Hi Everyone
So, a quick introduction. The car is a 2010 X1 23d Xdrive, bought used. It was a bit of a grudge purchase as I wanted desperately to get out of my 2015 Abarth 500 that I was never quite happy with.
My fiance picked the car, and I agreed. We bought it as a means into BMW ownership, a nice car with a bit of extra ride height and some decent motor credentials.
The day we fetched it:
Being my first real BMW (have had a few older ones), I was well chuffed with the purchase, but that ended in tears rather quickly... A few days after delivery of an approved used car (with Motorplan) I noticed a rattle. This turned into 5 weeks of the car at BMW... The list of parts replaced included aircon pump, condenser, control arms, exhaust hangers, boot shocks, head unit, gearbox oil and sump, wipers, engine and gearbox mounts.... I was not happy but I went with it.
Decided at the same time, why not do the diff / transfer case oils at the same time so fetched some Ravenol oils from my Dad and BMW covered the labour on the house cos of the inconvenience caused with all the issues - There was a lot of shouting, swearing and threats to make them buy the car back but ultimately we bought the car from a BMW Dealer and made the repair another dealers problem - When asked to furnish the roadworthy etc the original dealer couldnt, nor could they furnish the quality check. The repairing dealer went out of their way to make sure the car was right - Thanks to SMG Canal Walk for that, I still feel bad for my behaviour towards them when they were just trying to help.
We purchased the car with 74 000km and very quickly started racking up some mileage. Knowing the car had 4 wheel drive and being curious we decided to give it a try:
This turned out to be an absolute laugh. A BMW X1, following Jeeps and far more capable vehicles and doing it so well - The car had established a bit of a reputation locally, I of course was loving it.
What I wasnt loving was the damage... The second trip saw us do a trail that ripped out both fender liners and all the panelling under the car.... BMW were not impressed two weeks later when I took it back to them for another rattle, but they fixed it!
I decided that if I was going to have an abusive relationship with the car I should tend to a few things. First up a correction session and a coating of Gyeon MOHS onto the Paintwork - Harder paint, less scratches off road.
During this period our City (Cape Town, South Africa) was and still is going through a major draught and I was itching to go explore with my little 4x4 beast. So we took a trip to our major dam:
At 100% capacity the spot where the following picture is taken would be between 30-40m deep with water, what an incredible experience:
This revealed a few character points on the car - It loved to rev, despite being diesel, the rear wheel design ate mud so bad the cars balancing would be stuffed everytime we took it off road. Alignment was done over 18 times in the first year I had the car, the guys knew when they saw us, clean the inside of the wheels and align!
The Gyeon Coating was proving to be a fantastic investment!
.....
So fender liners were a joke, I ripped three sets off, the bumper was a joke, the clips broke and I practically bought shares in the local plastic welding guys.
With about 20 000km on the car within a few months and several trails and trips and off road excursions the car was also showing signs it needed some attention.
The car was running rather warm and as summer approached with our 30 degree weather I was experience intermittent aircon and a very lazy motor.
With the mileage nearing 95 000km I decided the Diesel Particulate Filter was likely to blame and sent the car in for a straight pipe exhaust with a small box:
A rather blocked up DPF:
This woke the car up tremendously so off it went to get a stage 1 tune:
From 150kw and 380nm to 190kw and 440nm. Lovely! But still the temp issue was in the back of my mind.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgftIrqlJ2n/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
So off came the nose, Intercooler removed and cleaned, it was in a STATE!
The build up of mud and crap on the radiator, condensor and intercooler was shocking.
Link to my instagram for the video of cleaning the intercooler:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdb_uxOATrU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The difference was astonishing. Before on 0-100 pulls the intake temps were over 65 degrees, the coolant temp would spike to 120 degrees and shut the aircon off.
After the clean, the intake temps remained at 20-30 degrees celsius (in the heart of summer) and the coolant never went over 110 degrees with the aircon running no matter how hard you drove it.
Chuffed with myself I also cleaned the EGR Valve, despite it being mapped out.
Because I was really into this 4x4 thing I decided to join a select few in the world and I placed an order for a set of Eibach Pro Lift Kit Springs. Three months and a chunk of change later they arrived.
The difference was meant to be 3cm in height. It was much more!
