Regrets...

[iconoclast]

agreed... i've driven several 28i as loaners and that seems to be the feeling i get as well but not on 35i.

[Grovsnus]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

greatly improved exhaust note

Ah. That says it all, really - we're in two different camps. That's okay.
I hate loudness and prefer mods that alter performance without increasing noise or altering appearance. Debadging and tuning changes that aren't visible or audible is more my style.

[iconoclast]

as is mine. i have removed badges from all my vehicles and prefer oem+ styling however improved exhaust note is generally a plus for me when swapping out to better breathing exhausts. i think you're trying to guess who i am or what my preference in vehicle alterations may be and that's fine but a tune without supporting hardware doesn't yield the same results as with. i like to go all the way or not bother. this isn't my first dance and i am not a stranger to modifying/upgrading.

[zeevette]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I still find the car hard to drive. You press the gas and there's no way to drive carefully, nothing happens so you press a little more.. nothing happens .. so you press a little more then wham it goes all berko. i dunno if it's turbo lag or a poor gas pedal arrangement, but it's not a smooth car to tootle around in.

I'm pretty sure BMW sets their cars up this way to increase fuel mileage. There's a $300 plug/switch that overrides the factory throttle mapping, but costs about 1-3 mpgs. I forgot how much I hate the guillotine center arm rest. My spine is fused from C2-T-2, and I often lean on the pad to aid ingress, which flops around without much help.

[Shock96]

I am a couple of weeks into my purchase of a CPO 2013 35i X-Line.

I think it is a great car! I have a degenerative neurological disorder and needed a car with a bit more ride height to ease ingress/egress. I looked at a lot of small crossovers/SUV's.

Mazda CX5, Jeep Cherokee, Ford Edge, Ford Escape, Toyota RAV 4, Nissan Rogue, and Honda CRV. All those makes had dealers in my town, but I decided to head north to where the "cooler" car dealers were.

And there it was. A little Valencia Orange fireball sitting in the middle of a sea of black, grey and white.

I never thought I could afford a newer BMW at all. It wasn't even on my list.

It has 11k miles, one owner, CPO of course. It sits high enough, but not too high. Handles well, plenty of power (needs more...) very comfortable and looks great!

My last fun car I had was a 2007 MazdaSpeed 3. 6 speed with the MS intake and MS exhaust taking it up to 305/300. It was a hoot to drive and I really loved it. If I hadn't gotten sick, I would still have it today.

I ended up trading it in for a Mazda 3 Skyactiv. Decent little wagon, great fuel economy and reasonably fun to drive, but a little low to the ground and I was having a little bit of a hard time getting out of it from time to time.

My wife encouraged me to start looking around and the rest is history!

I do plan on doing some mods. AC Schnitzer springs are on the list, M3 rear sway (as per Peridoxical's), Alpina B3 transmission flash and a tune (JB of some kind).

The thing I regret the most is the fact that it is not a M Sport version. Not for the wheels or the springs, but the seats. I slide around a bit too much on the stock seats, so I am on the hunt for a set of M Sport seats from a wreck to install.

Otherwise I love it. Easily as fun to drive as the Speed, albeit a bit softer edged. Fast, plenty of room and AWD for my wife to feel happy.

[iconoclast]

thank you for the review and opinion... what i liked the most about the 35i was that it feels like bmw of yester-year... it is not techladen like other cars out right now which numb the driver interaction and is basically as close to a sporty AWD wagon one can get right now outside of the e63 which is nearly three times the price but not exactly three times the value. so in short i liked it off the bat but in some areas it's lacking and curious if others felt the same.

[Shock96]

+1 for sure. It is a throwback to the way BMW used to be. More like a heavy E36 M3, but faster, more room and cooler...

[iconoclast]

if only there was no dbw but tall order these days let alone a wagon in general that isnt pure rubbish.

[Shock96]

Took me a minute on the DBW (drive by wire) hehe.

I don't think the DBW is that bad, but the throttle lag at tip in is annoying. I am eyeballing the Sprintbooster, but I want to try the JB4 tune and Alpina trans mod to see if that cleans it up enough.

There are some pretty cool wagons if you aren't totally sold on the BMW. The MazdaSpeed 3 is pretty great. I had a first gen and I loved it. 6 speed, good build quality, takes to mods very well and you don't see them around every corner.

[iconoclast]

fwd so off the list for me... rwd or awd only.

[zeevette]

Originally Posted by Shock96

I am a couple of weeks into my purchase of a CPO 2013 35i X-Line.

I never thought I could afford a newer BMW at all. It wasn't even on my list.

