[one-77]

Could anyone please share the BSI and BRI price list for the new X1?

Also, does the diesel 18d have a dual-clutch or torque converter 7 speed gearbox?
While the website and brochure clearly mention “double clutch” for the petrol, there’s no such clear reference for the diesel. While some reviewers seem to think it’s a DCT, others say it’sa TC.

[Rob_Goa]

Dear All,

Firstly, had the pleasure of being the first owner of this New X1 2023 in India.!! I take great pride in this.

Was needing and upgrade for my Honda City of 2009 and with a family of 4(2 kids of 3 and 6 and the better half) needed an upgrade to drive on Goan roads with style and panache and once or twice a year to go on roadtrips(safety and reliability being paramount), with road And social presence very essential these days.

Was following x1 since August 2022 as it was officially launched in June 2022 worldwide (India release came only as late as 28th Jan 2023).
I guessed the previous generation was around 50~55 on road hence there would be definitely 5lac increase on this one( at least in India)....so was fitting my financial scene(around 60lacs with 2 years extended warranty hence 2+2=4 years)


Was reading a lot of reviews from foreign press and it's releases in different countries, you tube videos saying how good it is and was almost like a shrunken x5, etc etc etc. I was hooked.
So I went ahead and booked the car, unofficially, in late nov or early Dec (also had read about the unofficial booking in this bhpian forum itself. Did not waste any time and went and booked it blindly as official Indian variants etc was not launched so had no idea which one amongst the many would be launched in India but always thought they go for the 23d one (was lil disappointed when they indeed launched the 18d(for sure they are trying very hard not to cannibalise their x3, hence lesser power, no AOD, which is present abroad, no 360deg cameras to name a few)) (personally I'll take the AOD over the 360deg camera any given day And infact was a tad disappointed of its absence). Also ventilated seats would have been a great plus( but having driven the car for 1400km,in this hot weather of mid april I would say the seats were not even remotely a concern for comfort(might be the ventilated seats would have provided more comfort but it wasn't an issue)).
0
When the D-day finally arrived(car launch in India in late Jan), the car got heavily bashed for its lack of power... Period!!!
And I agreed with them that power is key and even contacted the rivals like Merc(audi doesn't have similar social presence like bmw and merc, not atleast in goa, and hence did not even consider it).
But then, bmw was very forthcoming and the most important thing was my mind was already set on the X1 and the heart wants what the heart wants..... It was always going to be Bmw. So being the first in India wasn't confirmed but always had a doubt that it would be(eventually it was...... very happy about it).

So when my car came in on the 11th march and i wanted it for my mom's birthday on the 14th March, Bmw made it happen as they had the registration, 3m ceramic coating and the 3.0 camera fitting to be done (problem was it was a weekend, 3.0 camera was the brand new camera and mine was the first car they were fitting into, hence some attachments were not in stock to do so, but bmw somehow managed and sourced in from pune). They managed to give the car by 2030 on the 14th and I happily drove directly for my mom's dinner party.

Now to the main part,(as there was no test drive vehicle or anything like that to try out the car)..... The car was smooth, got the new car sensation..... Me, wifey, kids everyone... Few kinks with the software was present and the dealership test drive car came in a few days later so it took time to iron out a few things but the dealership was amazing and very quick to respond. The experience of buying/handing over was simply fantastic.

Now to the road trip itself. At the time of writing the review, the car had done around 650km.
It was a 8~9days trip to especially see mysore zoo with pit stops in honnavar and coorg planned going time and mangalore and honavar on the way back with 3 days in mysore.(start around 13th April ending on 21stApril)

I set the mileage counter to 0 just before embarking on my journey and until just before the ghaatts in coorg it read 18(driving in "efficient" mode all through as my kids were tucked in the back seat and mostly driving at about 90~110 on the open roads (lots of intersections on this highways even on open roads so safety trumped adrenaline).

