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      05-19-2014, 01:29 PM   #1
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Our 2015 Valencia Orange x28i x1 - Acquisition Story & Review, 24 Hi-Res photos

[This is a long, detailed post describing the process of selecting, acquiring, and early impressions of, our x1, along with 26 hi-res photos. When researching this car and looking for tips on buying a BMW, I found these types of posts extremely helpful, and therefore wanted to create one myself so it might be of assistance to others.]

Deciding on the x1

The five year warranty was soon to expire on our 2009 Volkswagen SportWagen TDI, and given their propensity for exploding high-pressure fuel pumps, I decided we didn't want to own it for a single day outside of warranty. So, the search was on for a new daily driver for my wife that also was the car we used as a family, toting around my toddler son. Due to a few changes in our lifestyle, getting TDI-level MPG was no longer at the top of our priority list and we were also looking to move up-market a bit; however, having an efficient engine was still important to us. We'd both been spoiled by the HP-to-weight ratio of our VW GLI (my daily) and agreed that going forward that was the minimum amount of power we needed out of a car. While we enjoyed the hatch of the SportWagen, in our experience, we hardly ever needed all the space it provided, thusly we wanted the next car to be a hatchback, but a bit smaller than the wagon. For the first time ever, we were planning to lease, so we knew we only needed a back seat that could handle a car seat and two-year-old, up through a booster and five-year-old. All of our previous cars were manuals, but it became quite obvious early on that nothing we were interested in was available with a manual transmission, so we sadly crossed that off our requirements list. We've had a few bad snow storms up here lately and decided we'd like to have an AWD vehicle, and preferably one with decent ground clearance. We also wanted a slightly higher seating position mostly to make it easier to get the kiddo in and out of the car seat. Since we spend a ton of time in this car, and use it for long road trips, we wanted an above-average level of luxury and equipment.

With this list of requirements, it turns out not many cars were even under consideration. We really didn't want an SUV, given their relatively inefficient overall size-to-useable-space ratio, and heavier curb weights. This also often coincides with lower MPG and poorer driving dynamics as well. Trying to find a luxury hatch that isn't a full-blown SUV is a difficult task. In addition to the x1, we considered, but rejected: Audi Allroad (weaker engine, mediocre transmission, worse MPG, bit more expensive), Audi Q5 (too big, too heavy, one engine too weak, one engine too strong, crappy MPG, lot more money), BMW 328xi Sportwagen (liked it a lot, but $10k more, had nothing we wanted x1 did not have), and BMW 335xi GT (liked a lot, but needed bigger engine to match our HP-to-weight desire, about $11k more). The 335xi GT was the only one that really made us think: it was impressive in person with it's not-too-low, not-too-high seating position, and the backseat area is just huge, as well as it's surprisingly cavernous hatch area, and there is a lot to love about a 300HP engine that gets a 4,000 pound car around 30 MPG on the highway. Fit and finish of course was a smidge better than the x1, as well as it having the newest iDrive, but all of that came with a cost of about $11k higher MSRP. We concluded that given our needs for the next three years the x1 was a perfect fit while the 3 GT was a bit overkill.

I did my research and found more-or-less universally positive reviews, this one in particular was very convincing. We test-drove the x1, and it really had everything we wanted. It was just big enough without being too big, just un-SUVish enough to provide an engaging drive, and the 28i engine provided plenty of scoot. Coming from VWs, it's build and construction seemed a solid step up and it didn't feel lacking in luxury at all. We were sold.


Purchasing the x1

Once we knew we were going with an x1, we used the online configurator to come up with our build. I feel like the xLine trim best suits the car itself, though I'd also consider the Sport line. I'm not really a fan of the no-line look or the M-Sport (can't stand how the painted-but-seperate wheel arches, etc. look, seems very unnatural to me). Maybe our hardest choice was the Valencia Orange--we liked it, but you can't deny it's a pretty out there color. Ultimately we decided this would likely be our last chance to get such an exotic color; looking at our potential future cars from Audi or BMW, we didn't really see any offerings outside the standard colors. So, this was our chance and we took it. Valencia Orange also really compliments the xLine well, contrasting with both the black and silver exterior elements, combining for a truly unique look. After that, the Terra Leather was an easy choice, as I love a good brown/orange combo, and enjoyed the opportunity to have such a unique combination (still haven't ever seen another like it in photos or real life). And since we had the xLine trim, the opportunity to select Fineline Bay Matte wood trim made that an easy decision. After that, we pretty much checked every option box to arrive at a $45,570 MSRP, which was actually a bit less than the budget we had set for ourselves.

