No GPS. No mobile phones.
After last year's successful entry with a BMW X2 M35i xDrive, automobile high performance from Munich once again took on the ultimate off-road challenge on the North American continent. This year, the BMW female driver team entered the race with a new BMW X3 M50 xDrive in Dune Grey metallic.
Driver Rebecca Donaghe and navigator Syndiely Wade crossed 2,500 kilometres of gruelling terrain far from civilisation and paved roads in 7 days during the Rebelle Rally 2024. To raise the stakes, the Rebelle Rally regulations also exclude the usual technical aids: no mobile phones, no GPS. Instead, driver and navigator had to rely on maps, a compass and their sense of direction honed through motorsport in the rugged desert landscape.
5 POWERFUL FACTS:
- Off-road modified BMW X3 M50 xDrive
- USA's longest off-road rally
- Over 2,500 kilometres through the desert
- No technical navigation devices
- A rally for women only
Rebelle Rally 2024 is another chance to take the Ultimate Driving Machine to the ultimate proving grounds and showcase BMW's engineering capabilities in some of the most beautiful and challenging terrain in North America.
For this year's competition, the BMW X3 M50 with 398 hp had been slightly modified to meet the harsh off-road requirements of the rally. Nevertheless, it is still very close to a stock vehicle. The modifications are as follows:
Heart of an off-roader.
With the minor modifications, the BMW X3 M50 proved equal to the challenges posed by the terrain and route in every situation. Anything but a walk in the park given the harsh conditions.
Over the course of the competition, the team had to cover a good 2,500 kilometres and more than 2,000 metres of altitude and also safely steer the X3 M50 through stone, salt, and sand deserts with dunes of all shapes and sizes. The route led from the Reveille Mountain Range in Nevada just past Las Vegas to the Imperial Sand Dunes, a 70-kilometre-long dune field in south-eastern California. The X3 M50 even withstood the extreme conditions of the Mojave Desert and not least Death Valley, through which parts of the route ran.
Podium finish for the X3 M50.
When asked how they would describe the off-road challenge in one sentence, the organisers explained that the Rebelle Rally is all about highlighting that the vehicle in your driveway is more capable than you think. An approach to which BMW M is also committed, and which was clearly demonstrated by the driver team Rebecca Donaghe and Syndiely Wade in the BMW X3 M50 xDrive. As in the previous year with the BMW X2 M35i xDrive, the SAV from Munich defied the desert rally for a podium finish and secured third place in its class.
