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My New 2013 X1 - PICS & General Impressions

5K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  netarc 
#1 ·
So - here are some pics of my new BMW X1! (There are better pics on the web now as the X1 arrives but I wanted everyone to see the Midnight Blue which is causing MUCH discussion). It is an awesome color - trust me - and it looks NOTHING like the color on BMWUSA's website, that's for sure!

My prior car - I owned a 2008 EX35 Black exterior/stone interior. That car was good to me (I had it for almost 5 years) and it had a 3.5 V6 under the hood producing 297 HP. That gives you the context of some of my comments below. BEAR IN MIND - I am a first time BMW owner so you need to know that as well to truly put all of this in the right perspective.

My X1 is: 2013 xDrive 28i - Midnight Blue/Black 'nevada' leather, Premium Package, Technology Package, Cold Weather Package, XM Satellite Radio, 18" wheels, roof rails - sticker was $42,895 (including destination).

Now for the feedback!

PROS

(1) Overall - I LOVE THIS CAR! It is a FUN car to drive - I was pleasantly surprised at the zip and zoom of this car and the performance handling, so that's a major win!

(2) Look & Feel - there is a lot of noise about the fact that this looks like a station wagon, or why is this a SAV etc. Ignore the noise - it looks great and feels great! The ONLY comment I would make is that it is true that the interior touch is a half a step down from Infiniti (where the leather and plastics are softer or more refined), but I don't mind at all. It is fine with me. The interior of the X1 has impressed everyone who has rode in it so far and the technology (Nav & IDrive - see below - are just amazing!).

(3) Engine - this is where I thought there be a question with the 4 cylinder but NO! The horse and torque of this baby has WON ME OVER. It zips around and has amazing rush-on-to-the-highway zeal! It handles great. BMW does indeed focus on the driving experience and so far that has just been awesome. No complaints.

(4) General Handling - very solid and excellent around curves, side roads are fun, and highway speeds are great. Cruise control is excellent. There is a different feel at slower speeds to the steering, which I had read about and that does differ from my Infiniti (meaning it is a little rougher), but that doesn't bother me because it fits to the driving style of the BMW. I do NOT have Sevtronic, as someone might ask me, but I wouldn't want it.

(5) Navigation System - amazing, stunning, and great! The graphics are top notch and the guidance system is excellent. I love it. A major upgrade from my Infiniti.

(6) IDrive - I love it. It is simpler to use than other brands and more intuitive once you have used it three or four times. I find myself moving around it much easier now that I have had it for a few days.

(7) Gas Mileage - so far it is living up to expectations. I've already had to fill it once (due to an unexpected long trip I had to take over the weekend) and I'm averaging 26 MPH with city and highway mixed in. I've started to engage the ECO PRO on highway, so that is helping a little too. I'm sure the stop/start thing is playing a role so we'll see what happens down the road, but this is SEVEN MPH better than my Infiniti on average! I'm very excited that this will get up closer to 30 as I mix more highway in.

(8) General visibility - this is going to sound crazy I'm sure but the Infiniti had one of the worst blind spot situations I have EVER had to deal with in a car and the X1 has OUTSTANDING visibility, so this is a HUGE upgrade for me. That may not be true for others but I love the visibility for this car all around.

(9) Ipod interface - I like it. You have 3 choices - you can Bluetooth phone & and also audio, you can USB interface it, or you can use the mobile phone cradle (which costs $250 apparently). I'm content with my IPhone Bluetooth connected for the phone and my ITouch in the USB slot (I get about 80% functionality that way - including album art, playlists, etc.).

CONS

(1) Engine Start/Stop - not a fan. They told me I would get used to it so I'm sticking to it but so far not real psyched. It drives you crazy in stop and go traffic. And people, when they're in the car with you, look at you like your crazy that you car shuts off and on at the worst possible times (such as a major intersection while you pause behind traffic). You can disable it, so I will likely do that more often than not. They tell you that it will save you 3-5% in gas per year but I'm not sure it's worth the aggravation. 5% would be about 900 miles (I drive about 18,000 per year) which is two tanks of gas or $120. I am confident I will NOT consider $120 worth this aggravation in the long term. So this is a major con in my opinion, but manageable because I can disable it.

(2) No rear camera (it is an option available but I didn't get it) - few dealers are ordering any stock with the Driver Assistance package which I think is a shame. I didn't order my BMW X1 from a factory - we interrupted one being shipped to a dealer in NJ so I didn't get every single thing I wanted, but this is the only thing I regret not having.

(3) Rain sensor - I'm underwhelmed here - as expected you have to do more work here than you should. It takes regular rain for my sensor to wake up and manage the movement and I find myself having to engage the wipers manually more often than not so far. I'm also not wowed by the rear wiper so far. Infiniti had a better approach here.

(4) BMW Apps - they have a ways to go here. The functionality is ok - but not where you would expect it to be in 2012.