So, now we knew the exact car we wanted, and I proceeded to spend dozens of hours reading up on the various BMW forums about the process people use to buy a car as well as see the prices people were paying. It was extremely helpful. It was also very helpful to find the Edmunds lease forums where the monthly base lease rates from BMWFS are posted.

After doing my research, I hadn't seen any dealers in the Pacific Northwest called out for their excellence, so I concluded a good place to start was David Aviles aka BMWDavid who had recently moved to Steve Thomas BMW outside of LA. He has a great reputation for giving excellent deals and for total honesty. I emailed him our build and told him we were serious buyers and asked what his best price would be. His quick reply surprised me: even with no incentives (as the 2015 was brand new) it was well under invoice, with no added fees, and the base BMWFS lease rates. Of course, I'd have to fly to LA and drive it back, or have it shipped, both options would add around $600-$800 to my cost. I thanked him for his quick response and let him know I planned to see if a dealer closer to me could compete, but if not, he had a sale.

I then sent an email to our closest 15 BMW dealers with all of our build details, and an offer to purchase the car from them if they agreed to the price David had offered me plus $700 and no extra fees, as well as agreeing to BMWFS base lease rates. This was a decent amount over invoice cost, but not too much (the dealer I ended up buying from has requested I don't list the exact price here). Of the 15 dealers I emailed, 10 simply never emailed me back, 2 emailed basically saying my offer was ridiculously low, 2 said that we could work together, give them a call, and 1 emailed and said, 'OK, I'll sell you that car for that amount.'

That one was David Padgalskis at BMW of Portland. As his email would indicate, there was never one bit of monkey business working with him. In 24 hours I had a signed deal structure worksheet with all pertinent details (MSRP, sale price, lease rates), and in 48 hours I had an official build sheet and production number. Our x1 was in production just 4 days later, and David emailed me the VIN. I can't possibly do justice describing just how dead-easy this process was with David. I never had to ask for anything twice and he never tried to sell me on something I hadn't already requested. In fact, the entire deal, until we picked up the car, was done over email—no phone calls and no in-person visit, which is exactly how I wanted it. I like having a written record of all communication, as well as the convenience of email, and David was happy to oblige. It was my dream experience of buying a car, and was infinitely better than every car-buying experience I'd had previously. While it may help David to recommend him here, I'm really helping y'all: if you live in the Northwest and are buying a new BMW, it'd be foolish to not talk to David Padgalskis. He is the kind of customer agent that enforces brand loyalty by being such a straight shooter and fair dealer. I wouldn't be surprised if in three years when our lease is up, I only have to contact David to get a great deal on our next car and skip all the running around.

(After agreeing to buy the car from BMW of Portland, I emailed David Aviles to let him know and to thank him for the work involved with offering a great price on the car that then enabled me to get a great deal closer to home. I also sent him an Amazon gift card to thank him for his trouble, it was the least I could do. We all complain about crappy salesmen, I didn't want to be a crappy customer.)

Whether a lease is right for you, and all the complexities of how leases work and what makes for a good lease, are topics too large to address here. Suffice to say, a lease was an excellent fit for our circumstance, and worked out perfectly. We put $0 down on the car, and paid our acquisition fee, first months payment, and 4 MSDs with a credit card to get 2% cash back on it, and then paid off the card the next day. Our monthly payment is just a smidge under $500.

We ordered the car on February 18th, the car went into production February 25th (the first day of production for 2015 x1 models), the car was finished by March 3rd, was on a boat on March 11th, and we picked it up April 16th.

By the time the car had arrived, we had already worked out every detail of the transaction, including the lease spepcifics, right down to monthly payment and amount due at signing. I used the excellent iOS app Leasematic which happens to have been created by a fellow Bimmerpost member. It's an invaluable and fanastic app that includes tons of detail and really makes it simple to play around with lease info to get it to look how you want it to look. Since everything had already been spelled out prior to pickup, the pickup process was incredibly quick, easy, and smooth. The finance guy didn't give us a hard sell on anything and the whole transaction probably took just 20 minutes before we were sitting in the car with David showing my wife various features of the x1 (I'd already read thorugh the PDF of the manual twice before picking the car up, but I let David give her the first set of instructions). As an unexpected surprise David threw in a set of BMW OEM All-Weather Rubber Floor Mats, including one for the cargo area as well (MSRP of $200) and a set of BMW OEM Locking Lug Bolts (MSRP $50). Awesome!


