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"  Domestic diva Martha Stewart has been busy working on a new recipe, though this one takes more than a dash of salt and carefully placed sprig of parsley to get exactly right. The celebrity homemaker recently accepted an invitation by BMW to design her own X3 sport-utility using the German automaker&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Build Your Own&amp;quot; online function. According to BMW, this feature allows approximately 70 million unique configurations. Of course, that&amp;#039;s roughly the same number of culinary options provided when granted access to Ms. Stewart&amp;#039;s spice rack. Beginning with a 2011 X3 xDrive35i, which stickers at $41,925, Martha Stewart opted for a &amp;quot;Sparkling Bronze Metallic&amp;quot; paintjob, one of three unique hues available for X3 custom orders, and then added &amp;quot;Sand Beige Nevada&amp;quot; leather and &amp;quot;Fineline Wave Wood&amp;quot; for the cabin trim. The all-new for 2011 X3 is bigger than before, stretching 3.4 inches longer, 1.1 inches wider and 0.5 inch taller than the first generation of BMW&amp;#039;s small SUV. A 240-bhp 3.0-liter inline-6 comes is standard, though the upmarket xDrive35i features BMW&amp;#039;s latest turbocharged inline-6 with 300-bhp. An 8-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive are standard on all X3s. To oversee the preparation of her custom creation, Martha Stewart and the crew of &amp;quot;The Martha Stewart Show&amp;quot; visited the BMW plant Spartanburg, South Carolina, where the X3 is built. Known for being a perfectionist, she wisely left this round of `cooking&amp;#039; to the experts wearing safety goggles and carrying torque wrenches on the factory floor. However, that didn&amp;#039;t stop Martha Stewart from proving she knows more than how to hustle up a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies. The final stop of the tour was the BMW Performance Center, where she sampled the company&amp;#039;s wares on the automaker&amp;#039;s private test track. Martha&amp;#039;s visit to BMW aired Tuesday, December 14, at 10 am ET/9 c on &amp;quot;The Martha Stewart Show&amp;quot; on Hallmark Channel.  Related posts:  2011 BMW X3 BMW X3: Making Room for Baby BMW Outsells Audi and Mercedes-Benz in July  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a1766/martha-stewart-cooks-up-a-bmw-18256/>