[rangerjake]

Living in a cold, snowy climate I have been a lifelong Subaru driver. But being totally uninspired by any of their post-2010 cars and absolutely tired of their universal driving yawns I was looking for something more fun yet with some of the same crossover/wagon utility. Not to mention that Subies are totally overvalued. Volvo, Audi, VW were considered. But the pre-SUV X1 body style piqued my interest and after driving a friends I was no longer looking for any other make/model.

A month of pricing and negotiating with BMW dealers around the country I ended up purchasing a loaded '15, 33k miles, for about $17k from a dealer just outside NYC. Love the car so far (it's been 2 days). I have lurked here a little, but always interested to hear others experiences with this ride. Things to watch out for? Words of wisdom? Whatever you got.

For real though, I am not a car nut nor snob. Major mods sound fun but probably not something I'll be taking on soon. But little changes that make big differences are gold to me. Non RFT snows go on tomorrow.

My first query is about what people are getting for real-world gas mileage. I was extra sold on the fuel economy of this engine relative to its power. But I am a little skeptical so far that I'll ever see anything within 5 mpg of its high end.