The difference on and off road was mind-blowing. The X1 is based off the E90 Touring Chassis and suffers from horrible crashy and overly firm suspension. The springs improved the road holding ten-fold and improved the handling. Even if I never took the car off road, the springs were a superb purchase.
And so the trails continued:
You might have noticed the car went through a variety of looks.... As I damaged parts cosmetically I would repair them. Wheels, several refurbishes later. Bumper, mirrors and trim that would get scuffed were repaired monthly - I was adding up but the fun factor made it worth it.
The cars reputation on the local forums and groups was also hilarious - The famous X1, I did quite enjoy the attention. The car proved several times it had the balls to go where nobody thought it could, and if it couldnt I would find a way to make it.
This did result in a torn CV boot in the dunes and it needing a driveshaft rebuild on the passenger front. Otherwise, it was drama free - Cosmetically beaten but mechanically so solid.
Air Filters were kept in stock, new ones fitted most weeks. The amount of times I stripped the engine bay and re-greased moving parts as well as moving parts under the vehicle to ensure no failures were more than I can count.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdb9_aRglKi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-Xl0sARHr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-Vy-BA2pB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/BckouJ8l1iJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/BckfVZSljzB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
My all time favourite video of the car - I was one of two cars to get up there on the day:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BckPMcxF0Op/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
At this point the car had seen some serious abuse - At the same time my patience was wearing thin. Weekly alignment and balancing, and with the draught not being able to wash the car meant it would go for weekly layer in mud - Unable to open windows for example. The car washes using recycled water wanted nothing to do with the car. After a long period I decided to do some work on the car to get it back to standard:
First up, plastic weld the front bumper:
Replace all the ruined underbody sound protection:
Underbody Cleaning and Re-greasing session:
One of the greatest parts of the off-road experience was that the car was nick-named "the Mommy Wagon", so, mommy wagon duties it is, off the panelshop:
Man this car costs a fortune in clips.....
....
I had sort of decided I was done with the offroading thing so figured the ruined textured plastics would look great colour coded:
Tons of behind the panelwork effort to clean up panels and get the car looking original:
During this period I drove the car like this too! Mismatched loan wheels, no skirts, arches, bumpers and more:
Lots detail work - Cleaning up bolts and nuts and screws:
Keep in mind this work was done over a period of 3 weeks, of which the car was in full use - I was stripping and refitting as we went along, claiming lift time and doing little jobs like rewiring the PDC, spraying fittings and cleaning panels at home at night.
The results speak for themselves:
The car ate another aircon condenser - Its 4th one in its lifetime, so that was effort, removed and fitted and source on myself for a quarter of the price even the backyard mechanics wanted for the job:
And the off road bug bit, very briefly:
The car went into storage for a bit after this. We had a new MINI run-about and I was enjoying the easy nature of the MINI vs the heavy loud smoke machine X1.
....
Eventually a few weeks ago I decided to give the car a bit more love:
Out came the 2000 water paper and I flatted the whole car down:
Re-Working the finish, a total of 12 hours being the machine.... Nearly killed me.
Walk around video of the car after correction and refining and a wash:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk9pjcjlz78/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The engine bay got some TLC:
And a few after shots, three days later:
Original badges refitted and fuel filler flap, the end result was three passes to correct, two to refine, Autoglym SRP and Autoglym High Definition Wax.
Thereafter the car went for new front brakes, another regrease and has been running gloriously since! To date, despite the abuse, the car has never let me down. It just runs, and runs and runs. I believe that keeping it on form mechanically from day one is the reason for this.
Its done 34 000km in a year and 4 months with me.
Next up, is another oil service, diff and transfer case oils and maybe gearbox oil if the budget allows. I already returned the stock rear muffler and tip to the car last week as I have yet to settle on an exhaust tip I like more.
The beauty of this car is that I know what it is capable of. Its spectacular on the road and off road.
The goal with the car moving forward is to do some preventative maintenance (cooling system refresh just because and have the CV's and Prop inspected.
Then I want to prep it with a roof-rack, some LED's, a spare wheel and do some touring. The car loves the open road, its sublime on even the ****tiest gravel roads and I think it would make a greater tourer.
Thanks for reading - I know a lot of people will disagree with the usage of the car, but none can default the love and care it receives, this is the longest I have owned a car before, and I hope to enjoy the car for a lot longer.
