[Xorbitman]

We took possession of our 2018 X1 with the executive package in January 2019. The vehicle will be 2 years old in less than a month and mostly because of Covid-19 we only have 23k kms or about 1/2 normal driving mileage. Also we have a summer sports car which is in storage during the winter from November 1st to April 1st of 5 months. We've had 0 issues with this vehicle in the first year and we've owned 10 vehicles the last 30 year mostly Japanese and most of them new: 1989 Ford Probe LX & 1986 Honda Civic as a 2nd vehicle; 1991 Honda Accord amazing vehicle however a just over 200K Kms the transmission blew and needed a repair costing close to $3k back then which wasn't worth it for a 6 year old car & Renault Hatch back (lemon); 1996 Mazda 626LX (Lemon) & Nissan Sentra (crappy vehicle); 2001 Nissan Maxima SE with 2002 Toyota Corolla (both amazing vehicles); 2004 Nissan Maxima GLE (horrible lemon); 2005 Nissan Maxima (buy back replacement by Nissan of 2004 & an amazing vehicle); 2012 Infiniti G37xS Coupe (never winter driven and an excellent vehicle with a few quirks and minor issues & Corolla was winter car); 2015 Subaru Impreza Sport Hatch (also a few annoying issues such as a loose shift sensor wire which took Subaru 1 year to finally correct / The key could not be removed and we had to start and stop the car to finally remove the key on several occasions, this was an intermittent issue and was a major aggravation, other than that the vehicle was quite good especially in winter; front headlight assembly had to be replaced due to condensation issues and the radio had to be replaced.); 2018 BMW X1 fully loaded. This is the first vehicle that we've driven that had 0 warranty issues in it's first year. However in the beginning of the second year, we had a bizarre issue with the brakes that had prematurely worn out and all 4 rotors and pads were changed after BMW discovered major rust and unusual pitting in the rotors. After complaining to BMW and the dealership and after they did a more thorough and extensive examination of the brakes they paid for the entire repair. I would recommend and I did remove the all season run flats in January when we took possession of the car as they are illegal here in winter. So I use the 18" wheels for winter and purchased 19" aftermarket wheels with performance tires for summer (245/40/19) which made a huge difference to how the car handles and how quiet it is in summer. I absolutely hate run flats and they explode in pot holes and are expensive to replace and do not handle well. Case in point, BMW now offers other tires as free options. I had trouble finding wheels for the X1 because of the unusual and new bolt pattern however now the industry has caught up and there's more variety. In June of 2019 I hired a BMW software programmer to add many features to the vehicle through the OBDII connector, features found in more expensive Bimmers. I added LED turns, fogs, tails which is software selectable in the ECU so you don't get the annoying strobe effect and require resistors: aftermarket LEDs have to be CAN BUS compatible (ECU Network). A few other features example: Stop/Go disabled on startup; mirrors closed on exit after holding the handle for an extra 5 seconds, brighter halos, ECU mod for more power from the turbo with a BMS Intake and a few other infotainment features. I love the HUD and the infotainment system with the optional 8.8" screen which I find to be one of the best. I added a rearview mirror with a compass with homelink which I found new on Ebay, a box that looks OEM for the space under the arm rest to hide personal items (Amazon or Ebay) and I added Pioneer tweeters and a powered Subwoofer with a remote that controls volume, a an active EQ and cross-over that fits perfectly in the hidden box to the left of the steering wheel under the dash and the sound quality has improved 100% so the door speakers act like upper mids and the bass speakers under the front seats like lower mids. The Sub fits under the floor cover and is attached to the trunk floor with industrial velcro and is also a perfect fit. I have the optional reclining rear seats and in Canada you can get the special acoustic glass to make the cabin even quieter. I have many other features too as this vehicle was fully equipped including a special paint protector. I vehicle came with the metallic white and with this paint protector, most dirt just washes off with a hose down. I also put the 3M clear anti-chip film on the hood, front headlights and over the rear bumper to avoid scratches and a great idea in retrospect. I have more power than an X3 or X4 and as a result of my software tune and with the 19" wheels and wider tires in sport mode with transmission and ECU the drive is sensational. I recommend the sport diff and the dynamic adjustable dampers. I came very close to getting a demo X3 M4.0 and have to honestly say that I don't regret it. I'm not a fan of all these electronic assistance such as dynamic cruise control and traffic assist as most of them don't work well in winter or in the rain. I find the front wheel drive based X drive system actually much better than the rear wheel drive based systems for winter driving especially with a set of proper winter tires. I look forward to my next BMW in a few years. My G is modified both in the engine and interior and is showroom condition with very low mileage for a 2012. I only drove it 2k Kms in 2020 due to the pandemic. For my next vehicle I may upgrade to an M version and sell my G. It will have to be better than what we have now and have the optional BMW calipers and a real sports suspension with more power. Although the new Audi Q3 doesn't have a HUD it has an optional larger display with the tech package and the Canadian version comes with the new smaller wheelbase platform like in Europe which is not available in the USA! It also has an updated version of the VW GTI engine which uses REGULAR gas with the same HP and TQ and with premium gas and an easy tune is good for well over 300 HP. The Merc is also a close competitor however I don't like the melted butter exterior. The newer Infiniti's have an inferior infotainment system. The Lexus in this category are boring while the Acura's interior in not up to the quality of the fit and finish. I'm not a fan of the Alpha Romeo because I like to travel for vacation long distances and don't want to take chances with parts not available and the same goes for the Jag. Honda CRV's are expensive and not as nice. The closest Japanese competitor is the Mazda CX-5 and although the interior is nice the interior is not up to the same level.