[JR71]

I recently had delivery of my brand new X1 Sport (not M Sport) 2.0 Petrol Mild Hybrid with 17" wheels and Veganza sport seats. I can feel every bump and pothole in the road and the ride is very firm / bumpy.
I have reduced the tyre pressure to the recommended 2.4/2.4
I use Personal Mode all the time assuming that it will give the most comfortable ride.
But, no improvement.
Could someone kindly advise me is there anything else I can do to get a more comfortable ride in the local roads please? I have had it for exactly a month now and it's quite frustrating. Thanks

[mavericksid]

I've had it for a while with 19" wheels had the ride indeed is bumpy. Not sure what can be done it though.

[SpaceSilver.X1]

I have X1 with M Sport suspension. 225/55/18 Pirelli P Zero All Season tires on the standard 18" M Wheels.

Over the last 8 months, I've gotten used to the ride and now I actually think it's comfortable enough and compliant. (as well as sporty enough for the way I drive it) However, the only remaining issue that bugs me are these Pirelli tires. They firm up a LOT in cold weather, compared to other all season tires that I've had on other SUVs. (Bridgestone, Michelin and even Goodyear)

[MontyB1]

You have done the main thing of checking tyre pressures. Not sure what suspension the X1 sport comes with to know how stiff it is. None of the X1 models have adaptive suspension so any modes won’t change the ride, throttle and steering yes ride no.

Hopefully you will get used to it, having drive an X-like and M-sport the XL is the best compromise by far, the MSport is firmer and less compliant, never seen a comparison to the sport.

Other than changing the suspension to something else not much to suggest as above you might get used to it over time.

[FZI89]

A few questions come to mind:

• Did you test drive the car before purchasing?
• Have you driven a BMW before

If the answer to both is no, then that would explain the majority of your concern. In general, BMWs are typically a harsher ride compared to other manufacturers.

As already mentioned above, there is no real adaptive suspension on any X1 model and X-Line seems to be the most compliant.

I’m driving on 20” winter Pirelli P Zero tires, and still think that the ride is very compliant. But then again, I’m already used to the harsher BMW suspension. In fact, I find the ride more compliant than my 2012 X5 on 18”.

If the car doesn’t soften up or you get used to it in the next couple of thousand kilometres/miles, then your next option is to upgrade the suspension.

[Yorksdales66]

Just taken delivery of my 2024 20i X Line which has the 18" wheels with Continental 225/55/18 tyres and I am very inpressed with the ride on the rough rural Cumbrian roads.

I am more than happy with the ride patricularly after previously having a F48 MSport X1 and MSport 2 Series Active Tourer both with runflats and too hard a ride for my taste.

[John27]

I am picking up my new X1 tomorrow which is an M Sport on 20" wheels and has adaptive suspension. I appreciate I can't adjust the suspension myself as the car is meant to do that automatically.

I test drove an early X1 (it was called the 'Edition' of 'First Edition' or something like that) as that had the same engine as the one I wanted. The wheels were 19" with standard suspension. My own car at the time was a VW Tiguan R-Line on 20" wheels and I didn't notice any difference in the harshness of the ride.

While I like firm suspension, I hope the extra firmness of the 20" wheels on the new X1 are compensated by the adaptive suspension. If not, I will consider fitting 19" wheels to the car.

In OPs case, as FZ189 has said, I would look to fitting replacement aftermarket dampers and springs that would give a softer ride as I doubt going smaller wheels will help (if even possible) given car is already on 17" wheels. Problem is that changing the suspension may invalidate the warranty. Might be worth approaching independent BMW specialists as this type of issue has surely come up before on other BMW's and they may have identified BMW specific solutions.

Good luck.

[MontyB1]

Originally Posted by John27

I am picking up my new X1 tomorrow which is an M Sport on 20" wheels and has adaptive suspension. I appreciate I can't adjust the suspension myself as the car is meant to do that automatically.

