X1 making the family sick..

[X1blue]

Finally took the new car out on the motorway for a 3hr drive and for the first time ever we all arrived at the hotel feeling sick. My wife had a pain in her neck and a horrible headache. The baby vomited on route and cried a lot. I felt quite sea-sick and I was driving (and on dry land!!)

The X1 has unbelievably hard suspension which makes it 'rock' when one wheel encounters a bump or any kind of undulation in the road. The motorway is well used in parts but it is not that bad and we rarely exceed 110km (on cruse control) with no head or side winds.

Is this happening to anyone else?

[Lucky13]

It sounds like you actually may have carbon monoxide poisoning. Look it up on the Internet but your family had the symptoms from what you describe. I'd have your exhaust system checked.

[fdpxfunix]

I use my X1 everyday (mon to fri) on a 102 mile round trip to work and back. It's also a 18d Sdrive with 18's and sports suspension. Never had any issues with feeling sick (me or the family) in the hours I've spent on the UK's M25 and M4. I've not noticed the car rocking, but it does tramline badly on roads used by HGV's due to the tyres.

The only thing I do notice is it gets uncomfortable after 3 hours in the standard seats, but then after 3 hours in any car you'll probably get fidgety.

Get your car checked over.

J.

[DUH CAR]

This is not right. We were in ours for 2.5 hours last weekend on a trip and it is very comfortable and smooth.

[X1blue]

Originally Posted by Lucky13

It sounds like you actually may have carbon monoxide poisoning. Look it up on the Internet but your family had the symptoms from what you describe. I'd have your exhaust system checked.

Interesting thought but the sunroof was open quite a bit and the car is only 3 weeks old. Still, we have a CO detector in the house and I will take it for a ride..

[X1blue]

Originally Posted by fdpxfunix

I use my X1 everyday (mon to fri) on a 102 mile round trip to work and back. It's also a 18d Sdrive with 18's and sports suspension. Never had any issues with feeling sick (me or the family) in the hours I've spent on the UK's M25 and M4. I've not noticed the car rocking, but it does tramline badly on roads used by HGV's due to the tyres.

The only thing I do notice is it gets uncomfortable after 3 hours in the standard seats, but then after 3 hours in any car you'll probably get fidgety.

Get your car checked over.

J.

Interesting you have the sports suspension, the dealer here says they have removed this option a few times due to the ride being overly hard.

Maybe my "rocking" is your "tramline"- I mean that the car will rotates when one wheel hits an imperfection in the road and the suspension barely absorbs the energy. It also seems to 'skate' a little when there is a bigger bump and the car leave the road surface.

It goes back to the dealer next week.

[fdpxfunix]

My last few cars have all been Subaru Impreza's (wagons) with Prodrive suspension and 18” wheels. They were all pretty hard, but no harder than the X1.

The run flat tyres make a huge difference to how the car drives and the tramlining I noticed within hours of picking it up. I'm not too worried about this though as the Impreza's did the same thing. It's not so much the type of tyre, but the width of them. The 18s on the Impreza had 215/40 (Bridgestone non run flat) tyres with the X1 having 225/45's (Pirelli run flat), yet they both suffered tramlining.

The X1 feels like it’s pulling to one side or bouncing left and right when you get stuck in an HGV groove on the Motorway. This could be what you’re experiencing?

Funny you should mention felling sick… I went out and bought a brand new Audi A1 S-line TDi, but traded it in for the X1 5 weeks later. The A1 was a great little car, with a good finish and plenty of toys, but my daughter was always moaning about feeling sick in the back. My wife took a turn in the back on a 1h 30m trip one-day and she felt sick too.

Hope you get it sorted.

J.

[X1blue]

Originally Posted by fdpxfunix

My last few cars have all been Subaru Impreza's (wagons) with Prodrive suspension and 18” wheels. They were all pretty hard, but no harder than the X1.

The run flat tyres make a huge difference to how the car drives and the tramlining I noticed within hours of picking it up. I'm not too worried about this though as the Impreza's did the same thing. It's not so much the type of tyre, but the width of them. The 18s on the Impreza had 215/40 (Bridgestone non run flat) tyres with the X1 having 225/45's (Pirelli run flat), yet they both suffered tramlining.

The X1 feels like it’s pulling to one side or bouncing left and right when you get stuck in an HGV groove on the Motorway. This could be what you’re experiencing?

Funny you should mention felling sick… I went out and bought a brand new Audi A1 S-line TDi, but traded it in for the X1 5 weeks later. The A1 was a great little car, with a good finish and plenty of toys, but my daughter was always moaning about feeling sick in the back. My wife took a turn in the back on a 1h 30m trip one-day and she felt sick too.

Hope you get it sorted.

J.

