2017 BMW X1 xDrive 25i: owner review

I purchased a BMW X1 xDrive 25i almost four years ago and have been very happy with it. The vehicle comes well-equipped with features such as 19” wheels, professional navigation, LED headlamps, parking assistant, rear camera, head-up display, heated power seats, and comfort access. I also opted for additional features such as a panoramic sunroof and Driving Assistant Plus (adaptive cruise control).

The X1 was a replacement for a Mini Cooper in my family garage, and I chose it for its practical interior and manageable city-sized footprint. The car is mostly used for urban driving, with occasional trips to the coast or country and annual 3-hour drives to the snowfields.

I find I drive about 12,000km per year in the car and with the odometer approaching 50,000km, I'm looking to move it on to something new. My family and I have been very pleased with the car's functional and stylish nature. Despite being parked outside and subjected to dust from trams, bird droppings, and harsh Australian summers, the car has held up well with regular washing and cleaning.

I purchased the 5-year service package from BMW when I bought the car (it had a three-year warranty then), and there have been no mechanical issues or interior trim failures. However, the front tyres tended to wear more quickly than the rears, and I'm just on my third set of those to the still-solid second set of rears.

In terms of interior space, the high glasshouse and squared-off roofline make the cabin feel large and airy, even for me who is 6'3". The X1 has impressed me with its usable storage and seating flexibility, with the three-way split seats and 60:40 sliding rail allowing for easy adjustment of the cabin. Day-to-day storage is also sufficient, with the under-floor cubby in the boot being a favourite feature for storing items related to child and dog ownership.

One issue raised with the car's release was the ride's harshness on the 19-inch rims, but I have found no problem with the ride. The firmer suspension offers excellent feedback and an entertaining drive on the occasional opportunity to drive more enthusiastically.

The B48 engine is great, with plenty of torque available from just 1250rpm and a sport mode that allows the car to build and carry speed well. The front-drive platform works well for a family runabout, with no wheelspin or torque steer under heavy acceleration (this one is AWD) and no diminished driving engagement due to the front-wheel bias. However, I miss the more stylish BMW transmission lever (we had a 3 Series before the Mini Cooper) and find the 8-speed transmission occasionally clunky when engaging reverse.

The car's fuel consumption is higher than BMW's claim, averaging 11.5L/100km in predominantly comfort mode, compared to the claimed 6.6L/100km. I speculate that the higher fuel use may be due to regular driving in slow moving, inner-urban Melbourne traffic, and that my wife turns the start-stop function off.

The car still has iDrive v4 and no touch screen, but it works well and ties in nicely with the Connected Drive app functions, to which I have continued to subscribe. There have been some minor issues with the navigation being slow to initialize and the favourites buttons sometimes forgetting the stored radio stations. However, the "send destination to car" function of the Connected Drive app is particularly convenient for my wife.

There have been a few minor glitches with some of the technical features, such as the boot kicker which can close the tailgate on my head if I am rummaging in the back with the keys in my pocket. The Driving Assistant Plus system has also exhibited some "false positive" scenarios with the pre-collision braking system, and the adaptive cruise control can shut down if the camera is in direct sunlight.

This is of particular frustration if heading east on an early morning country drive, where you simply cannot even use the cruise control on a sunny day.

Despite these issues, the X1 has been a great car for my small family, being easy to live with around town and capable on longer tours. The interior space and configuration options are a real winner, and while the car is thirstier than BMW claims and the camera-only Driver Assistance system has some bugs, I would still recommend the X1.

To that end, I'm looking at the new X1 as a potential replacement, despite a significant increase in cost.

Owner: Patrick

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