I test drove an early X1 (it was called the 'Edition' of 'First Edition' or something like that) as that had the same engine as the one I wanted. The wheels were 19" with standard suspension. My own car at the time was a VW Tiguan R-Line on 20" wheels and I didn't notice any difference in the harshness of the ride.

While I like firm suspension, I hope the extra firmness of the 20" wheels on the new X1 are compensated by the adaptive suspension. If not, I will consider fitting 19" wheels to the car.

In OPs case, as FZ189 has said, I would look to fitting replacement aftermarket dampers and springs that would give a softer ride as I doubt going smaller wheels will help (if even possible) given car is already on 17" wheels. Problem is that changing the suspension may invalidate the warranty. Might be worth approaching independent BMW specialists as this type of issue has surely come up before on other BMW's and they may have identified BMW specific solutions.

Good luck.

Remember and it's an important point the suspension is not really in fact not at all adaptive in any normal sense. There is no electronic interaction at all, the only aspect that is remotely adaptive are the dampers are potentially a little more expensive. To be frank the word adaptive shouldn't be used at all, they are really completely passive and its only the fluid / design that gives a slightly changed response due to a hard or soft impact, the is in all honestly little different to a standard shock / damper you get in almost every car on the road.

This is frustrating and I suspect if challenge the use of the word adaptive in the suspension compared to those models that do have full electronic adaptive should really be removed.

[Duncs1961]

The opinion on the qualitiy of the ride must be very subjective, as I also have the X1 Sport 2.0 Petrol Mild Hybrid albeit with 18" wheels and Sensatec (the forerunner of Veganza) sport seats and in my opinion it is a good balance of great handling (for a SUV) and comfort.

I don't think the 18" wheels will make much difference to 17" (if anything, they will be slightly firmer) and I have to say the ride in my car is one of the plus points (I won't go into the negative aspects of my car on this thread, as I don't want to be responsible for thread drift!) - yes, I do find the ride firm, yet at the same time it is still comfortable. It's nice to have a SUV that can corner with confidence and be driven down a B road with spirit.

Also, the X1 is a supreme motorway mile muncher - last September I drove to Cornwall (a 380mile trip for me) non-stop and arrived as fresh as doing a 30mile local trip.

As others have said, if this is your first BMW, the firmness of the ride may come as some surprise compared with other cars and take some time to get used to.

[MontyB1]

Yeah the M-Sport isn't bad, the X-Line however is better, if it wasn't for the spec benefits for us with the M-Sport we might have gone for the X-Line. Now I think the difference on spec is minimal without the tech pack being standard anymore.

The ride is firm and a little more restless than I'd like its certainly firmer feeling than the full adaptive on the X3 I will say that. But bad, no, just could be a slightly less firm, mind you we do have the PHEV which could be adding to the firmness compared to an ICE its hard to tell without a back to back drive.

[BMWZ4]

Yep, welcome to BMW. Every single one of mine have had a stiff ride. I guess a test drive was out of the question?

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4

Yep, welcome to BMW. Every single one of mine have had a stiff ride. I guess a test drive was out of the question?

Definitely when I picked up my car 13 months ago, there was no test drive available - dealers had no stock that weren't sold before they hit the showroom. Not sure now, though.

I agree the ride is stiff - more so than my prior 328. But I like it this way.

[Tomduck]

I wonder how much it costs to make the identical Msport spec/look on an Xline…

[ashley1960]

I think the X1 ride is firm but not harsh. With 17 inch wheels, giving the car the softest ride you can have, is about as good as it gets. Softening the suspension would destroy the handling which is really good for an suv. I like the overall experience driving the car, it’s not a large saloon which would have a softer ride, mainly because of the extra weight and lower ride.

[Zach12]

JR71 see the “enlighten me” thread. It is “firm” (I.e. bumpy).

My family have a 10 year old X1 and I really expected more refinement from my new one.

Yes, to the previous posters I personally did do several test drives, before handing over a large chunk of my savings…..

