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      05-11-2016, 02:09 PM   #1
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X1 (e84) Acquisition Story

I thought members of this group might be interested in the story of my recent purchase of a used 2015 X1.

I am a guy in my mid-50s. The first BMW I ever tried to purchase was in 1979 - a 2002 tii (in British Racing Green) from an older gent in my neighborhood. I offered him a good price, and he was about to sell it to me but then scotched the deal. He hadn’t quite gotten used to the idea that he was getting too old to drive it. (He was in his late 70s, and getting closer to that now, I don’t blame him). Missed by THAT much a car that I would probably still have, at least as an occasional driver. What a cool car.

Having said that, I have never been all that big into cars, but mostly because I couldn’t justify putting the money into making it a big deal in my life. I had two kids later in life (I still have a 14 year old) and fairly boring “Dad” cars were where I spent most of my adult driving life. I had a Subaru Wagon, a Honda Accord, a Volvo S70, and most recently a Subaru Outback.

My oldest left for college, and in a few weeks when she leaves middle school, my youngest won’t need to be driven to school (there’s a city bus a block away). And there I am driving the Subaru feeling like an old Dad driving an empty room around. Subarus are good reliable safe cars, but they aren’t exactly a blast to drive. When you press your foot on the accelerator the response is something like: “Oh, you’d like to have some more power from the engine? Ok, I’ll get there – just give me a moment.” And after a couple of years they start feeling loose around the joints, if you know what I mean. Just kind of floppy. (See how much I know about cars? I’m sure there’s a technical term for that).

When I purchased the Subaru, I was looking at an X1 too. It was really between those two cars. But I got a screaming deal on the Subie, with 0.0% financing. End of model year, almost $3000 below invoice. (I don’t know that much about how cars work, but I do know how to buy them.) And the X1 seemed a bit too small for two kids and their stuff. And I just didn’t feel I could afford it (new).

Two years later, I found myself looking at it again. Thanks to all of you brilliant folks, I learned all about the differences between the e84 and the new 2016 model. I drove both, several times, and the difference was obvious even to me. The e84 is such a fun car to drive, as you all have said. If I was going to make a switch, I wanted it to be into something that made a real difference, and the 2016 just felt like another “drive the kids around” car. And I wanted, as my wife calls it “a zippy little car.” And, yes, perhaps that Beemer I never got 35 years ago.

I looked at dealer loaner cars at my local BMW dealerships. They never quite hit the mark – it seemed to be left overs, undesirable colors, few options – but the CPO warranty was attractive. Then I found a 2015 with 13K miles on it with all the packages I wanted at a local non-BMW dealership at a very fair price. It checked out, and was in pristine shape. xLine, Terra leather, Nav, heated seats, backup camera and Blue. I don’t know why, I’m just a blue car kinda guy.

Meanwhile, my wife and daughter are, predictably, pushing for an X3. What a beautiful car that is. I get why they preferred it – more spacious for them, riding higher, etc. But for me, a bit ponderous compared to the X1. Someone on this forum said: The X1 is the “midlife crisis car for a guy with an understanding wife,” and the X3 is “the slim soccer mom with the paw print and University stickers on the back.” As I said, I’m not too hung up on the image of the car, but I thought that was pretty funny, and right. More importantly, I didn’t think I could get an X3 for a price that would work, even used. I was really trying to reduce my monthly payment from the Subaru.

But I found a blue X3 (also 13K miles) at a dealership for a different brand of car. Someone had just traded it in – it was his wife’s car. A slim soccer mom – true! He took a bath on it on the trade, I’m sure. Got a bigger car for her. That X3 had everything I wanted, except the backup camera. I made an offer on it. They pushed back, but came down. Then I noticed that their KBB sheet listed it as having xLine, and bmwvin.com revealed that it did not. So I told them I would take it if they came down $1,500 from an already very decent price, and they refused to budge. Fine, I moved back to the X1. They called me back when I was doing some measurements on the X1, and dropped all of that $1,500. The final offer was around $34K. That got me to very close to the Subaru payment (although extending the term of the loan, of course) – within a few dollars. Not a reduction, but not an increase either.

My wife and I went to that dealership to sign the papers. That – as you all know – takes a while. Maybe 1.5 hours later, we’re being handed the keys and the plates off the Subaru, and they are washing the X3. We wait for it to drive up. And wait. And then here comes the salesman driving it, WITH the right front passenger door bashed all the way in and the passenger airbag deployed. We were all just so stunned. The salesman was crestfallen – it wasn’t his fault. The dealership manager was just stunned. They were apologetic over the top. Very decent folks. They unwound the deal and gave us the papers we signed and put the plates back on the Subaru. And that was that. But I am not sure that’s an image I’ll ever be able to unsee – a car you are just about to drive off in, turning up all bashed up.

So we took a dinner break to calm down. We went to the dealership that had the X1 I had been looking at. We took it for a test drive. We asked the salesman to hold it overnight.

