A wild ride in BMW's X3

Johannesburg, South Africa

I SET OFF in a BMW X3 xDrive30d, determined to spot the "Big 5", the magnificent creatures for which South Africa is famed: leopards, lions, rhinos, elephants and Charlize Theron.

Why an X3? Because BMW puts the mid-sized crossover car together there, in a sprawling facility just outside of Pretoria called Plant Rosslyn. It was the company's first factory outside of Germany, and likely resulted from a strategic board decision. Namely, a strategic decision to have an assembly plant someplace warm to inspect every time winter turns Munich into a scene from Frozen.