But at the ghaats age later in mysore city the mileage did take a hit almost going below 16 until I was on my way back down the ghats after coorg and ended up with cool figures of 16.8km/lts until I reached back home..... A totally of 1475km in my diesel driver. A very smooth and comfortable and overall fruitful experience.

Pros

Drive
Comfort
Speakers
Boost mode
Digital key
Reverse parking
Reverse assist (upto 50mts)
Cruise control
Exterior design (the grill especially gives a big wow factor)
Adas level 1 is responsive
Screen very responsive


Cons

AC
Audio input with hey bmw(response very bad)
Internal lighting
Lacks power (felt at sandy slopes)
Software not optimised
Interface could be improved
Massage function could have been better
No free service
Touching 60lacs makes it pricey
No physical knob for controls of screen (everything with touch, dangerous as gets eyes off the road navigating the complicated menu)



The drive

It was indeed very very good. I used to drive to honavar in my Honda City And we used to get lil tired doing so but with this one, all the trips (entire trip cut into smaller trips with max driving at one go being 6.5hrs,day time, before resting for the day/night ),no one even felt anything, not even my kids of 3 and 6.they were energetic and full of verve everytime, which I can say says a lot about the comfort and handling of the car. The gear shifts were so very smooth in this automatic 7 gear tranmission, hardly felt anything, only a few times at lower gear felt little jerks(literally 2~3 times the entire journey).

Power

The lack of power was not seen anywhere on road except once on a sandy slope in mangalore.
On Goan roads this is the best, we hardly get to go that fast anyways. On my honda city manual, I sometimes could hardly even use the 4th gear but offlate the Goan highways have become better but we hardly have huge amount of roads to use that extra power anyways for day to day usage. Plus even on the highways on my trip I felt I could just breeze through at even 130km/hr (with kids tucked in was not feeling safe with so many intersections on the highway to go any faster, obviously with wifey constantly reminding me too). So yes.... The question, is the power enough?.... Straight answer... More then enough! (and this is purely to say on Goan roads for my day to day driving).
Only once in my entire journey, in Mangalore, on a sandy tricky slope I felt I needed that extra power or boost to get me up the slope. Here definitely, the extra power was sort for,and With the sport mode."on" I indeed got on top of the slope finally. But overall, for me atleast, the power was more then enough for almost all of my journey though I had to used the sport mode for few overtakings on the highways and on the slopy ghaats of Coorg.

Sports mode

This puts the car in beast mode. Just too good. I actually did not try the digital mode "sportsmode" change but the actual sport function near the drive/sport on the lever. That is really a charm, you can see the car just zooming past, though only used it a few times for overtaking etc but yes...... It really gets the car going.
But I never really felt I should use the peddle shifters and never did the entire journey.

All the other digital modes

I don't know what exactly all the other modes actually do. I feel they are gimmicky at best. Eg, efficient, relax, abstract, sports, expressive and personal mode. Other then changing the interior lighting and some modes starting the massage function I don't know what else it does. I dint even try this digital sport mode to see what happens yet.

Comfort

Well, the seats are very comfortable and bmw has also given reclining option of around 13cm for the rear seats too but why did they stop at 13cm?why not all the way through? That would have been really great and given high feasibility to the rear seat passenger seating.
The front seats are very good, only ventilated seats would have put it over the top but alas it's missing. There are 2 memory seats functions which recognises the key instantly and sets the seat according to the drivers profile(it's preset by us, Mr & Mrs, according to our preference) or cause bmw is often updating the software on the car it sometimes does not recognise and hence can be done with a press of a button (2 buttons are kept, one for each). I
The front seats are very good but the massage function is more of a gimmick cause it feels like it is only put in the car to tick some boxes, not effective at all on both sides, driver and passenger.
The ambient lighting keeps my kids going (for now at least) and is not bad at all.
Storage items in the cabin are well positioned especially the bottle holders in every seat pocket (very handy)(front and rear seats).

