Other cars considered?

[Bimmerized]

Originally Posted by popopine

X1 loaded minus the sports steering wheel and paddle shifters on the way:0

What kind of steering wheel are you getting? I wasn't aware that there were options besides the Msport wheel. What region are you in?

[popopine]

Originally Posted by Bimmerized

What kind of steering wheel are you getting? I wasn't aware that there were options besides the Msport wheel. What region are you in?

Hey there, you can purchase the sport steering wheel as an option. It has the paddle shifters and is maybe thicker? I just kept the regular one that comes with the x-line.

I'm from the northeast. I'm interested in how the x1 goes in the snow and that it gets good mpg. i put 20k+ on my cars per year so the Q5 3.2 was kinda killing me. Figured i'd trade it before it gets too antiquated.

[mullini]

I have a deposit on a S28i, glacier silver, premium pkg. It's on a boat, should be here in under 3 weeks. I intend to buy it, but there are many other cars I've considered, a couple of which I may come back to . At the start I was looking for 1) push button start (comfort access on BMW) and 2) more cargo space. Since December 2005 I have driven a Lexus IS250. Keeping it, getting a second car.

Cars I test drove, starting in late July, I believe in order:
- Prius V - don't laugh. It's very nice inside and incredible cargo space. But yes it is slow.
- Ford Escape - the larger Eco Boost engine, Titanium line. Also very impressive. But the CR dictate "Never a buy a car in its first model year" came into play when Ford had to do a recall for engine fires...
- Ford Edge - I was just curious, because I do feel it is a nice looking car. It just felt way too big to me. Had to turn around on a narrow street and it took me like a minute. By the way, am I the only person that can't seem to give up trust to a rear-view camera? In a car like the Edge where rear view sightlines are poor, the camera is a near necessity, and I am not comfortable with that.
Kia Soul ! - Did you know Kia uses punctuation to distinguish their lines? Anyway, I found out that for about 24K, I could get a Kia Soul with Nav, Moonroof, push button start, other doodles, in the !. And it's nice, but it's still a 24K car - a bit noisy, unrefined. And then there's the styling...
Audi Q5 - talk about doing a 180 from the ! - the Q5 blew me away. The 2.0 had such smooth power, great road handling. But to get the "Audi Advanced Key" (comfort access), it was easily going to be going over 40K, which I had not planned to do. (Looked at A3 Wagon but no Audi Advanced key available...)
Acura RDX - I liked it. Not a road handler like the Q5, but maybe I need something a bit more sedate. This to me is just a beautiful car, so solid and well-appointed. Fully loaded at 38K (including HID), it only it had a pano roof instead of the smaller moonroof...(would have looked at TDX Wagon but oddly, no push button start)...
VW Jetta SportWagen TDI - I hadn't considered VW because of its reliability rep, but somewhere I read something that made me check this SportWagen out. The Diesel is only rated 140hp but the power feels much stronger than that. Nice interior, and the top of the line model has push button start. 29K or so...(Didn't look at Tiguan because of relatively poor MPG and the top of the line with push button is only a few K under the RDX, for example)

So then the local BMW dealership got one of the first X1s, and we drove it. Loved it. Smaller than we had been looking for - maybe comparable to the Prius V in cargo, but feels smaller. But we needed a car, and we'd have to wait for the X1...

2013 Subaru Outback with Special Appearance pkg - Subaru is offering three colors (white, black, brown) in a line with push button start, which they otherwise don't offer. Test drove one after X1. Larger cargo, but the interior feels a bit dated, busy and the engine really works hard.

At this point we were going to buy the Jetta SportWagen. We went to the dealership with that intention. It was a hot day and my partner noticed that the pano roof has only a sort of mesh interior cover - even closed, light comes in. Didn't kill us on the car but made us pause. Then we noticed a small piece missing from a door handle. Salesman blamed it on lookie lous or local kids who walk though the lot. We looked at another color and noticed the jack cover on bumper was loose. Now we are starting to wonder if the Car Gods are trying to tell us something.

I had a message from BMW and decided to return the call. Salesperson said she had info sheets on their allocation. Would I like to look them over? So we left VW, ended up putting a deposit on a Silver X1, MSRP just over 36. No Nav, no HID. Driving the demo again, knew this was the car we wanted.

But as I said, until we actually buy the damn thing, who knows? What's coming out in the next three weeks? lol

[rory breaker]

We are looking at the RR Evoque, X1, and Q5.

Alternatively, we are also keeping our eye on lower priced options for when we realize "you know what, we dont NEED to spend $50k on a car like this." Unfortunately, none of the lower priced options (Sorrento, Sportage, Santa Fe, Tiburon, CRV, WRX, etc) have impressed us. They either feel cheap (fit/finish) or drive like a rental car. If anyone disagrees or thinks we need to check something else out, let me know - we want a smallish SUV that still has room, we want to look forward to driving it so it has to be fun & peppy, we would LOVE stick but know thats not going to happen, and we want it to have a nice well appointed interior for long drives (technology, comfort, etc).

The RR is the coolest of them all, love the look, but the lack of a true sunroof is almost a non starter. The Q5 is great but kind of boring, and feels a little big.

[HotRodW]

I considered many, but the finalists included:

allroad
Q5 (it would have been our second)
Evoque
GLK Diesel
RDX
CX-5 Diesel
XC-60 R-Design

Considering how large the activity vehicle market has become here in the US, it's difficult to believe how hard it was to find the right combination of features and options for my needs. (I still had to compromise.) It's not like me to order a vehicle site unseen, but I found a dealer willing to make the X1 transaction conditional upon a test drive. It's in transit as I write this, so I should have it by the end of the month

[Naambezet]

Originally Posted by Teleskier

I like the Q5 looks, but didn't like the way the Q5 drove.

For me it was GTI, A3 TDI, or Golf TDI.

Tight connected-to-road driving was paramount for me, and won ahead of any size concerns.

Don't you have the GTD in the US?

[HotRodW]

Originally Posted by Naambezet

Don't you have the GTD in the US?

Sadly, no. Rumors suggest we may get the next gen GTD, but lots of rumors about European diesels don't pan out for us. In short, I'm not holding my breath.

[Tirpitz]

I have had a long and winding road to get to the X1. Right now I'm driving a 2001 Honda CR-V. I paid about $18K for it 11 years ago. Bulletproof but not exactly an exciting car to drive. I wanted to replace it with something that had more power, was quieter inside at highway speeds, and still had good cargo capacity as my car is the designated cargo hauler in the family.

Normally I'd be a good candidate to just get another CR-V. The new version is technically better than mine. But while more refined it is also more boring to drive. And I think it is horribly ugly. They really screwed up the back end of it.

So I walked over to the Acura dealer that shares the Honda lot and drove the TSX Sportwagon. Killer stereo, loaded with everything for around $35K. But the drive was uninspired and it felt under powered. Many years ago I drove an Integra but clearly Acura has moved on from the driving dynamics of that car.

I had also been considering Subaru because I have had a couple of excellent rental experiences with Subaru products. But the Forester is reportedly loud on the highway and by the time you add the big turbo engine to power it you are up in the $30K range, assuming you can find one to buy. The Outback wagon has some technical issues that scared me away. I actually really like the look of the Ford Flex but it is way too big for my needs.

Most of the other SUV options I was not into. They look terrible to me and none of them really have much handling. I did want not spend over $20K just to have a car that was pretty much the same as my CR-V. In that case I might as well just keep what I had.

I evened up down at the VW dealer looking at a TDI Jetta Sportwagon, in part because they were clearing the 2012 models and dealers where offering very good prices. Interesting car and at least on city streets the torque makes it fun to drive. Noted that the test drive route did not include freeway driving and I wondered if that was because the engine was going to run out of steam once we were going 65 and I wanted to pass. I concluded it was actually a better car for my wife than for me. So it was back to the drawing boards again.

I had not considered BMW up to this point because I figured it was more than I wanted to spend. But then the X1 popped up. It was a bit smaller cargo wise than the other cars I had looked at, but it seemed to check all the other boxes. I was a bit worried because the photos made it look like it had a very long nose on it- reminded me a bit of the old Z3 which I thought looked unbalanced. I went to the closest dealer who had a single car and check it out. I just sat in it as it was the only one they had and it was parked in front the dealership where it was going to be a really pain to have it moved. It looked much better in person and seemed to have adequate room inside.

The sales guy there remarked that for the same money I could get a used wagon. That got me thinking about a certified used car, either a 2009 328i wagon or an Audi A4 Avant. My wife used to drive an A4 and loved that car. I had to remind her how much it cost to repair her A4 and that there is no Audi dealer within 30 miles of where we live.

Yesterday I found a BMW dealer about 40 miles away that had a 2009 wagon and the X1 in stock. They were kind enough to let me drive both of them both on city streets and the freeway. I have driven a 335d as a rental in Germany so I had some idea of what to expect. The wagon for the price had a lot more equipment on it. But personally I do not need all the fancy features. Give me a good engine, comfortable seats, and a good stereo and I'm happy. At the end of the drives I preferred the X1. I liked the response of the turbocharged four better than the inline six for the kind of driving I'm likely to do. The much better mileage is a bonus. Being used to sitting up high I liked the view out of the X1 better. Having a brand new car with four years of maintenance is also very attractive because I'm buying, not leasing, and will likely drive the car for 8-10 years. I also like the ability to be picky and get the exact color and options I want in the new car. I do not really need heated seats where I live!

The downsides are that the interior is just not as nice on the X1. Cargo capacity is limited compared to the wagon. For the same price you get a lot less equipment. Don't get me wrong, the wagon is very nice and if I had to drive one I would be a happy camper. Just in my situation the X1 makes more sense.

Unless something else comes up I'm now in saving mode for the down payment on an X1. Waiting makes sense because I'm hoping there will be at least a little give on the prices once there are a few more cars on the dealer lots. Both dealers I talked to so far have said they are not budging much off MSRP for now.

[stonex1]

Originally Posted by Tirpitz

Unless something else comes up I'm now in saving mode for the down payment on an X1. Waiting makes sense because I'm hoping there will be at least a little give on the prices once there are a few more cars on the dealer lots. Both dealers I talked to so far have said they are not budging much off MSRP for now.

I'm in the same boat as you right now. However I never test drove anything else. It was an X1, (dump my hyundai), or new truck. (keep my hyundai)
I'm now trying to sell the hyundai.

If I can't get any bites on my car, then I may see what I can get on a trade in. I would lose a few dollars I'm sure, but I might wait until December to see what my finances are like.
Nonetheless, its not if I'll get an X1, but when.

[bbg2d]

I keep wondering if there will be a diesel any time soon, but I love the 35i, so I am in saving mode as well. Also in the same boat on trade vs sell.

[bbg2d]

Just ran across this one, and for it's value I wonder if it would compete well with the 28: the new 2013 Ford Escape (Titanium). It starts out fairly even with the 28, but the features are no contest. It seems like as far as features the Ford only looses in the transmission department. Thoughts?



Edit: Imma go test drive one now.

Edit 2: never mind, car is great, but the pedals are really poorly placed.

[Sincity]

When the time comes to replace our '08 RDX (currently 52K mi) I'm looking at:

-X1 (white or silver with red interior)
-Q5
-Macan
-Mercedes CUV other than the GLK? I find current Mercedes styling bland.

In no particular order. Looks like the X1 is the better bargain.

[Irish-Texan]

Originally Posted by bbg2d

Just ran across this one, and for it's value I wonder if it would compete well with the 28: the new 2013 Ford Escape (Titanium). It starts out fairly even with the 28, but the features are no contest. It seems like as far as features the Ford only looses in the transmission department. Thoughts?



Edit: Imma go test drive one now.

Edit 2: never mind, car is great, but the pedals are really poorly placed.

