[mr_lab_rat]

It's hard to name just three but for me it's these in no particular order:

- The torque of this small engine (x28i), it pulls almost as strong as my supercharged 3 liter inline 6.
- The heated steering wheel. I never had a car with this feature, I expected I would really like it and I sure do.
- The light strip around the door trim. I had no idea the car had something like this and it was a nice surprise the first time I drove the car in the dark. It looks so cool!

Other honorable mentions have to be the comfort access living up to its name and the sporty handling. I don't care which way is the engine mounted, this thing handles like a BMW considering the height and ground clearance (non RFT 18"s).

[TygerBright]

1. Heads up display.
I thought this would be an expensive gimmick but now indispensable

2. Comfort access.
The only requirement from the missus but I love it as much as she does

3. Heated seats.
Winter is coming!

[Les Paul]

I really like most things about the car - my first BMW in 40+ years of driving, particularly like :-

1.Available with non run flat tyres (main reason I have not owned a BMW before)

2.The only small SUV I could get my mountain bike in, without taking the wheels off

3.Oyster leather interior/pano roof makes it a light cabin and pale leather is holding up well.

Door/dash strip lights (agree)

all in all Comfortable/effortless/economical for long distance driving.

After 2 years still very pleased... though I would not buy a black car again as it soon looks dirty !

[exwon]

could not agree more!

- love the torque (and I have a 335i also to compare)
- quick with fast & smooth shifting (sport mode especially)
- switching from comfort to sport feels like a nice turbo boost every time
- handling is very good (even better than i realized during my test drive)
- overall look is good (especially the front), lighting stripes at night are very cool
- interior with sunroof is enjoyable to me -- not the most luxurious but very nice
- i'll also love heated steering wheel and seat come ski time
- love flying over bumps as compared to my 335i (and when the RFTs wear thin and i switch to non-RFT, will be heaven)

[Gavlenko]

Ok, as I haven't got all the whistles and bells my three are slightly different:-

(i) love the led (angel eye) headlights;
(ii) auto box, sports mode and paddle shifters - really changes the demeanour of the car;
(iii) positioning of the reversing camera - always clear regardless of the weather or road dirt.

[Bill_P]

1) HUD - fantastic for speed, speed limit and navigation directions - try and sell me another car without this feature!

2) Cruise Control with stop & go function, ACC - if you are driving a long distance on the motorway in the right conditions this is brilliant and takes most of the stress out of driving - can't pick up motorbikes so watch out for them and resume full control.

3) Heated Seats - never had them before and never wanted them - got them in the package otherwise would not have specced them. Last winter they were great!!!

[mr_lab_rat]

Funny thing about the HUD. I got the X1 for my wife. She says she hates technology, she asked for a simple car. So I only got the Premium Essential package for the Sunroof and the Sport seats. Ordered the car in June before the wife left for a long vacation in Europe.

She came back right after I took delivery of the car.

After getting used to HUD in the rental car she had for 6 weeks she asked me why her new car didn't have such basic feature ...

No, she's not as annoying as this story makes her look like. No, I didn't kill her after she said that

[Tjalle]

you know that women has the right to disagree - with themselves.

[bmtespar]

My car is pretty well loaded and there are several features I enjoy. Here are a few of my top pics.

1. Adaptive cruise control: a must have for me. It makes long drives so much easier and works pretty well. Looking forward to the gen of this tech.

2. HUD: I have on this car and my other. All of the information it provides is great. Phone communications, media browsing, navigation prompts and speed limit info is fantastic.

3. The Engine: peppy little engine hampered by a less responsive transmission. I do a lot of long drives and the engine always is smooth, provides good useable power and consistently yields stellar fuel economy.

[lucamatblu41]

Only had my F48 for a week so still getting used to it...

1) Elevated Driving Position..after 15 years of sitting low in all sorts of 3 series and an all too brief ownership of an M235i it feels great to see so much more, you feel a lot safer and see much more of the road from this new viewpoint.

2) Harmon Kardon Speakers..As they are so new they haven't bedded in yet and
they're not quite at the level of my past 3 series (don't have the Logic 7 that the M Sport Plus 3 series offers) but they're getting there!!

3) The LED headlights with the cornering option which provide great vision at night....The list goes on including Ambient Lighting, Heated Seats and Reverse Camera, to name but a few...As I say this car is growing on me!!!

[6ixSpd]

Heads up display and the low end torque by far!

The sound system comes in at third, it's really quite amazing for a stock car.

[KPD]

- The HUD. I barely look at the instrument cluster while driving. Just a basic check when I get in and start the car, which is more of an old habit rather than a necessity.

- The colour. Platinum Silver, or as I call it, discount Champagne Quartz! Two years on, I've seen one on the road. BMW's standard colour range seem to get more and more boring every year. Just look at the new 5 Series. It's 50 shades of grey! Boring and unoriginal.

- under boot floor storage. It's massive and easily fits two small carry-ons or backpacks.