Air Conditioning

I felt the air conditioning should have been a bit better. Not to say it lacks to make the cabin cool. But my Honda City of 2009 was equal to the task. Plus it's a bit noisy when you do put to "medium", forget "high" where it gets really loud. This is surely one of the weaker points of the car and definitely should have been improved considering the cost of the car.


Wipers

The wipers of the car are all automatic but I did see one of them stuttering and not very smooth. I've sent a video to Bmw(my local dealer in Goa), they did tell me to get my car in, but I never really got the time to take it there to get it fixed cause its very noticeable and doesn't wipe the water totally from the Windshield cause of this.
Will update once it's done but it'll take sometime.

Digital key

This works like a charm, had activated the same 1 week after buying the car in March. Works very well with my samsung fold 4 and in android auto, and the physical key is not even required for taking the car around. They digital key can be even passed around to your contacts and deleted as and when required. Very good feature!

Also there is a debit card as key. Which has to be activated after forming the bmw ids. This is handy to keep in ones wallet and can be used as a normal key.


Software

There were some software glitches and bmw back end team is continously upgrading the same remotely. Small small things like alexa, android auto and even particularly bmw maps needed fixing as it was initially configured for uk. Alexa still not working even though it is supposed to work And bmw being reminded about it. Android auto had bugs before but it was been updated since And Google maps and both bmw Maps are working great now. The gimmicky "hey bmw" is very finicky and not very intuitive at all. Sometimes I feel I wish there was a physical knob or something to get through the menu as the audio input is not responsive most of the times, plus it recognises only a few commands and bmw should have given the commands it does recognise instead of us searching through the help menu.

The audio input is one of the worst feature of this car as most of the times it is not responsive and very very irritating.


The screen itself is very very good. It's like working on an apple ipad. Very fast to the touch and responsive. But taking your eyes off the road for every small thing is not very safe and intuitive.

Also, the engine start /stop has no physical button which is very cumbersome to each time go inside the menu, browse through to turn it off. And after every trip it resets and one has to do it each time. Very tiresome. They could have easily given a physical button for this function.


Lights

Interior lighting is very good, with each mode change the lights change or the lights can be change from the menu independently.
The exterior lighting is what impressed me most. It's very sufficient, truly! (though I've driven only on Goan roads at nights but they are very good and bright. Even the headlights and dipper once set in auto does it's job seamlessly each And everytime) (that is when it senses done bike /car in front or coming from the opp direction).


Reverse parking

The best feature is this! What an amazing feature this is. It'll do reverse parking, parking between cars, forward parking, reversing from the parking lot, reversing through 50mts, all this is done flawlessly(but they did iron out a few kinks and once in a while it forgets the easy reverse options and tries the difficult one, this has been reported on bmw, hopefully they are working on it currently).
But overall, Just great! Just fantastic! So reliable and so practical! Even the reverse camera is fabulous.
Plus due to the 50mt reverse memory, it's a charm to get the car out from tight spots, cannot tell in words how helpful this feature is especially at night time.


Wireless charging

This car has wireless charging in its centre console with a holder to keep the phone from falling backwards, which is handy, but goto to say, the charging speed is very very slow. But apart from that there are 4 type C charging points in the car, 2 for front passengers and 2 for rear and these are quite fast I should say.

Steering wheel

This is the one part I thought needed some improvement. Firstly, I direct physical button to change songs or to go the previous /next song. It's very tedious, as have to go through a menu and then select to go fwd/previous tracks. Obviously, this can be done at the track wheel at the centre arm rest but then have to remove hands from the steering wheel.

Centre storage

This takes a bit of time to get used to. Huge space but a bit tricky to navigate due to its position. But it has a cabinet on it where certain small things like keys etc can be fit nicely,to unclutter small things with the big ones.


Boot

Well, this is subjective depending on the amount of luggage each person has or the car he /she previously owned. But I should say 3 or 4 big suitcases will fit easily in it. Plus the seats if required can be folded in to make more space as and when required. For my trip, we had 1 big, 2 small suitcase plus 4~5 other bags plus kids bags which had to be fit in the boot(though we used the space under the middle seat as one plant was also carried back from honavar). So for a nice trip, this boot is sufficient.

