[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Hi all,

This is my first post here at bimmerpost. I'm glad I've matured enough and at the point in my life where I can think about purchasing my first BMW.

I am thinking of getting a AWD small SUV to go on snowboarding trips. So I need to know about the ground clearance of the X1. (Unless BMW states it somewhere in the publicly available spec sheet.)

So why a BMW? Well because this car won't be for me. Mom got me a new car when I was in college, and then I passed it onto her when I got my own new car years ago. So, it's only right that I get her something nice and new for a change.

Why X1? Being located in San Francisco, it's silly to have anything bigger. And I could use the AWD and would like to borrow it for my weekend snowboarding trips.

So, how is the ground clearance on these X1? Thanks!

Also, white seems to be a very popular color around here. I'll look into purchasing the probably when winter comes around.

In case anyone is wondering, I'm currently driving a DD 2009 Mazdaspeed 3 GT. If I'm good with my finances, my (real) next car will be the M2 Competition.

Appreciate the help guys!

[Quantumn]

Hey man, welcome to the forums!

I personally have an X1 and an M240i so your real next car is +1 from me haha.
I believe the X1 will be a good fit for your snowboarding needs.

I go hiking often in my X1 and go through service roads. Our cars have about 7.2" of ground clearance so you're not going to do any rock crawling with that. I know for a fact that AWD system can get you out of many tough situations but the approach angles and the lack of underbody protection is where I would caution you to be extremely careful to not damage your expensive BMW.

Also, when looking for an X1, get one WITHOUT runflats. You can thank me later

Let me know if you have other questions!

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by Quantumn

Hey man, welcome to the forums!

I personally have an X1 and an M240i so your real next car is +1 from me haha.
I believe the X1 will be a good fit for your snowboarding needs.

I go hiking often in my X1 and go through service roads. Our cars have about 7.2" of ground clearance so you're not going to do any rock crawling with that. I know for a fact that AWD system can get you out of many tough situations but the approach angles and the lack of underbody protection is where I would caution you to be extremely careful to not damage your expensive BMW.

Also, when looking for an X1, get one WITHOUT runflats. You can thank me later

Let me know if you have other questions!

Thanks for answering my questions!

So the X1 has about 7.2 of ground clearance? I think that's good enough. Honestly, if I have to clear any accumulated snow higher than that, then I really shouldn't be out on the road that day. And sit out the storm. I've gotten by for years thus far on my lowered Mazdaspeed 3, and haven't had any underbody damage yet. (Apply common sense, and you can get through a lot of BS on the road) Thanks for the heads up though.

I for one will NEVER get run-flat tires. Speaking of tires, how is the tire noise on these cars? I'm asking because during the winter, the car will be sitting on winter tires and they're generally louder than all-season's.

May I ask how your X1 has held up over the years? I don't expect my mother to do any maintenance on it, and since I'll only drive it intermittently, I won't be able to tend to it. Are there any long term issues/annoyance I should be aware of?

Also, I went through the picture thread, so everyone's getting a white X1 basically? Haha.

[Quantumn]

My pleasure man!

That's what I recalled reading but I know it's not a lot because when I'm on service roads it sometimes scrapes and I CRINGE every time.
I do think the 7.2" is good enough, any higher it would make the car not as fun haha. I see this car as a tall hatch than a "SUV or SAV" in BMW language.

I had the stock Pirelli P7 Run Flats and you can really hear them.
I now run Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ and find them very quiet, actually, the entire car is quiet because of no ASD as well.

The X1 has held up well over the two years I've owned it. The car now has about 28k miles and has only had one minor issue with the sunshade that came off track (BMW fixed it) also the fog light cracked but that's just due to a rock hitting it on the freeway.

No issues I can think of but my annoyance is the seats as I have the M240i so that car has the sports seats and they are SO DAMN COMFORTABLE.
When I bought the X1, the sports seats HAD to be equipped with the M Sport pack and I didn't see the need to spend all the extra money when I already planned on getting an M240i a year later. If I were to do it again, I would just option in the sport seats and call it a day.

My mother sometimes drives the X1 and she really enjoys it.

I do see a lot of people getting White X1 --- I bought a white one only because I've owned two black cars + I like the black and white contrast.

[Quantumn]

Here is my X1, it is a 16' X1 xDrive 28i only exterior change you can see are the kidney grilles - I threw all my cosmetic mods to my M240i

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by Quantumn

My pleasure man!

That's what I recalled reading but I know it's not a lot because when I'm on service roads it sometimes scrapes and I CRINGE every time.
I do think the 7.2" is good enough, any higher it would make the car not as fun haha. I see this car as a tall hatch than a "SUV or SAV" in BMW language.

I had the stock Pirelli P7 Run Flats and you can really hear them.
I now run Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ and find them very quiet, actually, the entire car is quiet because of no ASD as well.

The X1 has held up well over the two years I've owned it. The car now has about 28k miles and has only had one minor issue with the sunshade that came off track (BMW fixed it) also the fog light cracked but that's just due to a rock hitting it on the freeway.

No issues I can think of but my annoyance is the seats as I have the M240i so that car has the sports seats and they are SO DAMN COMFORTABLE.
When I bought the X1, the sports seats HAD to be equipped with the M Sport pack and I didn't see the need to spend all the extra money when I already planned on getting an M240i a year later. If I were to do it again, I would just option in the sport seats and call it a day.

My mother sometimes drives the X1 and she really enjoys it.

I do see a lot of people getting White X1 --- I bought a white one only because I've owned two black cars + I like the black and white contrast.

