Audi, Mercedes, I heard there's sound enhancement in the sport mode as well when you accelerate, nice steering feel, that's beautiful, really beautiful, pretty cool, just like, you know, you have exact control of the vehicle, suspension, engine, throttle, transmission, everything is one, you know, that's the cool thing, so from this first impression is really that here in the X3, you are the driver, you are in control, it's fun to drive, and the Q5 is more like, hey, I want to be a little bit more sophisticated, I don't need to be that sporty, I want to give more, you know, comfort, and laid-back features, and so on, and, yeah, and then the next step would then be the Mercedes where the suspension is even more comfortable, especially if you go for the air suspension there, but now let's accelerate it out, first of all, some tunnel test, and then we go for the full acceleration, here the ambient lighting looks pretty cool, especially in the sport mode, and now we can accelerate out, let's go, 150, great control of the vehicle, 180, ah, sorry, 160, I was going, I was already further, now we have 180, but I went off the throttle now, and car feels really nice to control, good steering feel, it's not too loud though, it's good, yeah, interesting, so I would, I would have expected that the Q5 is way more silent at higher speeds because of this dual lamination, but it seems to be that although there's no dual lamination here, because the window is quite thick, it's still good, so it's really astonishing how silent it is, you know, would you say the Q5 is still a little bit more silent? Maybe a little bit, yeah, I'm not exactly sure, but maybe a little bit, but it's not that would be, wouldn't be a crucial difference or something, that is astonishing, of course, here the, especially in sport mode, suspension feels rougher, and the acceleration was in this case slower because of the 20 version here of the X3, the 30 then would be quicker in the EU version, and the 30 version in the US, which is standard to the Q5 version, which has more horsepower in the US, they are more or less the same, like with 5.8 and 6 seconds then for the X3, so it depends on the engine version, and the country, and the market, but here you all maybe also heard that in the sport mode, a little bit more enhanced, that sound with this actuator, but once again, throttle input, transmission, and engine is a little bit more responsive, and you don't have these, like this, these hops, you know, that, that happened with the Q5, so, yeah, I mean, that's super interesting, so, noise level, I would say comparable, although the Q5 has a dual elimination, maybe, just maybe a slight advantage for the Q5, but not really notable, yeah, also when you're like really finely tuning it, even in the sport mode, it's so well to control this vehicle, the X3 more engaging to drive, better transmission, better engine feel, actually, and then the Q5 somehow adds more comfort with the air suspension, that was, you know, to be expected, but also in general, the X3 feels smaller, feels more agile, but the Q5 feels a little bit more premium in the drive, you know, and more sophisticated, a little bit more luxurious, a little bit more comfortable in the drive, these are like the main focuses they have each, here in the X3, by the way, both are very sophisticated assistance systems, but what I found here in the X3 especially good is how good the active lane-keeping assist is, and they're so smooth, these movements, and although there's mainly meant for the motorway, it's so good that you can even activate it here on the countryside road, and it would still work, you never should like trust 100% in it, but here, for example, when it does this relatively sharp right turn for an assistance system, you can see here, it's doing it very well, and I didn't know that before, I was just expecting it to do it that way, and here, this corner, I tested this one with a lot of vehicles in the assistance systems, and many vehicles fail in that corner, actually, and just like, okay, I'm out of here, but this one here does it very well, so, and with the new class, a Neue Klasse, BMW iX3, that is being launched in the final version very soon, we already did the driving preview, if you have not watched it yet, you need to watch this, because there they go one step ahead, even in the how smooth the assistance systems approach, and so on, that's also very interesting, but back here to the X3 and the Q5, I think we could very well point out these small nuances, these differences in the driving part, but since both did a nice job, the Q5 more on the comfort side, the X3 more on the driving fun side, it's even harder now to make the final choice, definitely, and just to be very, very clear on that, we have compared a lot of Audi, BMW, Mercedes throughout the years, and all of these brands have won some of the comparison episodes, meaning that I would sometimes have picked the Mercedes, sometimes the Audi, sometimes BMW, me personally, I do not have a specific brand bias, I look at every single vehicle at every single segment, drive it, experience it, and then make my own decision, I do not pick based on the brand preference, I really look at the individual car, that's why also comparison is an hour long here in the long version, and so if there are always these allegations like, oh, you just picked because of a brand bias, no, it's just simply not true, then people don't know me, but long-term subscribers know that I really look at all of the details, that I care more about the details, about the individual solutions, and the individual cars, rather than just seeking a certain image or something. Consumption, pricing, which one should you pick, or which one is the best for whom, and which one would we