Also the boot opens and closes automatically with the remote, or by hand by pressing on the tail gate or by the leg movement below the door(handy option when both hands are full. And since this car has easy access, the key cabn be in the pocket, never touched, place all bags being carried directly into the boot without even touching the keys and this is very very convenient.
Also to close or to close and lock the car directly there are physical buttons on the boot door.

Exterior of the car

Now this is totally subjective, but looking at the grill of this car, one can see the wow appeal of this car. I wish there was a way to remove the "X1" from the rear end. That is the only distinguishing mark saying it is an X1, otherwise the car can even pass as a X5 if seen standalone. It's just a magnificent thing for the eyes. Very very well designed and I should say one of the best designed car by bmw offlate. Now definitely people with bigger budgets are waiting for the arrival of the Updated X3 and X5 which will come in early or mid 2024. Because if the interiors and exterior of this X1 and the previous X1 has so much difference then people should definitely wait for the updated higher versions too.

Interior of the car

This is the ups of this car. Every review you'll read will tell you how good it is. It's just beautiful and feels so sophisticated. The space for the rear passengers is so very spacious and comfortable. The mocha colour suits my needs cause of my kids (light colors will make it dirty very quickly).

Well I tried to give a honest take on my X1 and put more basis on simple things rather then all the technical aspects part of it. All the things mentioned are the things which we will use everyday and which will make a difference to our day to day driving.

My drive was very memorable and peaceful.

Hoping this would be the case all throughout the life of the car. Happy trips to all of you and safe driving and happy days for all of you.
Thank you for giving me a patient ear. Thank you again.

[Maverick_4662]

Congratulations on your new Beemer! I recently had the opurtunity to check the X1 out at the showroom and came out mighty impressed. Especially with the interiors and the massaging driver seat. The only chinks I could find were:

1) Powertrain ( Major)
2) Price
3) No physical iDrive controller.

That said, if seen in isolation, the powertrain might be adequate for a family car.

Wish you years and thousands of KMs of smiles and happy drives with your car. Do keep the thread updated with your experiences.

[Clown Prince]

Originally Posted by SPB_drives

Drive impressions of BMW X1 (2023 model)

Considering that its been 6 solid years of owning the Jeep Compass, an itch to finally upgrade from it has started to creep in. I have been making time to test drive the viable options and generally been driving different cars (ahhh, SUVs ) to understand the latest and greatest money can buy when someone is willing to invest around INR 55-60 Lakhs in this day and age.


The Dilemma
After having test driven the two most viable options for an upgrade from the Jeep, I’m left a bit puzzled and would like all of you to weigh in with your thoughts. I found both these cars, demanding around INR 58-62 Lakhs (on road) to be a disappointment. Heck, the latest Compass Model S, is actually not too far behind these German super-models. Should I even consider upgrading to another Jeep – I just don’t know? I have test driven a Hyundai Tuscon as well, and but cannot get savvy with its design. I look forward to checking out the Kodiaq, but Skoda as a brand does not still feel very dependable to me. Please do let me know what you all think.

Cheers,

SPB

Some pictures from the spin

Kodiaq is good choice. You can also consider Gloster and Q3 and Q5 with decent discounts. If you can stretch your budget, I’d say go for 340i. Difference is huge both price and spec wise but that car is worth it.

[sivasain]

Originally Posted by SPB_drives

I test drove it today, the Q3. And you are correct, I actually liked that 2 litre turbo petrol, it's a sheer beauty. It's exactly what I was looking for. I'm now even more intrigued about the Kodiaq and will also soon take it for a spin.

I have a Q2 ... Got a used example with under 12K on ODO. I agree that Engine is a hoot on a car this small.

