Certified Benz & Beemer Compares 2016 Land Rover Discovery Sport VS 2016 BMW X3 Near Scottsdale, AZ

Both the Discovery Sport and X3 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Discovery Sport has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The X3’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Discovery Sport. But it costs extra on the X3.

To help make backing safer, the Discovery Sport HSE/HSE Luxury’s optional cross-path warning system uses wide-angle radar in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The X3 doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.

Both the Discovery Sport and the X3 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, available crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems and around view monitors.

For better maneuverability, the Discovery Sport’s turning circle is .9 feet tighter than the X3’s (38.1 feet vs. 39 feet).

The Discovery Sport offers optional seating for 7 passengers; the X3 can only carry 5.

The Discovery Sport has 2.1 inches more front legroom and 2.5 inches more rear legroom than the X3.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Discovery Sport’s middle row seats recline. The X3’s rear seats don’t recline.

The Discovery Sport has a much larger cargo area than the X3 with its rear seat up (34.6 vs. 27.6 cubic feet).

The Discovery Sport’s cargo area is larger than the X3’s in almost every dimension:

Pressing a switch automatically lowers the Discovery Sport with 5+2 Seating’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The X3 doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Discovery Sport has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The X3 doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

Unlike the driver-only memory seat and mirrors in the X3, the Discovery Sport HSE/HSE Luxury has standard driver and passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat and outside mirror angle and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The Discovery Sport HSE/HSE Luxury’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The X3 doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Discovery Sport’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The X3’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Discovery Sport has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the X3 only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

Optional air conditioned seats in the Discovery Sport HSE/HSE Luxury keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The X3 doesn’t offer air conditioned seats.

The Discovery Sport has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning costs extra on the X3.

Both the Land Rover Discovery Sport and BMW X3 won an award in Kiplinger’s 2015 car issue.