pick, let's go with these questions right now. First of all, consumption, MPG, fuel economy, close to 8 litres on one kilometre for the Audi Q5 here with the 2-litre TFSI, that's 29 MPG US, 35 MPG UK, and although the Q5, at least in Europe, we have this more sophisticated mild hybrid system, the X3, which has just like a very base, light mild hybrid system, is better in the consumption, more close to 7 litres in one kilometre, which is like a litre less, and about 5 MPG more each, so it's a better result, more efficient, this engine, yet at the same time, the transmission and the engine feel somehow better, the transmission here with the converter automatic gearbox, just smooth, very smooth in the transitions between the gears and so on, how the engine approaches things, how direct it feels from the throttle input, and also how the engine itself feels, you know, whereas with the Q5, we sometimes have like these sudden hums, and it's not that smooth also how it switches through the gears and so on, so engine and transmission, and also the fuel economy, better with the X3. As for the pricing, they both start around like when you go low entry, €50,000, €60,000 or dollars, and if you then go for a high-spec vehicle, here as I stand right now, they are fully equipped, almost everything, not everything, there's still always something, the Q5 as it stands right now, €80,000, the X3, however, is about €4,000, €5,000 less expensive, so a little price gap then between, it of course always depends on the leasing rate, so most of these vehicles, special Europe for example, are bought with the leasing, at the moment, the X3 also has some good leasing deals, so I'm gonna watch out for that, but it can change from time to time when the big dealer group makes a special leasing offer then for one or the other vehicle and so on, but both of course very, very close, and then the general overview, from the exterior, I think they are very different, yes, some prefer the previous X3 generation, they have a big design change, whereas with the Q5, the design change is not that large, I would say, from the previous to the current generation, I like both from design definitely, I think they have done a good job, but I can understand with the X3 a little bit more, if it, yeah, differentiates between love and hate a little bit more, it's more, yeah, a little bit more daring, the design overall, interior is almost the same story, I think the layout has a little bit better overview with the BMW, also how you control things and so on, but both interiors are still cool, I feel, however, we have also shown things with both vehicles, where they need to step up the game, so especially like the inside of the door area and some, for example, also with BMW, underneath the armrest, so some material pieces that need to be improved, we have already addressed that to the manufacturer, we always give your feedback further to the manufacturers, and they have already acknowledged this and said, yeah, you're right, good feedback from the community and so on, and they are working on that, and even with the X3, I think we will see changes a little bit earlier because this one here, the Q5, has just been launched, but definitely, there are things to criticize, and we also did that, things which I am not like personally super happy with. Seating, the comfort in general is good with both, but the X3 seats are a little bit better, and of course, animal-free interior available also in the series, and here, good example that you have the best seats in the segment, which do not use animal materials because it's not necessary, and here, you can also get the seat ventilation in combination with this high-grade leather, and so on, so seating-wise, better for the X3. Driving, also super, super interesting, the X3 is more direct, feels sportier, feels smaller, although it is not, it's actually a little bit longer, whereas the Q5 gives more suspension comfort, especially with the air suspension, don't go with 21-inch wheels with either of these vehicles because it just gets bumpy in small holes and so on, but if you go like say like 18, 19-inch and so on, you have a way better, more sophisticated drive. I really like the Q5 also from the sophisticated, comfortable driving experience. So, both are very good vehicles, and this bashing of the German automotive industry, on the one hand, criticism is good, and it also helps them to make things better again, also, for example, these some fails in the interior and so on, but they're still on a very, very high level, and you know why people still also buy German cars, because they drive so incredibly well. Both are also very silent on high speeds on the motorway, for example, although the X3 doesn't have the dual lamination and so on, it was still also very silent, really nice, maybe small advantage for the Q5 there, however, the base difference is a little bit more comfort here and more sportiness with the X3, but especially then if you go for the air suspension here, which is not available for the X3. Yeah, but what does it mean overall? I think it is a very close race, so still, me personally, when I count everything together, for me, it's essential that the interior is animal free, because, you know, I have been living with animals all my life, that's very important to me, that's why the X3 wins in this aspect, and it's more engaged, engaging to drive, it's more fun to drive, fuel economy is actually better, the seats are a little bit better, and then when I go for smaller wheels, then it's also not that crucial that I don't have an air suspension, that's why the overall choice would be the close call still, the X3 for me here today, but what about you? Tell me in the comments, let's discuss and check out more comparison episodes.