I drove a new X1 purchased by a family member last week. Vermillion red, premium package, convenience package. If it was mine, I would have ordered the lighting package as well, for the adaptive Xenons and headlight washers. Nice looking car though. Vermillion red is no longer showing as available on the BMWCA web configuration tool, they only offered it at time of introduction. Maybe it will be a collector's item! Premium package includes the x-line package, which has the aluminum accents on the bumpers and side sills. Combines nicely with the satin aluminum roof rails.

No pictures, as it isn't mine. Lots of photos online, including Vermillion Red.

The 28i four cylinder is smooth and has lots of power considering the light weight of the vehicle. You can tell it is a four cylinder and not a six cylinder, but it is smooth for a four cylinder. It is rated at 241 hp but it was new and tight, so we'll give it a few thousand km and see how it has loosened up. Eight speed automatic is very smooth shifting. I haven't had a BMW before with the new automatic transmission shift selector. I didn't find it very intuitive.

The vehicle feels more like a tall modern 3 series wagon than it does our X3. It has a larger greenhouse, and just seems lighter. It is also more tossable, quite carlike. I am 6'4", and had lots of headroom, even with the panorama sunroof.

When we sold our E53, we didn't want an E70 (size, weight) so went down in size to the X3. We will have the same type of decision to make when we eventually sell the E83, as the new X3 is larger (back to E53 size) and the new X1 is slightly smaller, with slightly less luggage room. The driving experience is a generation ahead of our X3 though, and once the 28i breaks in I think the fuel mileage will be pretty good. It was doing around 9 litre/100 km on the first two tanks, same as our 3.0si X3, but no real valid data yet.

All in, an impressive vehicle for those that like the style of a small SUV, but don't need the space or want the fuel consumption of a larger vehicle. I think they are going to sell a lot of these here. I think the platform would be very well suited to a 20d or 23d option in North America as well.

Jeff

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2007 X3 3.0si, 6 MT, Premium, White

Retired:
2008 535i, 6 MT, M Sport, Premium, Space Grey
2003 X5 3.0 Steptronic, Premium, Titanium Silver
2002 325xi 5 MT, Steel Grey
2004 Z4 3.0 Premium, Sport, SMG, Maldives Blue