Early Impressions


As one might expect, when you do so much research and reading up on a car, there aren't many suprises when it comes time to take delivery—which is exactly how you want it to be! We've had the car for a month and put about 750 miles on it. First, the Valencia Orange: we frickin' love it! It's a really nuanced color and looks entirely different depending on lighting and angles, it's fantastic. From an almost tomato red to pastel-like orange, it's always a delight to look at, and if you go Valencia Orange, expect to get a lot of compliments on it from strangers. It defnitely does not go under the radar. The Terra leather is just beautiful and supple, and the Fineline Bay Matte wood trim makes an excellent transition in the car from the Terra leather to the black elemnts of the interior. We are extremely pleased with both the interior and exterior appearence of the car, and the build quality appears to be truly immaculate—no rattles or creaks have revealed themselves yet and everything feels quite solid. I've found the iDrive to be easy to use and quite intuitive, the stereo sounds quite good, the nav is soild, the music playback controls and graphics are excellent, and I particularly love the programmable buttons that can be set to virtually any function (my favorites are: toggle split screen, split screen content, day/night nav toggle, navigate home, trip/info screen).

As far as performance, I must first state this caveat: for me, a car with a manual transmission will always be superior to an automatic when it comes to my driving pleasure—nothing can replace the connectedness you feel with a manual transmission. Having said that, the x1 has been a blast to drive. For most driving, particularly with the family in the car, driving in normal mode is totally fine. I actually really like the auto start/stop feature, and feel like it really does make the car much more efficient. When I drive it solo, I do sometimes put it into manual mode, and paddle shift to my heart's content—it provides a more engaged experience and allows for all the suburban hoonage that I need. I'll be excited to get out of break-in soon, and get those revs past 4.5k . It's a great cruiser, and can be fun when you want it to be, but I've got to say, if you are buying a car purely for the joy of driving it, then this isn't for you, which I don't think is a suprise to anyone.

The weight and higher center of gravity do give it a little more body roll than a non-SUVish car will offer, but in daily driving it's almost unnoticeable, and I find that in normal driving there isn't any pronounced under/oversteer—which is better than I expected. It carves through corners well and in DS or Manual mode you can really have a blast exiting corners with a little umph. In normal D mode, I find the accleration lag to be annoying if you are attempting to drive in a sporty manner, though not an issue if you are just casually driving along. Overall, I think the compromises BMW made with tuning the transmission and engine to be a sound balance that enables good efficiency when you want it and good times when you prefer those.

We've only measured MPG for two tanks of gas and we're avergaing 18.9MPG with an average speed of 17.3MPH in virtually 100% city driving. I'm very satisfied with these numbers. The one area we haven't tested is extended highway driving where I'm really hoping we can hit a reliable 30MPG. We'll get to that soon, and I will update my experiences here.

One of our only concerns was the size of the car, and making sure it would be big enough. I'm 6' 2" 225lbs, and my 2.5 year old son is 39" 40lbs (he's a big boy!) and in his enormous car seat we can both fit on the samee side of the car comfortably, i.e. me in passenger seat, him directly behind me. I've included a bunch of photos of the car seat in the car to give prospective buyers an idea for how much space remains after installing one of these huge modern car seats. We are 100% satisfied with the space inside the car, but likely at some point in the future it would be inadequate. I would say you can comfortably carry two adults and two small children in this car, but add teenagers or adults to the backseat regularly, and I think this car would be too small to be truly comfortable for all passengers.

The only 'mods' I've done is to add SolarGard Ultra Performance 40 ceramic nanotech tint to all windows except front windshield, and to have my detailer Opti-Coat the entire car. The tint is fantastic, is a very neutral color grey and has great heat blocking properties without introducing radio wave interference you get with metallic tints. The Ultra-Performance 40 actually lets in 43% of visible light, so combined with the small amount of tint that comes in the glass it's probably right around the 35% legal limit for Oregon. I was mostly interested in heat and UV blocking as well as having a slightly darker look for the car, so it worked out perfectly. After doing tons and tons of research on Opti-Coat after my detailer recommended it to me, I finally decided to take the plunge on this new car. You can read all about it on the interwebs (here & here to start), but to simplify: Opti-Coat is a 'permanent' clear ceramic coating that protects your factory clear coat and is scratch, swirl, dirt and water resistant. It functions more or less like a permanent wax. It also has the added bonus of being useable on all the plastic cladding on our x1 (as wheel as on the stock clear-coated wheels). Obviously the longevity of the product is something I can't remark on, but it definitely makes washing the car very easy and provides an excellent shine, and great water beading. The photos below are all with the tint and Opti-Coat on the car.
Attached Images
                        
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