[scottomfg]

We just completed a 2,500 mile roadtrip, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to update my review, and share some observations after a year of ownership.

A year in, and we still absolutely love this car. Love the size, the color, the performance, the efficiency, the utility. As mentioned earlier, this car is perfectly-sized for our family, which means while it isn't too small, there also isn't a ton of extra room. In my wive's daily driving and in it's duty as the family weekend car, the space has been great, never an issue—but I must admit I was a little concerned as we planned our trip up and down the west coast over ten days. We had the three of us, all our stuff, as well as a display and several boxes I needed to bring along to set up and run a booth at a convention (for one day of the trip).

It turned out that my concerns were groundless. While certainly packed very full, there was still plenty of room for all of us and all the gear. We left the cargo covers at home and put the center and driver-side backseats down. The most crowded configuration was when my wife was driving and I was in passenger seat, with my 3.5 year-old son in his full car seat behind me. I'm 6'2" and my son is a legit giant, already 3'8", and even for four hours at a time there was enough room for both of us to be comfortable. Now, there wasn't more than an inch of *extra* room, and it wasn't like I was able to cross my legs, but it was totally adequate.

We haven't had a single issue with the car in the first year, and the N20 2-liter engine continues to impress me with both it's healthy power and smooth delivery as well as it's reasonable efficiency. In regular use, mostly shorts trips of 5 miles or less, we average around 19-20mpg, which is pretty good considering half those miles are from an engine that hasn't really warmed up yet. On our trip, in a car really loaded down, we averaged 29-30mpg on the highway, which was fantastic. (Never used Eco-Pro, no plans to.)

Due to a sick and vomiting toddler we had a few instances of having to pull over to the side of the highway, and thereafter do a hard acceleration to reenter and when you hit the kickdown in this car, it can surprise you with how much oomph it has. Sure it's not as powerful as the 3 liter, but it definitely has some guts when you need them.

Overall, we're pleased with our decision and I still think this was the best car for us to buy at the time. I wish it had the same nav/stereo system as my M235i which is considerably improved, particularly with it's bluetooth phone integration, but the x1 system is good enough to get through another couple years. If that's my only complaint, then you know how much we're enjoying this car.