X3 M

Make
BMW
Segment
SUV

With 503 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque to play with, the BMW X3 M Competition is certainly no slouch. Even the standard variant generates 473 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque, which is more than enough power for most SUV buyers.

However, this hasn't stopped aftermarket tuners from extracting more power from the high-performance SUV's 3.0-liter straight-six engine. AC Schnitzer, for example, can turn your BMW X3 M into a 600-hp beast. But California-based aftermarket tuner Mission Performance is taking a different approach.

Rather than simply increasing the power output, the tuner has added a switchable rear-wheel-drive mode to the BMW X3 M.

As standard, the BMW X3 M is only available with all-wheel drive. But as we've seen in the BMW M5 and BMW M8, the Bavarian automaker's M xDrive system can be switched from all-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive at the press of a button to make them more tail-happy, but this function has never been offered in the X3 M and X4 M SUVs.

Since the X3 M shares the same all-wheel-drive system as the F90 M5, a RWD version of the high-performance SUV is technically possible. In fact, by simply hacking the software, Mission Performance managed to unlock a rear-wheel-drive mode for the X3 M.

The modification is still work in progress, but it will be available through an app when testing is completed. This system will work the same way as the BMW M5 and be selectable through the SUV's BMW iDrive menu.

To showcase the modified BMW X3 M, Mission Performance has released a short video showing the rear-wheel-drive SUV burning copious amounts of rubber during some tire-smoking donuts. BMW has no plans to offer the X3 M with RWD, so this will be the only way to send all of the SUV's power to the rear wheels if you fancy some smokey sideways action.