[Takumi Fujiwara]

Hey guys,

I too got a chance to drive the new X1 M-Sport. I must say, that although my excitement died when I heard that India was getting the 18d, you need to drive it to truly understand that it is not a bad car at all.

Can do highway speeds really quick, all day with ease. Even though its only pushing 145 bhp or so, we need to remember that it is indeed a BMW. It takes corners exactly the way a BMW should as well.

The interiors too are better than any other X1 prior to this model, with the only gripe being that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is operated through the touchscreen in the center unit.

I may not opt to purchase it, but I sure do appreciate it.

[Pahadi Gear]

Congratulations Rob. Very interesting read and stunning pics. Yours is definitely a looker.

Please tell me if you are facing any issues with ACE 3.0, I am getting constant alerts of function limitations cause of overheating (even with outside temp of 37C)?

Wishing you lovely miles ahead.

[adi58]

Originally Posted by Rob_Goa

Cons

Lacks power (felt at sandy slopes)

You bought the wrong car, after spending close to 60L nobody should ever have the reason to write this. BMW has done injustice.

[PreludeSH]

Are the door handles the old types or its a different mechanism ?

Really pricey for a entry level CUV from BMW. People cant afford to own and drive premium cars

[Hayek]

Congrats on a fantastic car. Agree it is somewhat underpowered compared to the fantastic 20d and 30i engines - but you can bet that the 23d would have cost at least ₹ 5 l more ex showroom - and from that perspective this may not be too bad.

Didn’t get your point on driving up a sandy slope- were you off-roading or was it a normal road where some sand had spilled for some reason? If it was the former, could well have been a problem due to the absence of All Wheel Drive - rather than lack of power. Have driven an X2 18i all over Spain - and never found it lacking power. You will likely notice the lack of power only if you think about it, or if you are a boy racer.

The elimination of the iDrive controller is the biggest miss - I think iDrive is far superior to any other MultiMedia Interface I have seen. I do hope BMW does not eliminate it in the higher end models as well.

Best of luck with the car - and hope you enjoy many many miles of happy motoring with it.

[v6kgang]

People, who got this beauty home, how long was the waiting time after booking, also did you guys get any confirmation after booking?
There are no ready sticks with both the dealers in Bengaluru.
I did a couple of test drives just to be sure if the power is enough for city driving, was pleasantly surprised with the drive. May be my expectations were too low to begin with. I think the power is going to be enough for 99% of my use cases. May be after a couple of years will install a tuning box to bring this to 20d or 23d tune.
The car is very modern and well appointed inside out.
I have booked 18d MSport in black with mocha interiors. Hopefully gets delivered soon

Edit:
1 - Transmission on 18d is TC box and the petrol one gets Dual clutch TC as per my SA
2 - production of storm grey have not started yet
3 - oyster (white) interiors will take more time to deliver compared to mocha

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by v6kgang

There are no ready sticks with both the dealers in Bengaluru.
I did a couple of test drives just to be sure if the power is enough for city driving, was pleasantly surprised with the drive. May be my expectations were too low to begin with.

Congrats on the booking. How much did it cost on road?

The power delivery concerns were mainly with the petrol. The diesel mill has adequate power is my understanding from the reviews.

[v6kgang]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Congrats on the booking. How much did it cost on road?

The power delivery concerns were mainly with the petrol. The diesel mill has adequate power is my understanding from the reviews.

Thanks a lot ! It’s 65L on road for the 18d, no discounts are being offered as there is no ready stock. The delivery timelines quoted was 2 months from the date of confirmation. I did not test drive the 18i version. Don’t think the cars are moving fast, would be interesting to look at the sales numbers.

[CEF_Beasts]

BMW U11 X1 M-Sport 18d Test-Drive Experience

Being a Sunday and my sister having an orientation in the same building as that of Navnit BMW, decided to just walk-in to the dealership with the thought of checking the U11 X1 properly, in the 1 hour of free time I had.

It’s pretty obvious why BMW India hasn’t given the new U11 X1 to media outlets for a proper review, leaving it to buyers and people like me who have no intention of buying the car but still test-drive it for my satisfaction to be able to give a short review.

Entered the showroom and was greeted by the receptionist who asked me my name & phone number and guided me to a SA. There was no X1 on display but a Portimao Blue X1 was available for test-drive. I showed interest in test-driving it. Interestingly lots of people were in line to test-drive the X1 and the showroom was teeming with people, which is something I hadn’t seen when I was in the market for a BMW almost 2 years ago.

There was someone before me in queue, in the meantime I asked about the availability of the X1, the Petrol will be available in 2-3 months and Diesel slightly more. The Petrol seems to be having more demand according to the SA, it being available earlier. Basically there is a supply shortage according to the SA.

Having sat in 1 Swedish and 3 German competitors; The XC40, GLA, Q3 Sportback and X1 all at different points of time over the last 2 years, I hope I can provide a fair comparison.

LIKES

• Solid Build Quality and excellent fit and finish of materials all around the cabin except one or two bits (indicator and wiper stalks being one of them).
• Very likeable design language unlike the in your face 7 series, XM and few other newer BMWs.
• Features galore in an entry-level BMW which was not the case with the previous-gen F48 X1. Some notable features: ADAS Level 1, H/K 16 speaker sound system, adaptive headlights with auto-high beam assist, front seats massaging function and a wireless phone charger.
• Very strong brakes and confidence inspiring at high speeds.
• Tube-less Non-Runflat tires finally on a BMW.
• Spacious cabin and large well-shaped 500L boot.

NEUTRAL

• More than sufficient power and torque available from the Diesel engine for city usage, no where did I find it lacking grunt even when accelerating hard for a few seconds. Petrol will be different I guess.
• The massaging seats at level 3 intensity and speed was a bit jarring for my back, the SA had set it up so couldn’t change it while driving. With the right intensity and speed, it will be a boon to have on long distance driving.
• The exterior door handles feel like they have been taken from yesteryear's cars. They don’t feel flimsy but very old-school in a car so new.
• It was immediately noticeable that the car was FWD, wish it atleast got optional AWD.
• Eventhough the car has non-RFTs the ride was stiffer than I would’ve liked (my X3 in Comfort mode has a more comfier ride even with RFTs) maybe the tire pressures were a bit on the higher side.
• The front seats were a bit more body-hugging than I would’ve liked. Both the 3er GL and X3 have more accommodating front seats.
• NVH levels were satisfactory for most of the drive, but on some surfaces the road noise was creeping into the cabin.

DISLIKES

• Complete lack of physical buttons except a volume dial. The iDrive 8 system maybe as brilliant as it might be but there is no comparison to proper physical buttons. My X3 has the perfect combination of buttons and screen, just the way I like it.
• A complete joke of a gear selector/toggle, which suits a Merc more than a BMW!
• Indicator and wiper stalks quality has taken a dip, they do not have the softness that is associated with premium cars any longer.
• Pricey for the engines on offer but makes that up with a long laundry list of features and decent space. For reference the X1 18d is priced at 63-64L on-road, I had picked up a X3 for 69L just a year and a half back. In comparison my X3 has much fewer features in comparison to the U11 X1.

We have started to love reading the specifications of a car on a sheet and then bashing it if it’s lesser than competition or much cheaper cars. Sorry to break the bubble but the 4 cyl diesel engine is adequately powered and no where once did I feel it was in the wrong gear or wasn’t able to accelerate with eagerness. The TC and engine are brilliantly tuned, the drive was done entirely in comfort mode. The petrol maybe different being a 1.5L 3 cylinder. The speeds I build in city-limits with 10-15% throttle input in my X3 30i, the X1 18d was doing the same with 15-20% throttle inputs, not bad at all per-se!

Yes many might argue that for the price it’s not worthwhile, but with the features and space on offer its a very well packaged car. Even I had gone with not very high expectations, but it did leave me pleasantly surprised. Also the younger generation is very attracted to this car, they were teeming both in the showroom and for the test-drive vehicle as well.

The inoffensive and attractive front fascia of the U11 X1:


My G01 X3’s face in comparison, head-on both cars almost feel like they are of the same size:


The new steering wheel design, also seen on the new 7er, feels very premium to hold with just the right amount of thickness:


The new Non-RFT Bridgestone Turanza tires:


The rear profile just like the front has a very inoffensive look and will be liked by most:

CONCLUSION

If Diesel is the choice, the new X1 is the one I’ll pick over the GLA unless one needs AWD.

If Petrol is the choice, the Q3 or Q3 Sportback will be my choice, the X1 with it’s 1.5L 3cyl will not be able to compete with Audi’s 2.0L TFSI.

If Electric is the choice then the XC40 Recharge is the one and only option.

IMHO, all these cars have their pros and cons at the end of the day it’s what you like and what you don’t, no two ways about it. Just that the X1 doesn’t deserve as much bashing as we are giving it!

About the Dealership: In today’s day and age the Dealership experience can make or break a deal. The dealership experience at Navnit this time was top-notch to say the least! I had walked in as a jay-walker after parking my X3 right in front of the dealership’s doorstep. The SA while filling the form with regularly asked questions, did ask me which car do I own. When I mentioned a 6-year-old Creta, very often one notices that the attitude of the SA changes if you mention a mass-market brand, in a premium brand’s showroom in India. I am happy to report that it was not at all the case, he was very polite and curious even when I mentioned Creta. He did get to know that the Phytonic Blue X3 parked outside is mine after I put my phone on the X1’s wireless charging pad in front of him, due to my phone’s wallpaper; something which I intended to tell him at the end of the test-drive. 6 years ago when I walked into the very same dealership with my father to ask about the older F25 X3, as soon as we mentioned the car in question for replacement would be a Fortuner, the attitude of the SA completely changed and he didn’t feel welcoming at all. It has since changed for the good. In comparison the Škoda showroom just down the same road was absolutely pathetic in their response, I was flatly refused a test-drive of the Kodiaq which I had seen being test-driven on the same road for reasons best know to them because the SAs were huddled in a corner and not willing to take out some time from their very “busy” schedule to go out for a test-drive. I did over-hear them quarrelling amongst themselves in regards of who will attend to the customer and I thought Toyota salespersons are the worst, Škoda just takes the cake in this matter

[turbowhistle]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

We have started to love reading the specifications of a car on a sheet and then bashing it if it’s lesser than competition or much cheaper cars. Sorry to break the bubble but the 4 cyl diesel engine is adequately powered and no where once did I feel it was in the wrong gear or wasn’t able to accelerate with eagerness. The TC and engine are brilliantly tuned, the drive was done entirely in comfort mode. The petrol maybe different being a 1.5L 3 cylinder. The speeds I build in city-limits with 10-15% throttle input in my X3 30i, the X1 18d was doing the same with 15-20% throttle inputs, not bad at all per-se!

Yes many might argue that for the price it’s not worthwhile, but with the features and space on offer its a very well packaged car. Even I had gone with not very high expectations, but it did leave me pleasantly surprised. Also the younger generation is very attracted to this car, they were teeming both in the showroom and for the test-drive vehicle as well.

While you make a good point of Diesel being adequate and city friendly but the usefullness simply ends there for me. Take this out on a open road and all the shortcomings will come forward pretty quickly. I have driven both 16d and 18d extensively and don't think they have the all-roundedness of 20d and onwards.
Although the diesel engine can be rectified with a simple remap afterwards but there's not much salvation for petrol.


I also don't understand their fascination with increasing the sizes in new gen, are they trying to target X3 audience while the new X3 is targetting X5 and it goes on....The last gen X3 was perfect balance between size and power and the current X1 just feels like a bloated contryman. Sorry for ranting but as a BMW owner I honestly don't like where they are heading.