:ty:
So, a quick introduction. The car is a 2010 X1 23d Xdrive, bought used. It was a bit of a grudge purchase as I wanted desperately to get out of my 2015 Abarth 500 that I was never quite happy with.
My fiance picked the car, and I agreed. We bought it as a means into BMW ownership, a nice car with a bit of extra ride height and some decent motor credentials.
The day we fetched it:
Being my first real BMW (have had a few older ones), I was well chuffed with the purchase, but that ended in tears rather quickly... A few days after delivery of an approved used car (with Motorplan) I noticed a rattle. This turned into 5 weeks of the car at BMW... The list of parts replaced included aircon pump, condenser, control arms, exhaust hangers, boot shocks, head unit, gearbox oil and sump, wipers, engine and gearbox mounts.... I was not happy but I went with it.
Decided at the same time, why not do the diff / transfer case oils at the same time so fetched some Ravenol oils from my Dad and BMW covered the labour on the house cos of the inconvenience caused with all the issues - There was a lot of shouting, swearing and threats to make them buy the car back but ultimately we bought the car from a BMW Dealer and made the repair another dealers problem - When asked to furnish the roadworthy etc the original dealer couldnt, nor could they furnish the quality check. The repairing dealer went out of their way to make sure the car was right - Thanks to SMG Canal Walk for that, I still feel bad for my behaviour towards them when they were just trying to help.
We purchased the car with 74 000km and very quickly started racking up some mileage. Knowing the car had 4 wheel drive and being curious we decided to give it a try:
This turned out to be an absolute laugh. A BMW X1, following Jeeps and far more capable vehicles and doing it so well - The car had established a bit of a reputation locally, I of course was loving it.
What I wasnt loving was the damage... The second trip saw us do a trail that ripped out both fender liners and all the panelling under the car.... BMW were not impressed two weeks later when I took it back to them for another rattle, but they fixed it!
I decided that if I was going to have an abusive relationship with the car I should tend to a few things. First up a correction session and a coating of Gyeon MOHS onto the Paintwork - Harder paint, less scratches off road.
During this period our City (Cape Town, South Africa) was and still is going through a major draught and I was itching to go explore with my little 4x4 beast. So we took a trip to our major dam:
At 100% capacity the spot where the following picture is taken would be between 30-40m deep with water, what an incredible experience:
This revealed a few character points on the car - It loved to rev, despite being diesel, the rear wheel design ate mud so bad the cars balancing would be stuffed everytime we took it off road. Alignment was done over 18 times in the first year I had the car, the guys knew when they saw us, clean the inside of the wheels and align!
The Gyeon Coating was proving to be a fantastic investment!
.....
So fender liners were a joke, I ripped three sets off, the bumper was a joke, the clips broke and I practically bought shares in the local plastic welding guys.
With about 20 000km on the car within a few months and several trails and trips and off road excursions the car was also showing signs it needed some attention.
The car was running rather warm and as summer approached with our 30 degree weather I was experience intermittent aircon and a very lazy motor.
With the mileage nearing 95 000km I decided the Diesel Particulate Filter was likely to blame and sent the car in for a straight pipe exhaust with a small box:
A rather blocked up DPF:
This woke the car up tremendously so off it went to get a stage 1 tune:
From 150kw and 380nm to 190kw and 440nm. Lovely! But still the temp issue was in the back of my mind.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgftIrqlJ2n/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
So off came the nose, Intercooler removed and cleaned, it was in a STATE!
The build up of mud and crap on the radiator, condensor and intercooler was shocking.
Link to my instagram for the video of cleaning the intercooler:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdb_uxOATrU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The difference was astonishing. Before on 0-100 pulls the intake temps were over 65 degrees, the coolant temp would spike to 120 degrees and shut the aircon off.
After the clean, the intake temps remained at 20-30 degrees celsius (in the heart of summer) and the coolant never went over 110 degrees with the aircon running no matter how hard you drove it.
Chuffed with myself I also cleaned the EGR Valve, despite it being mapped out.
Because I was really into this 4x4 thing I decided to join a select few in the world and I placed an order for a set of Eibach Pro Lift Kit Springs. Three months and a chunk of change later they arrived.
The difference was meant to be 3cm in height. It was much more!
