2024 Hyundai Venue vs 2025 BMW X3

The 2024 Hyundai Venue was available in SE, SEL, and Limited trim levels, with prices ranging from $21,275 to $24,525, including the destination charge. The Venue SEL, priced at $23,275, was recommended for its enhanced exterior appearance and added convenience and safety features. The Limited trim test vehicle, with Ecotronic Gray paint and carpeted floor mats, had an MSRP of $24,735. The Venue's design was appealing, offering a sense of genuine style uncommon in affordable cars. Inside, the Venue featured hard plastic materials, but they didn't appear cheap. The interior had unexpected style elements, such as seat stripes and piping, and white trim around the dashboard air vents and transmission shifter. The digital instrumentation and 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display were highlights, showcasing Hyundai's attention to quality and thoughtful design.

The 2025 BMW X3, with its redesigned seductive appearance, featured a long and tall hood, captivating dashboard-to-axle ratio, and tapering greenhouse and roofline, giving it an athletic look. The test model's Arctic Race Blue paint, machined surface wheel finish, gloss black M Sport details, and Calm Beige upholstery added to its allure. The Veganza artificial leather, with perforated and quilted surfaces, looked and felt authentic. The X3's cabin, while not fancy, offered quality materials where expected, though some plastic elements revealed its price point. The X3 was available in 30 xDrive and M50 xDrive model series, with prices ranging from $51,125 to $65,875, including the destination charge. The X3 was priced competitively against its primary rivals, making it a good value. The test vehicle, with extra-cost paint, wheels, and option packages, had an MSRP of $60,875.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue was equipped with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine producing 121 horsepower and 113 pound-feet of torque. Weighing 2,612 pounds in base SE trim, the Venue's continuously variable transmission (CVT) maximized available power, making it suitable for city and suburban driving. Its small size, nimble handling, and excellent visibility were advantageous in urban environments. However, the Venue's suspension, with MacPherson strut front and torsion-beam rear axle, resulted in a busy ride quality on rough pavement. On highways, the Venue could maintain freeway speeds, but the engine and CVT sounded unpleasant under hard acceleration. The Venue lacked all-wheel drive, with power flowing to the front wheels, but its 6.7 inches of ground clearance allowed it to handle accumulated snow with winter tires. The Venue's EPA gas mileage rating was 31 mpg in combined driving, but it averaged 30.3 mpg during testing.

The 2025 BMW X3 30 xDrive featured a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Despite its 4,176-pound weight, the X3 achieved a zero-to-60 mph time of six seconds, thanks to its eight-speed automatic transmission and xDrive AWD system. The engine's power curve provided peak torque and horsepower across a broad range, aided by a 48-volt mild-hybrid system. The X3 M50 xDrive offered a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine with 393 horsepower and 428 pound-feet of torque, achieving zero-to-60 mph in 4.4 seconds. The X3's sport-tuned suspension and performance tires provided a dynamic driving experience, though the ride quality was firm on imperfect roads. The X3 excelled on twisty roads, offering a delightful driving experience. The turbocharged 2.0-liter engine delivered impressive fuel economy, though it averaged 24.2 mpg during testing, below the EPA rating of 29 mpg.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue's increased ground clearance made it easier to enter and exit the front and back seats. Despite its small dimensions, comfort was decent, with a manual height-adjustable driver's seat and tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel. The front seats featured fabric inserts, artificial leather bolsters, and heated cushions. The back seat technically accommodated three people, but two would be more comfortable. Taller passengers might find the hard plastic front seatbacks uncomfortable. Rear-seat riders had USB ports but limited storage space and no air conditioning vents. The Venue lacked dark-tinted rear privacy glass, requiring window shades for infants. The front offered decent storage space, with a useful dashboard shelf. Cargo room was on par with a typical compact car, with 18.7 cubic feet of space, expandable to 31.9 cubic feet with the back seat folded.

The 2025 BMW X3's power-adjustable driver's seat provided an excellent view, with the hood stretching forward, framed by the front fenders. The X3 felt wider and larger inside than most compact crossovers. The dashboard featured the BMW Curved Display, housing a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel and a 14.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Angular trim elements illuminated at night, visually extending the cabin's width. The front seats had power adjustment, heating, and Veganza artificial leather in a perforated and quilted pattern. The optional ventilation system worked well on warm days. The rear seats were less comfortable, with passengers positioned low and hard front seat-back panels causing discomfort. The cargo area measured 31.5 cubic feet, with a lightweight cargo cover, netted storage area, grocery bag hook, and illumination. A temporary spare tire and additional storage were under the load floor, and the 40/20/40 split-folding rear seat allowed for carrying longer items and passengers simultaneously.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue featured an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display with modern graphics, logical menu structures, and simple operation. Below the screen were stereo volume and radio tuning knobs, along with buttons for quick access to commonly used functions. Standard features included Bluetooth connectivity, wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto, Bluelink connected services, and a six-speaker sound system. The Venue Limited added a navigation system, SiriusXM satellite radio, a wireless smartphone charger, and Bluelink+. However, the Limited trim switched to wired versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, making the wireless charger less useful. Despite this quirk, the Venue Limited's infotainment system was sophisticated, with an impressive native voice recognition system. Music streaming through Apple Music and Pandora was effortless, though the Venue deserved better stereo speakers for its youthful audience.

The 2025 BMW X3's BMW Curved Display featured the new Operating System 9 software, an evolution of iDrive 8.5. It offered BMW's Quick Select user experience for easier navigation through menus and settings. Owners could create profiles using an onscreen QR code prompt and the MyBMW smartphone app, though attempts to access BMW Digital Services were unsuccessful. The system occasionally froze and became unresponsive, especially when selecting profiles or activating parking cameras. Despite these issues, the navigation system with augmented video provided accurate directions and arrival estimates. Wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity worked flawlessly, unlike the native infotainment features. The problems might have been unique to the test vehicle or due to not creating a personal profile. Previous versions of iDrive never exhibited such behavior in test vehicles.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue came with Hyundai SmartSense, a suite of driver assistance systems, including forward-collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, a driver monitoring system, and a rear-seat reminder system. The Venue SEL added blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, and the Limited trim included cyclist detection. However, adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist were unavailable. The lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist systems occasionally produced inaccurate alerts, and the forward-collision warning issued one incorrect warning. The Venue received Good ratings in three IIHS crash tests and an Acceptable rating for the Limited trim's LED headlights. The NHTSA gave the Venue a four-star overall rating.

The 2025 BMW X3's driver assistance features were more rewarding than its infotainment system. The standard Active Driving Assistant suite included forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, and active blind-spot monitoring with steering intervention. Front, side, and rear parking sensors were also standard. The Premium Package added adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, Steering Assistant, and Parking Assistant Plus, which included a surround-view camera system and Drive Recorder. The Parking Assistant Professional Package offered semi-automated parking tech, remotely operable via the MyBMW app. The Driving Assistant Professional Package added hands-free Traffic Jam Assistant, Lane Change Assistant, and Evasion Assistant. The Traffic Jam Assistant was effective but occasionally frustrated following motorists due to the gap it left. Steering Assistant without adaptive cruise control was less enjoyable. The X3 earned a four-star overall rating from the NHTSA, with four-star ratings for the frontal-impact crash test. The IIHS had not published ratings for the 2025 X3.