That's exactly where I was, and exactly what I got. 6000 miles, a better warranty than a new one, and $10k cheaper. I'm glad I don't have the sport seats, because I'm tall, and getting into the car with the seat lowered all the way is still kind of tight without higher seat bolsters. I just ordered the Spinboost thingie, and will probably be doing the same mods you're planning. GL!

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by zeevette

a better warranty than a new one

not better just extended... factory warranty and cpo coverage differ in terms of items covered and of course deductible.

[Shock96]

Thanks guys! My rig is currently in the shop for a squeeky dash and sometimes the door doesn't unlock with Comfort Access. 90% of the time it is fine, but they found a door lock actuator going bad so that should be fixed today.

I did get 2015 328i XDrive as a loaner. BOOOOORRRRRING. It is a nice car, but man it is just a car IMHO. No offense to owners, but man it is milquetoast. Nicer, but not much different than driving a Camry Sport.

I hear you on the FWD, but the Speed has some tech that keeps it from torque steering itself to death among other things. Go take a drive in one and report back. I am curious what you think!

[iconoclast]

i have good relationship with my bmw dealer and their service department i spoke with my SA about X1 and common issues that come through for service... he told me mainly squeaks and creaks and they have not had anything serious. on the flip side the q5 s-line i cross-shopped has a myriad of issues except on the 3.0t version which appears to be better all around. so in the end that's what swayed me back to the x1 35i.

[0w40X1]

Originally Posted by Twix

JB1 might be about 19psi. JB4 runs as high as 23psi.

You might be interested in my scanguage boost data.

So, when air is dry and using Texaco 91 oct around The West tx desert, my boost hits about 18 psi, then, settles back to 14-16. Last year seemed to be 13-15.

Yesterday I had Chevron 91 oct which I'd think would come from same spigot as Texaco since they are same corp.

However, as I was going full throtttle, it would go down to 15-17, so it was giving more boost, and would hold at 17 for awhile.

The weather was 70's with high humidity.

If I had driveability issues I'd try something like stage 1, but when a car runs this good, I'm not changing anything.

[Teutonic]

Originally Posted by Shock96

Thanks guys! My rig is currently in the shop for a squeeky dash and sometimes the door doesn't unlock with Comfort Access. 90% of the time it is fine, but they found a door lock actuator going bad so that should be fixed today.

I did get 2015 328i XDrive as a loaner. BOOOOORRRRRING. It is a nice car, but man it is just a car IMHO. No offense to owners, but man it is milquetoast. Nicer, but not much different than driving a Camry Sport.

I hear you on the FWD, but the Speed has some tech that keeps it from torque steering itself to death among other things. Go take a drive in one and report back. I am curious what you think!

Rented a Mazda Speed for five days and my report is this: what a POS that one is! Sorry, I couldn't resist. I will never buy a Mazda not only due to their very well known rust problem! But beacuse they are zero for me in every aspect; drove few in the past, nothing impressive. The new one with all that sky active crap, drives like crap too. Now, it is out of my list even for renting.
Anyway, to say that a Mazda is fun and a 328 X is boring, lacks a lot of feeling, you are either numb at the (huuuge) difference between the two, either .... Something is rotten in Denmark... Never heard that one before.

[sudermatt]

wish i had sports seats. left Right is what i like best.

[zeevette]

I test drove a Mazdaspeed3, and a Focus ST, and the Mazda had tons of torque steer. It sure was fun. The Focus felt slow,but mostly was just too small. I ended up buying a GTI for the quality.

[iconoclast]

out of the three i would've done the same... but golf-r would take it over all those options.

[zeevette]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

out of the three i would've done the same... but golf-r would take it over all those options.

Way too much $$$ for a Golf, IMO. I got a brand new Wolfsburg ed. for under $23k. Fun little car, but if you must have AWD, I'd get a WRX, and mod it, assuming I could still get a hatchback. They're no longer available in the US for some reason. I forgot to add the Subie in the comparison; it turned out to be my second choice.

[Red Bread]

I have a regular Mazda 3 as a beater and a friend has an MS3. It's got more torque steer than any fwd car I've driven. It's a heavy, rough riding turd. I enjoy my non MS version much more. Probably because it's 700 pounds lighter.

Rumor is that the new one might have awd, but Mazda is still awful at suspension tuning, so that part's likely to remain. Weight could also be an issue. I'm still waiting for official weight numbers on the Focus RS.

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by zeevette

Way too much $$$ for a Golf, IMO. I got a brand new Wolfsburg ed. for under $23k. Fun little car, but if you must have AWD, I'd get a WRX, and mod it, assuming I could still get a hatchback. They're no longer available in the US for some reason. I forgot to add the Subie in the comparison; it turned out to be my second choice.

the wrx/sti hatch was my favorite subaru and with a few thousand in upgrades those cars boogie same with the evo but the evo is just too cheap inside even for that price point.