For A Price, BMW Will Teach You How To Take The X3 Off-Road

BMW loves calling its X models Sports Activity Vehicles (SAVs). However, let’s be brutally honest. Most X3s will never experience anything more challenging than a speed bump or an especially nasty pothole. BMW South Africa is now giving owners an excuse to change that.

The BMW M Driving Experience has expanded its local lineup with a dedicated off-road course featuring the latest X3. Hosted at BMW xDrive Park in Midrand, the half-day program is designed to show what the compact Sports Activity Vehicle can do once the pavement disappears. And BMW isn’t taking the easy route. Participants will tackle steep ascents and descents, side slopes, and water crossings.

The course also includes skid-control exercises and vehicle recovery scenarios. It gives drivers a chance to learn what to do when things go wrong rather than simply cruising around a dirt track. The course also highlights the X3’s electronic arsenal, including xDrive all-wheel drive, Dynamic Stability Control, and Hill Descent Control. BMW says the combination of classroom instruction and hands-on driving is intended to build confidence and teach practical off-road techniques.

The X3 Is Built Locally

BMW chose the X3 for a good reason. The G45 is built locally at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn, making it something of a homegrown hero in South Africa. The plant is also preparing for another record year of production, while the X3 has already picked up local accolades, including the 2025 South African Car of the Year title.

The BMW xDrive Park itself isn’t new. The facility in Waterfall City has hosted BMW’s local driving programs since 2018, offering everything from safety training to M-focused courses. The new off-road experience expands the portfolio into terrain where an X3 can demonstrate abilities that are otherwise largely theoretical for the average owner.

BMW Wants To Show The X3 Is More Than Just A Grocery Getter

It’s refreshing to see BMW actually putting the X3 through the kind of terrain that inspired the “Sports Activity Vehicle” name in the first place. Let’s face it, the typical X3 spends most of its life commuting, running errands, and sitting in traffic. This course gives owners a chance to discover what all that xDrive hardware can actually do.

BMW’s use of the locally built X3 makes the whole thing even more appropriate. Each session accommodates up to 10 participants, and the course costs R4,950, or about $305 at current exchange rates. Everyone who completes the program goes home with a certificate of participation.