I now realise though that BMW dealers tend to be in “better” areas and their “demo drive” routes usually favour a mix of roads that, in my experience are better paved than my regular journeys ;-)

It’s a fab car, and on the right road and or at speed awesome, but on the wrong road (and again IMO at sub 30mph where you notice more) less comfortable than some other premium brands.

It’s not you, it’s unlikely to be your setup (although I ran “winter tyres” on a previous car and that did soften it) so as others have suggested smaller wheels larger tyre wall may improve your impression.

My best advice is go and drive a Tesla and cheer yourself up, it’s way way way better than the ride of the current 3/Ys.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by Zach12

I now realise though that BMW dealers tend to be in “better” areas and their “demo drive” routes usually favour a mix of roads that, in my experience are better paved than my regular journeys ;-)

Never let a dealer choose the test drive route - they always just want to make 4 rights and be back at the dealer ASAP. I always tell the dealer the route I want to take; some of them will just hand over the keys and not come with me on the test drive.

[Yorksdales66]

Originally Posted by Zach12

My best advice is go and drive a Tesla and cheer yourself up, it’s way way way better than the ride of the current 3/Ys.

Good point, ride quality depends on what your previous car was or what you are comparing it with. I had a 2018 MSport X1 which was a bit too firm even on non runflats. Changed to a 2020 Lexus UX FSport which was a softer ride but at the same time poor on some surfaces and not really fun to drive. On the U11 20i XLine its not too firm and has great ride and handling to my taste. I find im unitentionally driving the new U11 much faster over the badly surfaced rural roads in my area.

I would expect the ride to get even better as the tyres and suspension bed in.

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Never let a dealer choose the test drive route - they always just want to make 4 rights and be back at the dealer ASAP. I always tell the dealer the route I want to take; some of them will just hand over the keys and not come with me on the test drive.

maybe I was just lucky, but most salespersons just handed me the keys and allowed me to test drive to wherever I wanted at least as early as 1991. The best one was around 1998 or 1997 when Cadillac offered 2-day free test drive and people were allowed to take the cars home and return them 2 days later for the full experience.(although I ended up back with a Lincoln Town Car at that time)

then there was this Porsche salesman at HBL Tysons who told me to "drive like you're running from the cops... no guts, no glory, right?" I took the Boxster out and stupidly followed his advice. Got pulled over after just 2 miles on the Dulles Toll Road(which was a semi-closed road towards IAD)... the trooper only gave me a warning after seeing that I was on a test drive. When I drove back to the dealer, the salesman said "you're probably not ready for a Porsche... you could have easily outrun the trooper's Crown Vic"


Strangely, when I test drove the X1 in October 2022, I actually asked the BMW salesman to come along. He was hesitant because he had another customer scheduled to come in half an hour later. He tried to get the Genius to come along but she was at lunch. So he had no choice but to come along for the ride. It was because so many things were confusing and using the touchscreen while driving was somewhat scary. (not so much anymore... now I can operate the climate control and even CarPlay without having to look at the screen)

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by Tomduck

I wonder how much it costs to make the identical Msport spec/look on an Xline…

I'm confused... your X1 appears to have the M Sport package?

I actually priced the X1 M Sport style front and rear bumpers just before I placed my order. I was originally going to order the X Line trim but wanted to see just how much it would cost if I upgraded to the M Sport look a few months down the road. Parts alone, it was around USD$2900. The bodyshop quoted me $1400 to paint and install them. Plus an additional $800 to paint the black wheel arches that are on the X Line.

[Tomduck]

Yep was just interested in what the package would cost to spec as separate parts 👍

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by Tomduck

Yep was just interested in what the package would cost to spec as separate parts 👍

forgot to say that the front/rear bumpers for the M35i was a little more... $3982 + 10.25% sales tax for the two parts. The parts dept never got back to me with a quote for the M35i exhaust.(which is required if one is to use the M35i rear bumper)

[MontyB1]

Originally Posted by Tomduck

Yep was just interested in what the package would cost to spec as separate parts 👍

I suspect price now is similar, the M_Sport doesn’t come with the tech back but used to so to get to a similar spec but but different looking cars is likely closer now than it used to be.