<p style=”text-align: left;”>Congrats Glos Guy a very nice colour choice.</p> Did you manage to get a test drive?
Hi Landyman. I’ve done what I said I would never do and order it without a test drive! We were allowed full access to the car (a brand new xLine) for well over an hour, could start it and play with the controls, but couldn’t drive it. In my defence, I have owned loads of BMW’s, driven a previous generation X1 and also driven a 5 Series with the same engine as we have ordered for the X1 (2.0i petrol) and it was a peach. Even after 12th April the dealership doesn’t have an X1 demonstrator and the used one that we could drive would have to be a short distance on trade plates, so I’m not sure that I would have been much wiser by waiting for that.
I have never driven a bad BMW (I’ve probably driven 50 of them) and I’ve read and watched countless reviews on the X1 and the one major negative is the road noise, so I have ordered it on the assumption that this will be noticeable. I am hoping that the combination of standard suspension (rather than firmer sport suspension), 18” alloys with non run-flats and the top end audio upgrade will all conspire to lessen impact of the noise! Our main worries were boot space (for the wheelchair), access and egress for my wife and seat comfort of the standard seats. We were happy with all of these aspects. The seats were a big improvement on the ones we tried in the 2018 model last time and the interior upgrade with the 2020 LCI refresh has made it look a little less bargain basement BMW. If I was being picky, the seat could have done with an inch or so longer depth and a tilt function. The lack of auto hold will no doubt irritate me, but I can’t discount the car on that alone.
We are retired now, so if it turns out to be a poor decision it won’t be as problematic to live with for 3 years as it would have been when used for commuting. The dealer (who I know, as I have bought cars from them before) did me a good deal, have not asked for a deposit (even though I’ve added £1600 of options) and offered to cancel the order and re-order if the AP reduces in Q2. I decided to bite the bullet, especially as Mrs Glos Guy (whose entitlement it is) liked it, and she’s not as keen on BMW’s as me! There’s obviously a risk that I might live to regret it, but there are one or two things that irritate me in the Tiguan, so on days when I notice the road noise I shall remind myself of those!