The difference on and off road was mind-blowing. The X1 is based off the E90 Touring Chassis and suffers from horrible crashy and overly firm suspension. The springs improved the road holding ten-fold and improved the handling. Even if I never took the car off road, the springs were a superb purchase.
And so the trails continued:
You might have noticed the car went through a variety of looks.... As I damaged parts cosmetically I would repair them. Wheels, several refurbishes later. Bumper, mirrors and trim that would get scuffed were repaired monthly - I was adding up but the fun factor made it worth it.
The cars reputation on the local forums and groups was also hilarious - The famous X1, I did quite enjoy the attention. The car proved several times it had the balls to go where nobody thought it could, and if it couldnt I would find a way to make it.
This did result in a torn CV boot in the dunes and it needing a driveshaft rebuild on the passenger front. Otherwise, it was drama free - Cosmetically beaten but mechanically so solid.
Air Filters were kept in stock, new ones fitted most weeks. The amount of times I stripped the engine bay and re-greased moving parts as well as moving parts under the vehicle to ensure no failures were more than I can count.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdb9_aRglKi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-Xl0sARHr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-Vy-BA2pB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/BckouJ8l1iJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/BckfVZSljzB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
My all time favourite video of the car - I was one of two cars to get up there on the day:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BckPMcxF0Op/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
At this point the car had seen some serious abuse - At the same time my patience was wearing thin. Weekly alignment and balancing, and with the draught not being able to wash the car meant it would go for weekly layer in mud - Unable to open windows for example. The car washes using recycled water wanted nothing to do with the car. After a long period I decided to do some work on the car to get it back to standard:
First up, plastic weld the front bumper:
Replace all the ruined underbody sound protection:
Underbody Cleaning and Re-greasing session:
One of the greatest parts of the off-road experience was that the car was nick-named "the Mommy Wagon", so, mommy wagon duties it is, off the panelshop:
Man this car costs a fortune in clips.....
....
I had sort of decided I was done with the offroading thing so figured the ruined textured plastics would look great colour coded:
Tons of behind the panelwork effort to clean up panels and get the car looking original:
During this period I drove the car like this too! Mismatched loan wheels, no skirts, arches, bumpers and more:
Lots detail work - Cleaning up bolts and nuts and screws:
Keep in mind this work was done over a period of 3 weeks, of which the car was in full use - I was stripping and refitting as we went along, claiming lift time and doing little jobs like rewiring the PDC, spraying fittings and cleaning panels at home at night.
The results speak for themselves:
The car ate another aircon condenser - Its 4th one in its lifetime, so that was effort, removed and fitted and source on myself for a quarter of the price even the backyard mechanics wanted for the job:
And the off road bug bit, very briefly:
The car went into storage for a bit after this. We had a new MINI run-about and I was enjoying the easy nature of the MINI vs the heavy loud smoke machine X1.
....
Eventually a few weeks ago I decided to give the car a bit more love:
Out came the 2000 water paper and I flatted the whole car down:
Re-Working the finish, a total of 12 hours being the machine.... Nearly killed me.
Walk around video of the car after correction and refining and a wash:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk9pjcjlz78/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The engine bay got some TLC:
And a few after shots, three days later:
Original badges refitted and fuel filler flap, the end result was three passes to correct, two to refine, Autoglym SRP and Autoglym High Definition Wax.
Thereafter the car went for new front brakes, another regrease and has been running gloriously since! To date, despite the abuse, the car has never let me down. It just runs, and runs and runs. I believe that keeping it on form mechanically from day one is the reason for this.
Its done 34 000km in a year and 4 months with me.
Next up, is another oil service, diff and transfer case oils and maybe gearbox oil if the budget allows. I already returned the stock rear muffler and tip to the car last week as I have yet to settle on an exhaust tip I like more.
The beauty of this car is that I know what it is capable of. Its spectacular on the road and off road.
The goal with the car moving forward is to do some preventative maintenance (cooling system refresh just because and have the CV's and Prop inspected.
Then I want to prep it with a roof-rack, some LED's, a spare wheel and do some touring. The car loves the open road, its sublime on even the ****tiest gravel roads and I think it would make a greater tourer.
Thanks for reading - I know a lot of people will disagree with the usage of the car, but none can default the love and care it receives, this is the longest I have owned a car before, and I hope to enjoy the car for a lot longer.
:ty:
raise:
