BMW X1 upgrade in 75L: Get a fun to drive sedan or go for an SUV?

He has rural roads, and beautiful highways for travel, so GC is not an issue.

BHPian mgastor2022grey recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello friends, hope you all are in good health.

My friend, a doctor, is looking forward to replace his BMW X1 which was bought as a demo car in 2018 (2017 model). The car has currently covered 78000 kms, and has served him really well. However, it's been 5-6 years and the itch to upgrade has bitten him. So, he looks forward to upgrade.

A little about his background, he owns a 2015 Innova too, which has covered around 3 lakh kms, and he will not sell it for another 3-4 years. He is 5'8", so any car may suit him. He has a son of age around 14-15, so he's into cars too. He has rural roads, and beautiful highways for travel, so GC is not an issue. He is open to sedans and SUVs, no problem in that.

His budget is about 60-75L, extendable by another 5-6L also. His priorities are as follows:

• Safety
• Driving pleasure
• Comfort
• Reliability
• Drivability
• Mileage

He does not mind a low mileage, around 5-6 kmpl or above is acceptable. Safety and driving pleasure are very important to him. He is not an aggressive driver, but he cruises at high speeds and drives fast yet safe. His BMW X1 is immaculately maintained, and always been serviced at BMW authorized only. He is self driven, so not drivers. He prefers the car to be a driver's element.

He has test-driven certain cars such as the BMW M340i, BMW X3, Audi A6, Mercedes AMG GLA 35, Mercedes AMG A35, Mini Countryman and the Q3 Sportback.

M340i: His favorite in the list. He loved how easy it was to gain speeds and the practicality. However, stiff suspension and missing features left him confused, as he drives frequently in rural roads and he is a feature-freak.

X3: Upgrading from an X1, he felt that it is not VFM for an almost-same car. But he loved the driving feel and the sheer size of the beast.

Audi A6: There was nothing special according to him, driving dynamics was pretty mediocre, but he loved the luxurious interiors and the beauty of the vehicle.

AMG GLA 35 and AMG A35: His favorite cars after the M340i. The small and compact footprint was not an issue to him, he loved the driving feel and the mature and luxurious interiors left him amazed.

Mini Countryman: The car in its JCW clothes was a wolf in sheep's clothing. He loved the fast acceleration and the cute character of the car. But he felt that for the same money, an AMG A35 would make more sense, as it is a bigger car and way more fun to drive.

Q3 Sportback: There was nothing special about the driving. He specifically loved the coupe design, but he again thought that it was not VFM.

I request the expert BHPians to help him finalize a car which he would love driving.

Notes:

• He would not need a car immediately. 1-1.5 years of time is available.
• His wife would be driving it 10% of the time, not sure how this info would help.
• I told him to buy the M340i, but he is scared about scraping it. Nonetheless, he love it!
• Annual running would be about 10000-12000 kms, so decent reliability would be good.
• His son would be turning 18 in around 3-4 years, so he would be driving it too.
• He intends of keeping the car for around 8-9 years.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Easiest poll I ever saw. BMW M340i. He can drive the M340i when the roads are average-to-good, and use the Innova for the really bad roads. With every car, you have to give some, take some.

If he can extend his budget some more, then the X3 M40i. More expensive, but double the practicality. Softer suspension (adaptive suspension), more GC, higher seating etc.

Young & new drivers should start off with humble cars & BHP ratings in the double digits, not an AWD performance machine that can do 0 - 100 in 4.xx seconds. Buy a used Polo 1.2L MPI (slow & safe) for the son till he is experienced enough.

Here's what BHPian inwester had to say on the matter:

If it were my 80 lakhs, I would pick a regular BMW X3 Diesel and call it a day. The inline-six version is over a crore now.

The new X1 has tiny engines, no AWD, has gone up in price to around 60 lakhs. All it brings is a nice looking car, slightly bigger interiors and exteriors and a badge. Not worth IMHO. I mean spec to spec and features to features, its inferior than a Kia Seltos, which in its next generation is almost sure to go up in size.

The new GLC is there, but its almost 10 lakhs more expensive on-road in TN.

Get the cheapest X3 you can get in the Diesel variant and it will be my pick.

Here's what BHPian Tvk1991 had to say on the matter:

I was on the same route few months back. I currently drive an Innova Crysta 2.8z and occasionally use the E84 X1. I was looking for an additonal car for self drive alone.

I had 2 options one was the M340i and other one was the A35 AMG. I got the A35 AMG within OTR 68 l @ rate of <4.0% interest for 5 years.

M340i was 85l with no discounts. If your friend has the budget for M340i please ask him to go ahead with M340i its a much better car in all aspect. At the end of 5 years I felt I will be paying much less for the A35 AMG.

In the initial days I was worried about the GC as in few other websites it's mentioned as 160mm but the actual GC is only 113mm for the A35 AMG. But now a days I have been used to it after driving it for 4000kms. Other good point about M340i is that it has better GC (125mm) when compared to A35 AMG and after market support is excellent for the car.

If your friend has to stick to the budget of < 75L GLA35 or A35 is the best car. If he can extend a little bit ask him to go for the M340i.

Here's what BHPian vb-san had to say on the matter:

I would suggest that he stick to his favorite in the list, with the X3 following as a second choice – the m340i is a real special car The Q3/Q3 Sportback is a safe family car, but that’s about it. The Q3 will be more like a lateral move from the X1, with less driving pleasure.

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