Probably ordering an X1 this week if the negotiated price is acceptable.
Will be moving from a 2012 Ford Focus Titanium Hatchback and had contemplated the Escape Titanium in a year or so, but this is our first Ford, and looks like being our last Ford.
Had been looking forward to the Escape as the interior is similar to the Focus.
Even tho the Escape checks all the boxes for equipment, the cumulative issues outweigh the features for the price. Multiple recalls in it's first year. The Ford My Ford Touch system is just plain awful (even after a major upgrade with a new version). The system in ours is highly unstable and you can not depend on the nav. Even when functioning, the voice command struggles and the touch screen has too many small fiddly touch points. Not easy to use while driving. Build quality at Ford seems poor. We are accumulating a variety of squeaks and rattles from all around the dash. The paint is chipping quite noticeably, the doors have developed a groaning noise. The DCT(transmission) struggles to decide on gear selection. The car has never returned more than about 33mpg, even with gentle and mostly highway driving, which is far less than expected. Oil changes are every 5,000 miles.
Decided that having driven BMW product for many years, you "get what you pay for" and not wishing to endure continuously diminishing ownership of the Focus, we have decided against the Escape. It the Focus had been a better product, we would have strongly considered the Escape.
Ford negatives for us are the whole MFT package, DCT transmission, build quality and failure to come close to mpg estimates. Design, pricing and option packaging are excellent.
Also believe it has the same engine as the RR Evoque.
Our final two choices after eliminating other contenders were the Evoque and X1.
Evoque while a winner on looks and styling, loses in our reckoning because of price, that fixed glass roof and they only put BLIS on the 2 door. Waiting for the future Evoque XL (RR Sport replacement model?) for when the X3 comes up for replcement in few years.
Hope this helps you.

[bbg2d]

Yeah, the pedal placement to me suggests that it's not really well engineered. Either that or they just didn't take it into consideration when they brought the Kuga over as the Escape and swapped it from right hand drive.

When you say DCT, you mean dual clutch, right?

[Irish-Texan]

Originally Posted by bbg2d

Yeah, the pedal placement to me suggests that it's not really well engineered. Either that or they just didn't take it into consideration when they brought the Kuga over as the Escape and swapped it from right hand drive.

When you say DCT, you mean dual clutch, right?

Exactly. DCT is dual clutch.

[HotRodW]

Originally Posted by irishtexan

Exactly. DCT is Fordspeak for their tranny.

In the Focus, yes. But the Escape has a conventional 6-speed auto. The DCT in the Focus is OK at speed, but infuriating in parking lots and stop and go traffic. I could only own that car with the manual.

[woodee]

Mazda CX5
Audit Q5
VW Tiguan
Volgo Xc60
Subaru Outback
Kia Sportage
BMW X3

We almost bought the X3 but my wife wanted orange as soon as she saw pics of the X1

[TX65]

Actually, stumbled on the X1 when checking out the VW Tiguan and the Audi A3.

Needed a small SUV for my hobbies (long range shooting) and when I saw the X1 and what came with the base model, placed my order.

This is my 2nd BMW (2001 330 Ci) and sold a 2006 Mini Cooper S to make room in the driveway. I am keeping my 2009 Dodge Challenger RT

My wife had my 330 ci and traded it in on a 2013 BMW X3 which is on the way too.

[Grovsnus]

I considered the following:

Mercedes GLK - the woman vetoed this one as too ugly
VW Tiguan - not enough giddyup, plasticy feeling
Audi Q5 - dealer trash talked other brands
Audi Q3 - not available in the US
LandRover Evoque - Too short and wide, feels dangerous for winter (and parking)
BMW X3 - Too small.

"Hey, wait a minute", I hear the audience cry. "How can an X3 be too small and you ended up on an X1?"
It's not the trunk space that's too small on the X3, it's the driver's environment. The X3 has a much deeper dashboard, and if you have long thighs and/or slouch a bit, your knee will hit the dashboard even with the seat pulled all the way back. This is not a problem on the X1, where the driver area is rather longer, and the seat goes back further (at the expense of back seat riders, of course). Also, the extra cup holders in the X3 gives you less of an arm rest.
In short, the X1 seems to be more geared towards being a driver's vehicle, and not so much a transportation device.

[rory breaker]

We've narrowed down to the XC60 R design and the X1.

Finding it to be quite difficult to get the right configuration we want on the X1 - "oh you want this package, then this trim isnt available. oh that color isnt available if you get that exterior" so on and so forth. Total pain in the rear.

Volvo on the other hand simply doesnt seem interested in earning our business. They gave me a ridiculous price off the bat ($3k off MSRP for a demo car with 7k on it!) and have been slow in communicating.

At this rate we'll keep what we've got and save the cash, as neither company really seems to want to make it happen!

[Louge]

Audi Q5
Range Rover Evoque
Honda CRV
Audi Q3 - if it was available

In the end, the handling of the X1 and price won.