Hi all,

I'm seriously considering a pre-owned X1 as my next vehicle. Does anyone have any direct experience with this model?

Mrs. Lee has one. It's fine if you have a warranty, but I will never own another BMW car one day out of warranty. So far I think she's only had $4500 worth of warranty work done in three years. I did the 60k miles service and I wanted to drive the car off a cliff after that. Everything is made of cheap, brittle plastic, designed to break early and often. I just changed the oil today. That damned drain plug is plastic. Gee, what could go wrong when you insert an allen bit into a super hot piece of plastic and need to break it loose? Why? You have to remove the entire cowl to replace the cabin filter. If you hate money or someone else is paying for the maintenance and repairs, have at it.

FWIW, I'm a lifelong BMW car and bike owner and shadetree mechanic.

quote:

FWIW, I'm a lifelong BMW car and bike owner and shadetree mechanic.

I have to agree. The newer BMW's suck for the at home mechanic. The older ones could be maintained with basic tools and capabilities.

RMD

had 2 of the first generation x1's. they both had the same problem. the charger pipe. if you look it up. to rick lee's point. it is a plastic part at the heart of the engine....god bless their design. aftermarket aluminum ones are under $300...so why oh why plastic.

they were both xdrive35i's. a great daily driver. and besides the part above, had little to no issues. they were nice compact wagons, and both did 1k mile trips with no issues.

i kept neither as a high mileage owner. as a home mechanic with high mileage benz's....its something for me to not take on a bmw. either i considered them too much work, or my spare brain power can only keep up with the other german car company. the local dealers down here also were not anyone i wanted to rely on for parts/service.

i dont know anything about the new gen x1. its much bigger and shares some mini platform...thats all i know. they couldnt fit the 6 cylinder in it, so they canceled that option.

have you owned any bmw's before? not much has changed, keep on eye on everything, and extra oil handy.

Beyond the mechanical comments offered above, it is a horrible car for ingress and egress.

Yes, I'm a senior and have somewhat limited mobility, but it is easier for me to get in and out of my C4 than my GF's 2014 X1 M-line.

To do so entails sitting at 90 degrees to the car's centerline and then pivoting your whole body while at the same time pulling your legs in and ducking your head. I am 5'10" and the procedure described is done with the seat fully rearward and in the lowest position.

My GF is 5"1" and the car works fine for her, but even she is not as enamored of it as she was of most of her more mundane car selections.

I don't think this one will make her normal 10 year trade cycle.

Adios,

Pizza Bob