Originally Posted by Quantumn

Here is my X1, it is a 16' X1 xDrive 28i only exterior change you can see are the kidney grilles - I threw all my cosmetic mods to my M240i

That is a beautiful example! Yeah I'm not fond of tall boats either, so the X1 is a great size for my mother, myself, and San Francisco where the car will spend 95% of the time there.

Sports seats, I see that it's now part of the Convenience Tier/Package. Not too bad, I like most of the stuff in that package. And yes, the sports seats in my mind are a necessity.

If a car can't clear 7inches of road debris/snow, it's best to not drive that day. So this amount of ground clearance is good enough for me.

This will be my first "luxury" brand vehicle, is 0% financing a thing among BMW? It's currently 1.9%, and Mini (owned by BMW) offers 0.9% on selected vehicles, so if I miss the current financing opportunity, I at least know 1.9% will be around the corner.

But does 0% financing exist? Thank you.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

I was originally shopping for a Mini Countryman for myself as a 2nd car, because I still wanted AWD, ground clearance, and MANUAL. Mini Countryman was the only car that offered a manual across the trims. I also looked at the VW Golf Alltrack, but the manual was limited to the lower trims. No deal.

Then I realized just how expensive the Mini Countryman is. It's basically the X1, priced like X1, but take away ~40-90HP, half of the standard features. And I'm sorry Mini Cooper fans, it's not that good looking. The only way the Mini would look good in my mind is if you deck out the coloring schemes, add all the historic and motoring reference decoration, none of which would be of any use if I'm not driving it.

Then I realized I don't need another daily driven car in the form of a SUV, enter the X1 for my mother. I'll just borrow it few weekends out of the year.

[spitpilot]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

I for one will NEVER get run-flat tires. Speaking of tires, how is the tire noise on these cars? I'm asking because during the winter, the car will be sitting on winter tires and they're generally louder than all-season's.

Also, I went through the picture thread, so everyone's getting a white X1 basically? Haha.

Good choice on the tires...RFT's are a PITA...harder ride, more costly and most of all a misnomer...if you look at the tire mfg's tech info..you'll see that they can only work in RFT mode for 50 miles!...So if you're out on a Sunday drive up the the foothills 150 miles from home and get a flat? Happened to me...but I bought a compact spare 'n jack for my 328...changed my tire and drove back to "civilization", found a tire shop open..and since I had NOT run on the RFT...got it patched and rebalanced for $20 and drove home. BMW "Assist" offered to tow me down to Roseville BMW and "they'd handle the problem Monday morning"...yeah right...wife and I needed to be at work Monday. Shops won't repair run flats that have been driven on...don't know how far you drove...so you're out $300 or so!
I switched my wheels to 17's and am running 225/55 Conti DWS (Dry Wet Snow)...very quiet compared to the OEM Pirelli tires..plus smoother ride and excellent wet traction (Pirelli P7's felt like you were driving on ice when it rained)..didn't drive all that much in snow this winter...Have used 3 sets of these tires with excellent results..wear about in the low 30K miles....and have handled all "normal winter" diving here in Reno/Tahoe for years!...Unless you want to go all racer during the summer...plenty of grip for spirited driving on the "twisties" which I enjoy!

I too have Alpine White (cooler and easier to care for)...plus you save $500 which you can spend on a set of Cont's..
Only other suggestion would be to go for M sport seats...we're used to them from our 328 and the std seats are really not all that supportive.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by spitpilot

Good choice on the tires...RFT's are a PITA...harder ride, more costly and most of all a misnomer...if you look at the tire mfg's tech info..you'll see that they can only work in RFT mode for 50 miles!...So if you're out on a Sunday drive up the the foothills 150 miles from home and get a flat? Happened to me...but I bought a compact spare 'n jack for my 328...changed my tire and drove back to "civilization", found a tire shop open..and since I had NOT run on the RFT...got it patched and rebalanced for $20 and drove home. BMW "Assist" offered to tow me down to Roseville BMW and "they'd handle the problem Monday morning"...yeah right...wife and I needed to be at work Monday. Shops won't repair run flats that have been driven on...don't know how far you drove...so you're out $300 or so!
I switched my wheels to 17's and am running 225/55 Conti DWS (Dry Wet Snow)...very quiet compared to the OEM Pirelli tires..plus smoother ride and excellent wet traction (Pirelli P7's felt like you were driving on ice when it rained)..didn't drive all that much in snow this winter...Have used 3 sets of these tires with excellent results..wear about in the low 30K miles....and have handled all "normal winter" diving here in Reno/Tahoe for years!...Unless you want to go all racer during the summer...plenty of grip for spirited driving on the "twisties" which I enjoy!

I too have Alpine White (cooler and easier to care for)...plus you save $500 which you can spend on a set of Cont's..
Only other suggestion would be to go for M sport seats...we're used to them from our 328 and the std seats are really not all that supportive.

Thanks for your input!

I sat in the base seats and I was like... "Why do these feel like a 1970 Buick seat?!"

I definitely will be getting at minimum the sports seats. The X2 was on display and I sat in it with the sports seats and yeah, those are an absolute must!

Although, I'm not particularly thrilled with the color options of the X1. My gripe against BMW is that they offer many shades of black/white/silver/grey. Mediterranean Blue looks intriguing though

[mrexcuse]

Say,

Have a look at my previous post here should give you an idea for skiing and cargo.

http://f48.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...0#post22714640

Car did exceptionally well in winter storms this last year in Ontario and Quebec and can handle quite a bit of storage as well. I recommend getting a roof box or carrier of some sort to seperate the skis. Hope it helps.