So there you have it! I would recommend this car to buy because it is an awesome answer for people who want the BMW at a more affordable choice with some storage and plenty of zip! I agree with others on the site here that you have to know what you want - so do your homework but this car is a hit for sure!
 

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#2 ·
Very nice - congratulations! If the auto start/stop continues to annoy you, you should look into having it disabled. I've been told BMW has authorized dealers to reverse the functionality so the default is "off" and the override button activates the feature temporarily.
 
#3 ·
nice looking car! we went back and forth with the blue and decided on the mineral grey, so we'll see how that decision pans out next week when our car arrives.

good to know that you are happy with the engine and driving characteristics - it was a big decision for us to opt for the 2.0 versus the 3.0, but we decided to be responsible and put that extra $$$ towards an M5 down the line.

Question: apparently the dealer can permanently disable the engine ON/OFF... have you heard this?
 
#5 ·
I've been driving rentals in Europe for a number of years with auto start/stop.

At first it likewise did annoy me and scare me. "What if it turned off at the wrong time?"

But over time I got used to it, and now appreciate it, and am very happy my X1 will have it too.

We'll see if I still like it when I pick up my car and actually drive it. But I suspect I will be happy with it.

I'd say give it time, and over time you will come to trust it.
 
#6 ·
Very nice. Mine is Midnight Blue also, but with the Coral Red interior, Sport Line (pics posted on this site if you want to see the difference). I agree with the start/stop but I am getting used to it. I did get the Driver's Assistance and it took a while to trust the back-up camera, but after two weeks, I rarely even turn my head anymore!
 
#7 ·
High speed

So - here are some pics of my new BMW X1! (There are better pics on the web now as the X1 arrives but I wanted everyone to see the Midnight Blue which is causing MUCH discussion). It is an awesome color - trust me - and it looks NOTHING like the color on BMWUSA's website, that's for sure!
Terrific review! Have you driven the car at high speed? 100MPH? Some of the reviews were commenting on how unstable the steering felt then, and noise in the cabin being an issue. Comments?
 
#8 ·
Thank you :) - I figured people would be interested to hear from those of us who are actually driving the car what it's really like beyond that first test drive from the dealership (which doesn't tell you a lot).

The highest speed I've driven the car so far is 90MPH mostly because I don't drive 100MPH as a rule. I'm in the cluttered Northeast so I don't get that much space to do that in! But there were no issues with steering at 90 MPH if that helps. I have also not experienced the noise issues other people have mentioned. Bear in mind that the roads up here are terrible so I think I would have heard it by now. I will drive without any music etc. and see if I notice anything but so far that hasn't been an issue.

As an update to my comments above in my post I still feel strongly that the start/stop is an awful idea and I will talk to my dealer about switching it to activate as opposed to deactivate. It's just too annoying and it makes no sense for the engine to stop when you're in tricky traffic situations (like trying to take a left on a busy multi-lane road). You end up feeling ridiculous more than anything else. I predict this thing will die within the next two model years. I understand the concept of saving gas but ECO PRO will do that heavy lifting for me.

Also, I do wonder about that high end MPG rating of 33. I just did a trip that covered 150 miles round trip. About 130 of the 150 miles were on open highway where I averaged close to 80 MPH. I watched my MPG indicator and I was comfortably over 30 the entire time. And yet looking at the trip computer and also the MPG left I only averaged about 26 on that drive. And after two tanks of gas I rated 26 and 25 MPG - with not a lot of city driving. So I have to wonder - how does one get that 33? 26 to 33 is a rather large gap. I wouldn't have noticed if it was 31 vs 33 - but 7 off that top rating when I did mostly highway for that tank of gas? It does make you wonder.

Everything else is great. I REALLY love the panoramic sunroof - that is a wonderful option that I highly recommend (I think it's part of one of the packages). It's well worth it. And I'm still having fun figuring out where everything else is on the IDrive system, which is just very cool.

I welcome other X1 owner's comments on the MPG item to see where they stand and maybe they have experienced noise or steering issues but I have not.
 
#11 ·
Reportedly BMW numbers were preliminary and according to the EPA, the xDrive 28i gets 33 mpg highway and 22 mpg city. I suspect BMW will soon update their website since there were several news reports that the government numbers were higher then BMW's preliminary highway number.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=32960

And the sDrive gets 34 mpg highway according to the government.

In part, I ordered the sDrive since I wasn't that confident that the xDrive model was that close to the sDrive on the highway given the couple hundred pound weight difference.
 
#14 ·
Hey, Dragon - thanks for sharing your feedback; I just ordered practically the identical xDrive 28i, Midnight Blue/Black ‘nevada’ leather w/red, sport line, Ult pkg, lights, cold, satin roof rails.

Would love to see some higher res pictures of your ride, so I know what to expect when ours arrives; thanks!
 
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