[ChilledOut]

Unfortunately four days after mine was delivered I was in hospital having a total knee replacement, so my comments in this post are more as a passenger!
The bright cabin with the pano roof and light beige leather is excellent, especially on a dull day.
Comfort access is a thing I forgot to order on my last car and find the ease of opening and closing the doors is as expected but the auto opening/closing boot (trunk) is a real boon as I’m on crutches!
For the type of vehicle, especially fwd, the turning circle is excellent.... I’m the only car in the street who can turn in the turning area in one sweep... no need to do a three point turn.
When I’m able to drive again I’ll post a more driver oriented review

[BemweeBE]

Lots to pick from, but top 3:

1) The overall interior ambiance: oyster leather sport seats, M sport wheel, black gloss trim, lighting package, pano roof, the 'new' basic nav (no more hideous plastic surround since this summer), those classic BMW dials (still so much nicer than any digital), the overall layout - it just works. Feels like a car one or two classes above (or perhaps it doesn't, knowing the price tag 8-| ).

2) The overall in car entertainment setup is excellent, good/fast nav (surprisingly), nice new ID6 layout (with touchscreen), superb HK sound, wireless Carplay, the list goes on. Carplay is still a bit buggy though (sometimes can't reconnect the phone), hopefully an upgrade (to phone or car) will fix that - when it works it's wonderful. Also a bit miffed that ConnectedDrive does not seem active, even though it is standard (have to go back to dealer for that).

3) Doubting between EDC and xDrive for this last one, but I'll go with xDrive. Gives the car a nice weighty feel, and rock-solid feeling. But most importantly, you can really feel the drive being sent backward if you power into a slow corner or out of a junction. Zero traction loss even in the wet. This is a far step onwards from the haldex FWD systems of old, the system is really predicting when it will need rear power.

Didn't make the list: EDC (really nice in comfort, sport is fun), powered tailgate (been trying to avoid this for ages as I knew I would like it and unlike on this car it's a paid option on most cars), the LEDs (clear/bright and good looking), the sliding rear bench, the underfloor boot storage, the heated steering wheel.

Less good: headrests stick out a bit too much, rear tray tables are pretty useless, manual gearshift is only OK (bit disappointing for a BMW) - issue being the gearbox sits too low in the car so you get an overly long lever which makes it feel more rubbery/distant.

[Tjalle]

Manual gearshift.

In a longitudinal layout, you can have the gershift lever right out of the gearbox. In transversal, you need to have a linkage - hence not the same feeling

[BemweeBE]

Sure linkage is part of the reason, but we had a same size & drivetrain layout vehicle before and that shifted better (and I do have RWD cars to compare). The issue here seems to be the length of the gearshifter, the transmission appears to be set very low (probably makes for better packaging) and as a result it's anything but 'short throw'. In a way, it probably exaggerates the effect of not being an intrinsically great shift to begin with.

It's definitely not a dealbreaker and I still prefer the interaction of the manual. You also don't notice it much in regular traffic where it is perfectly adequate, plus the engine is so torquey (350 Nm!) that you don't need to shift much and you anyway wouldn't rush them. But when you do have a go at it, it's a bit clumsy, especially when trying to rev-match a downshift into second.

[KPD]

Took my car for its first service today and got a 3-Series GT 20d... and... comfy seats and new iDrive aside, I hated everything about it. Ugly car. Dated interior. And the engine... good god! Sounded like a damn lawnmower. Amending my top three favourite things about my F48:

- The HUD. Same reasons as before.

- Visibility and driving position. I genuinely felt uncomfortable because of the poor visibility in my 3-Series GT loaner. X1 feels roomier (even though it’s smaller) and driver feels in control all the time.

- 20i engine. God I hated that nasty diesel. I’m not an aggressive driver. But the damn thing was so underpowered for its ugly bloated chassis that it wouldn’t roll in Drive or Reverse. I have to apply the brake in my own car to slow it down. And the noise... yuk! While I would’ve loved the 25i, I had to settle for 20i here in the UK. It revs beautifully and sounds great, whether you’re gentle with it or push it hard. So glad I didn’t buy a diesel.

[Sanctuary]

Originally Posted by KPD

Took my car for its first service today and got a 3-Series GT 20d... and... comfy seats and new iDrive aside, I hated everything about it. Ugly car. Dated interior. And the engine... good god! Sounded like a damn lawnmower. Amending my top three favourite things about my F48:

- The HUD. Same reasons as before.

- Visibility and driving position. I genuinely felt uncomfortable because of the poor visibility in my 3-Series GT loaner. X1 feels roomier (even though it’s smaller) and driver feels in control all the time.

- 20i engine. God I hated that nasty diesel. I’m not an aggressive driver. But the damn thing was so underpowered for its ugly bloated chassis that it wouldn’t roll in Drive or Reverse. I have to apply the brake in my own car to slow it down. And the noise... yuk! While I would’ve loved the 25i, I had to settle for 20i here in the UK. It revs beautifully and sounds great, whether you’re gentle with it or push it hard. So glad I didn’t buy a diesel.

Hello. I absolutely agree with you. I got a 3 series 20d loaner a month ago. Oh gosh I hated this car. Underpowered and awfully sounding engine. When I got my X1 25i back I really appreciated how good the engine of my car was.

[Brasko]

1. Drivability
2. Heated Seats
3. Cargo Room

[yeezy]

1. Handling - coming from a 228, I expected the x1 to feel a bit bulky with day to day normal driving, even when being a tad aggressive, it maneuvers well.
2. cabin/cargo space
3. visibility

[raf84bar]

1. Heated steering wheel and seats
2. Engine
3. No maintenance fees for the first 4 years

[The Beast]

HUD
Pano roof
HK audio

Also love the comfort access, electric memory seats and kick to open feature on the electric tailgate...