WATCH | SVI unveils BMW-approved armour package for X3 M40i

South African armoured car specialists SVI Engineering have developed a new BMW-approved armouring package for the popular and locally manufactured X3 M40i SUV. 

Announced by the Bashewa-based company on Monday, the package conforms to the requirements of ballistic resistance class NIJ Level IIIA (comparable to B4) and provides protection against most commonly used handguns.

“The project represents the first time BMW AG has performed an armouring certification on the African continent,” said Dr Daniel Huber, BMW AG engineer for armoured vehicles, who travelled from Munich to South Africa for the testing process.

“The result is a vehicle that can withstand attacks up to .44 Magnum from different directions and angles.”

Designed to meet the needs of risk-exposed private individuals and prominent public figures, it features an armoured passenger cell with sealed joints plus specially developed ballistic glass that allows the driver side window to open almost all the way down.

SVI said the bespoke 360º armouring package is completely concealed, making the armoured X3 M40i (which benefits from generous peak outputs of 285kW and 500Nm, courtesy of the standard turbocharged 3.0l inline-six petrol engine) extremely difficult to distinguish from a standard model. 

Thanks to the extensive use of lightweight components, it is said to be almost identical to the production model in terms of its dynamic driving characteristics.

Once a customer places an order for an armoured X3 M40i at any BMW dealership around the country, the standard model built at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn is dispatched to SVI Engineering’s facility in Bashewa. The armouring conversion is carried out according to strict production standards defined by the BMW Group.

SVI’s BMW-approved NIJ Level IIIA armouring package for the X3 M40i is priced at R879,800 (excluding VAT and the cost of the base vehicle). The project build time is about three months.

The X3’s standard two-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and its five-year/100,000km maintenance contract remain completely intact, while SVI provides an additional one-year/50,000km warranty on the armouring conversion.