I would be interested to know what kind of seats you have in your X1. We have the Cool Design interior which comes with leather sports seats.

Our tires are the standard 225/50 R17 94 H MICHELIN Primacy HP.

The car does pull to the left or right quite a bit depending on the road surface slope, but this happens on roads in good condition too (not only those that have lots of heavy traffic). If fact, it happened in the VW Golf. The big difference is that the X1 has really 'heavy' steering and it get pretty tiring correcting this drift on a longer journey. But it dealer is talking about an EPS option to solve the 'weigh lifting issue' for us both.

What I am referring to is suspension related: its a rocking effect. The car is constantly moving up/ down due to road imperfections. When both wheels hit an imperfection at the same height/ depth, the movement is vertical. The rock comes from only one wheel (or one side) hitting an imperfection. I am sure it is this rocking and vertical vibration which is making us sick on longer journeys.

I noticed last night that while the X1 constantly transmits small imperfections in the road to the passengers, it does absorb huge ones quite well. There is one area marked on the motorway and we always had to slow down to 70-80km/h there in the Golf or get airborne. The X1 took the bump at 115km/h quite well (as I fiddled with the cruse control rather than break..)

Interesting what you say about the A1. I guess S-line is the sports version, right? I have driven A1 rentals recently and found the ride to be far superior to the X1 at lower speeds but it is a bit unstable on the motorway above 100km/h. Still, there is none of the vibration present in the X1 and the steering, peddles and gear stick don't pass motor vibration on to the driver either. For sure the rentals are the most basic cars, not s-line which could have harder suspension and thus have made you guys sick.

[fdpxfunix]

We have standard seats with Nevada leather which are Ok, but the sports seats are better.

I don't think you can really compare the A1 to an X1. Although they both weigh a similar amount (which did surprise me when checking the specs) they both drive differently. I could throw my A1 around a car park with no issues, but would not dream of doing that in the X1.

The ride in the A1 was hard and yes the S-line comes with sports suspension and 17s as standard. Again no hard than the X1, but you do feel potholes and rough roads more in the X1 than the A1.

To be honest I think you're experiencing what the X1 drives like, but the rocking could be anything from a dodgy shock to a spring that's not wound correctly.

If you're not happy then moan at the dealer. Mine have been very good with clutch and engine pully noises so far. Not to mention a thrum vibration noise that's also another pully issue.

I'm off on a 200 mile round trip on Tuesday, so I'll see if I can spot any of your issues in my car. Got the Mrs with me, so she'll moan if something is not right

J.

[X1blue]

Originally Posted by fdpxfunix

We have standard seats with Nevada leather which are Ok, but the sports seats are better.

We are beginning to wonder if the sports seats are compounding the problem as I have read they are firmer. The dealer is not saying anything and definitely didnt mention this on paying the 2.500 euros more for the interior. I will really loose it if we find out that we paid more to make the car even more uncomfortable.

Originally Posted by fdpxfunix

I don't think you can really compare the A1 to an X1. Although they both weigh a similar amount (which did surprise me when checking the specs) they both drive differently. I could throw my A1 around a car park with no issues, but would not dream of doing that in the X1.

I've had Audi A1/A3 and a P205 as rental recently, I was just commenting on the ride quality. The X1 leaves all these behind in terms of the interior (rentals tend to be the most basic models, not the sports ones) but all were better than the X1 in absorbing imperfections in the road surface. The ride was much better.

I have only tested similar cars in terms of segment and the XC60, Q3 and GLK were all more stable, but they all cost quite a bit more then the X1 which is being heavily discounted. I think I might know why now..

Originally Posted by fdpxfunix

The ride in the A1 was hard and yes the S-line comes with sports suspension and 17s as standard. Again no hard than the X1, but you do feel potholes and rough roads more in the X1 than the A1.

The standard A1 rode really well though it gets blown about even more than the X1 on the motorway. The old VW golf we had was much better all round.

Originally Posted by fdpxfunix

To be honest I think you're experiencing what the X1 drives like, but the rocking could be anything from a dodgy shock to a spring that's not wound correctly.

If you're not happy then moan at the dealer. Mine have been very good with clutch and engine pully noises so far. Not to mention a thrum vibration noise that's also another pully issue.

The car goes back next week and we are not going to accept any return until the car stops vibrating and it doesnt make us car sick. Over the past 20 years, I have never been in a car as bad as this one. I just hope it is this car and not the model as that will be a long affair.

Originally Posted by fdpxfunix

I'm off on a 200 mile round trip on Tuesday, so I'll see if I can spot any of your issues in my car. Got the Mrs with me, so she'll moan if something is not right
J.

Good luck! I do hope your family has a better trip than we had.

BTW, do any of you get sea-sick? We all do and that is probably a factor in terms of the level of vibration a person can tolerate in a BMW.