Faults:

Since the day I’ve had it the brakes have been awful. The pedal travels far too deep, and at times it feels like a car from 1960. When the brakes warm up a little, travel improves, but the pedal remains spongy. I will be taking it back to the dealer as it’s not something you expect from a new car, and a premium badged one at that. The 18d engine is very sluggish and tractor like both in performance and noise, and hence lacks refinement. The engine is 150bhp, and compared to VAG 2.0 TDI engines with less HP, it disappoints.

General Comments:

For a car I paid over £30k for, I expected a lot better and was promised a lot better. The instrument panel is from the 80s; very basic and not even a coolant temperature gauge. A small digital readout which reminds me of the e36 BMW my dad had in 1993. No folding mirrors either.

The handling is decent, the interior is nicely put together with typical German high standard fit and finish. The seats are comfortable leather and are heated. It has an electronic tailgate and huge boot space, which is very useful. My only problem is I’m put off of driving it due to the aforementioned problems.

Faults:

Crack in foglight; recall on Takata airbag; CEL; fuel-filler door needed adjustment.

Other than that, nothing. BMWs are actually reliable, provided you maintain them.

General Comments:

Love this car. 2015 was the final year with hydraulic steering (vs electric), and the handling is outstanding: precise but not squirrelly.

Engine power even with the 2.8 engine is more than ample. All to easy to have 80 mph sneak up on you. I truly can't imagine wanting more power. The larger engine in the X1 must be a beast, especially in these lighter first-gen model years.

Fuel economy is decent, but the claimed 33 MPG is baloney. Maybe if you keep it in eco mode and drive like it's a Prius -- but then why buy a BMW? At least you can use midgrade fuel with no problems.

Seats are comfy, and we have the basic ones with manual adjustment. BMW leatherette is almost indistinguishable from leather and lasts forever.

The A/C works great. The stock stereo sounds good to me, though some of the advanced settings take trial and error to figure out.

Visibility is excellent for this body style. To me the X1 (at least the model years before BMW made it larger) is the perfect size -- high enough to not be dwarfed in traffic but not a lumbering barge of an SUV. Easy to maneuver and park yet roomy. It's actually not terrible to back up the X1 without a rear camera, which our car doesn't have.

I do wish BMW had kept putting the window controls on the console instead of the door. It freed the driver to keep the left hand on the wheel while using the right to lower the window.

Although I despise the useless and distracting "Let's turn off the engine at every stoplight and hold up everyone behind you while causing extra engine wear" mode, at least you can turn it off permanently in the BMW. We discovered that is NOT true in Mercedes cars!

The car came with run-flat tires, which many seem to hate. Honestly, I don't notice them. Ride quality is a good balance between forgiving on potholes and taut on curvy roads.

The transmission selector took some getting used to, but it's a good unit. Dynamic Shift mode is super responsive, and Manual Shift is intuitive and doesn't try to interfere; you can put it in any gear you want and keep it there.

Storage is plentiful for two people on a multi-day road trip. The cargo area holds quite a bit, and of course the rear seats fold down. Plenty of cup holders as well as little nooks for sunglasses, phone, etc. I'd say the car is roomy for average-sized people (i.e., not very large or super tall). The latter might also find it big enough; I just don't know.

Our X1 has no sunroof, which is rare; we had to order it that way. I don't miss it.

Interior trim on the base model doesn't feel cheap. Yes, it's mostly plastic, but you're not getting leather everywhere unless you fork over some big bucks. I can say that after three years, there are no squeaks or rattles.

Faults:

The auto transmission had to be re-programmed soon after delivery, as it was shunting badly when the car slowed down for stops.

There is now a squeak developing on the driver's side rear door when opening/closing, and a minor rattle coming from somewhere around the front passenger door or dash.

General Comments:

Nice, handy size, adequately roomy.

Decent fuel economy, good performance: economy balance.

Down sides are a gruff engine note under fierce acceleration, a knobbly ride on the run-flat tyres (BMW, when are you going to get this right, as you've had so many years trying to now?) and interior plastics that would disgrace low end economy cars, let along one wearing the blue and white roundel badge.