Gosh do we hate the BMW X3. Not a much as the X7, which numerically we hate just over twice as much, but still. However, our thoughts on BMW’s affront to ‘compact’ SUV styling are – like pretty much everything we write – moot, because the X3 has been a phenomenal success for the German brand.

Now seventeen years and three generations in, around two million X3s have been produced, and today we can add one more to that number, courtesy of Jeroen Ottens and the brilliant Technic recreation you can see here.

Powered by two L Motors with a Medium Motor delivering the steering, Jeroen’s X3 can be controlled via bluetooth thanks to a third-party SBrick, which has also been programmed to operate the LED head and tail lights (including indicators), and the Servo controlled drive-mode select, which can send all the power to the rear wheels, 25% front and 75% rear, or 50/50 all-wheel-drive via a centre differential.

It’s an ingenious piece of engineering and there’s more to see on both Flickr and at Jeroen’s website, where building instructions are also available. Click the links to check it out.