I didn’t sleep much. The image of the bashed up X3 was hard to put out of my mind. I did some more research here. And it just cleared for me. The X1 was really what I wanted. And it would still work for the family. (We also have a CR-V, so if we really need to load up, we can use that). I talked this all through with my very understanding wife in the morning, and we went and signed the papers that day.

I am now the proud and happy owner of a 2015 X1 – a “zippy little car” with a lot of heart. It’s blue, with Terra (brown) leather interior. xLine, Nav, Moon, Satellite, heated seats and steering wheel, those cool Y-spoke wheels. I recently took a long (400 miles) drive with it and so smooth, so fast all the way. What a blast.

Anyway, I thought y’all would be interested to read that story of how I got into an X1, and my first BMW. Sorry it is so long, but what a story, right?

TL;DR: Really wanted an X1, almost bought an X3, ended up with the X1 and love it.

Here is a picture:
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      05-11-2016, 03:08 PM   #2
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Great story!

28i or 35i? I'm envious of the terra leather, always liked that combo on the X1.
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      05-11-2016, 05:28 PM   #3
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Epic story! Real shame about the X3 and I can't imagine what you felt when it turned up all bashed in.

Just my 2 pence worth... Subarus can be fun if you have the right model. In the UK we had the Imperza 2000 Turbo replaced by the Impreza WRX. Both 2.0 injection, inter cooled, turboed engines with permenant 4x4. 215bhp as standard that was 'tuneable' up to silly BHP. We also STi and Prodrive variants all getting up to 300bhp and over.

How do I know this... I've owned 3 and each one was just a superb driving machine. A bit raw and ready sometimes, but great fun. I actually picked up my 2nd one 3 days before my daughter was born and it was our family car for 4 years. I tuned that up 265bhp with 270lbft. It was rather quick for a family estate car and my wife was always complaining about the whiplash it gave her on acceleration.

Oh and yes we did have Outbacks and Legacy's in the Uk... but they were for old men

J.
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      05-11-2016, 05:46 PM   #4
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Congrats! I'm a similar age and situation, and my X1 is my first BMW. I either forgot or never knew driving could be so much fun. My criteria for all future automobile purchases has changed. 2014 xdrive 28i, with Dinan tune.
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      05-11-2016, 06:18 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by burnout8488 View Post
Great story!

28i or 35i? I'm envious of the terra leather, always liked that combo on the X1.

It is a 28i. I preferred it for the gas mileage, but I'm sure the 35i is even more fun.

When folks say to me: "Hashtag Midlife Crisis, dude."

I can say: it's $41 cheaper than the Subaru was (including the insurance difference), and slightly better gas mileage.

And then smile and give them a wink.
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      05-12-2016, 11:02 AM   #6
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Great story. We have just gone X1 to X3 because the X1 is a dreadful family car, that's the bad news. It really is just too damned small.

The good news is it is a blast to drive and as i approach 40 i too am thinking about a 'selfish" car. "Family" duties will now go to the X3 instead of my 9-3 wagon, I will drive the Saab a few more years before switching to a small hatch that i can throw about. However i really like the slightly raised X1 ride height so figure that's what i will eventually end up with again.

Ideally it will be that same blue and the same wheels with the beige interior and pretty loaded. Ideally a tuned 35i for some shove too
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      05-12-2016, 12:44 PM   #7
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Alfisti, I know you keep saying X1 is too small but I just can't agree with you. It's all about good planning and proper space allocation... :-)
we found the X3 too big but to each their own.

As for financials, I completely agree - the X1 is ending up a lot cheaper in running costs than our '11 Impreza. Insurance is a couple hundred cheaper and it's a good 10% better gas mileage with far more power, nicer ride, more space, great handling, the list just goes on....
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      05-12-2016, 12:51 PM   #8
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Go to 4.42


I know they are different cars but this is how i feel with the X1 space wise, nothing seems to fit. If you have a child, a stroller and do a weekly grocery shop ... yeah it'll fit but christ on a bike you're not doing it easily.

Rear leg room is near non-existant, grown kids will wail at you for sure. It's just too small.
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      05-12-2016, 03:32 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfisti View Post
I know they are different cars but this is how i feel with the X1 space wise, nothing seems to fit. If you have a child, a stroller and do a weekly grocery shop ... yeah it'll fit but christ on a bike you're not doing it easily.

Rear leg room is near non-existant, grown kids will wail at you for sure. It's just too small.
I agree that if I had a car seat and a stroller the X1 would not be big enough. It would be X3 all the way. But I've been there, done that. It's fine for the groceries we get weekly. And we're a fairly small group of people in my family. I am 5'9", my wife is 5'4", and my daughters are 5'2" and 5'3" respectively. We fit fine.

Now is this the car we take to the airport with everyone's luggage in the back? Probably not, but I don't want to leave the BMW at the airport anyway. We'll take the five year old CR-V for those trips.

I guess I consider this the beginning of the downsizing that happens when you get older and your kids are mostly grown. But this is way more fun than moving to a smaller house.
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