When you think of riding in a fast, sleak luxury vehicle you probably don't visualize yourself riding with your booster seats in the back.  I'm a fly mom.  Definition: stylish and cool.  The last thing you'll catch me riding in is a minivan. Yes, I caravan to baseball, chess club, basketball, and birthday parties, but I do so in my Jimmy Choo bag and shoes.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not Wisteria Lane crazy with it, but I do want to be a mom who shows my personality. That's why I chose the BMW X3 as the household "taxi". 

PROS

It handles like a car.  I can whip into parking spaces without hitting the annoying grocery carts left behind.  I can park it on the street in New York City and squeeze into a spot between minivans in the car pool lane in the morning.  I also love the the bells and whistles.  It has double sun roof so that there is no complaining from the back seat boys when they want sun and wind.  But, you can keep the sun roof open only in the front if the kids are watching a movie or using the DSi.  BMWs are fast and safe, which comes in handy when I'm racing from work trying to keep my son from being the last child picked up from After School Program. The back seat has a pull down divider with drink holders and eating trays that doubles as a barrier between fighting siblings. The heated seats and heated steering wheel are handy so I can go back to the car during those below freezing football games and warm up a bit.  The trunk space looks deceptively small but fits all the stadium chairs, ball bags, groceries, golf clubs, and a few boxes of shoes I plan to sneak in the house later. It has mulitple lighter outlets (no lighter) in front and bag so the kids can play their games, while I can charge my phone in the front.  The leather seats are easy to clean up spilled juice and there are no little crevices in the seats that hold cracker and cookie crumbs. The cup holders come out of the dash--okay no big deal, but it looks cool. Though it's a little smaller than the X5 counterpart it's the perfect size for a families with small children.

CONS

It's a 16 gallon SUV so when you get a fill up get ready to break out the wallet.  With gas at it's current pricing a fill-up is nothing less than $50. My least favorite thing about the X3 is the navigation system.  It's not intuitive and uses the radio knob as a control. In the days of touch screens it's annoying to have to scroll through all the options on the system. Punch. Twist. Punch. Twist. The blue tooth phone is also integrated into the nav system. There are over 600 names in my address book and to get to "mom" I have to scroll for three minutes. Not fun.   Other than a few minor irritations, the X3 is a great choice for moms with style who travel with kids.

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