michael.joseph
Active member
I still can't get enough of this thread.
raise:
raise:
-
Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
My BMW X1 23d Xdrive Journal
- Thread starter SMRTARSX1
- Start date
gollum said:
Let me stop any further possible derail posts in this excellent thread. Minimike or whoever the OP is; is very welcome on this forum. We are all enjoying a quality piece of reporting.
Recently, i have noticed an increase in high standard feedback, reporting and quality journalism by members. Lets encourage and support them. We can all benefit from their experiences.
Please guys. All further off topic posts will be send to the deleted section.
To the OP i have two Xs four wheel driven and another 4 wheeler but they hardly see the offroad even on the stellenbosch farms because i always thought these Xs are too soft for good off roading. Nice to read that one can push them more. I am tempted to try it out soon.
AshG108
///Member
Whoever this smartarsex1 dude is, he has proven and tested and tried that car beyond anyone's wildest dreams. The fact that he took the time, and liberty to capture and document all of this for us fellow petrolheads shows his selflessness.
Dude, thank you for the entire thread...I have never ever gotten stuck to thread of an suv like i did with this one especially the damn X1 lol.
Great write up and I look forward to more updates on your ownership and experiences.
raise:raise:raise::thumbs:
Dude, thank you for the entire thread...I have never ever gotten stuck to thread of an suv like i did with this one especially the damn X1 lol.
Great write up and I look forward to more updates on your ownership and experiences.
raise:raise:raise::thumbs:
Dirtydeedsman
Active member
Drive it
Break it
Fix it
REPEAT
:cartel:
Nice to see that motto doesn't only apply to drag racers.
This is a very informative thread and I have never been glued to a SUV thread before. Great work documenting everything and with pictures. Nice body work as well.
:thumbs:
Break it
Fix it
REPEAT
:cartel:
Nice to see that motto doesn't only apply to drag racers.
This is a very informative thread and I have never been glued to a SUV thread before. Great work documenting everything and with pictures. Nice body work as well.
:thumbs:
Howdy Folks!
So I have this habit of going for a Sunday drive... But its a bit complicated.
In the last year and 2 years I have owned the following cars:
Smart Fortwo Cabrio (Muis, and I even tracked it)
Freeflow Exhaust
Dump Valve
Eibach Springs
Fiat 500 1.2 (Mushu)
Lots of cosmetic goodies
Hockenheim Wheels
Erosion accelerated faster but I loved this car
Fiat 500 Abarth (Abby)
Factory Muffler Delete
BMC Intake
Software (145kw!!!)
Carbon Fibre Mirror Covers
Wrapped Roof
F*ck off Expensive Key Cases
Fiat Bravo 1.4T-Jet Sport (Johnny)
Straight Pipe Exhaust
Software (same engine as the Abarth)
BEAST of a car. Damn myself for selling it.
Smart Forfour Manual (Pippa)
Dont even... I cant deal. Made Merc buy it back.
Scored a cool plate though and didnt have to pay the X1's license for this year.
MINI Cooper Convertible (Dex)
I kind of still own this one... I bought it three months ago and have traded it on a Clubman S which I hope to get this week....
The reason for this excessive intro is because I traded the little convertible at a mates dealer. And my mate fell in love with the car.... So he has it now... And we decided to go for a little run.
A tidy 214km route was laid down and we got going, at the bottom of Pniel:
The dam looking a bit healthier... The last time I was here I drove my X1 where you currently see water.
Coming back through Vyeboom and Grabouw for lunch at "The Orchard" when the heavens opened on us.
Cheeky shot of the MINI on the move:
Returning to Durbanville after a quick stop at Fisantekraal Airfield:
The route for anyone interested:
I am immensely excited to get my MINI Clubman S this week - I feel a love hate relationship coming though!
Have a great week everyone!
So I have this habit of going for a Sunday drive... But its a bit complicated.
In the last year and 2 years I have owned the following cars:
Smart Fortwo Cabrio (Muis, and I even tracked it)
Freeflow Exhaust
Dump Valve
Eibach Springs
Fiat 500 1.2 (Mushu)
Lots of cosmetic goodies
Hockenheim Wheels
Erosion accelerated faster but I loved this car
Fiat 500 Abarth (Abby)
Factory Muffler Delete
BMC Intake
Software (145kw!!!)
Carbon Fibre Mirror Covers
Wrapped Roof
F*ck off Expensive Key Cases
Fiat Bravo 1.4T-Jet Sport (Johnny)
Straight Pipe Exhaust
Software (same engine as the Abarth)
BEAST of a car. Damn myself for selling it.
Smart Forfour Manual (Pippa)
Dont even... I cant deal. Made Merc buy it back.
Scored a cool plate though and didnt have to pay the X1's license for this year.
MINI Cooper Convertible (Dex)
I kind of still own this one... I bought it three months ago and have traded it on a Clubman S which I hope to get this week....
The reason for this excessive intro is because I traded the little convertible at a mates dealer. And my mate fell in love with the car.... So he has it now... And we decided to go for a little run.
A tidy 214km route was laid down and we got going, at the bottom of Pniel:
The dam looking a bit healthier... The last time I was here I drove my X1 where you currently see water.
Coming back through Vyeboom and Grabouw for lunch at "The Orchard" when the heavens opened on us.
Cheeky shot of the MINI on the move:
Returning to Durbanville after a quick stop at Fisantekraal Airfield:
The route for anyone interested:
I am immensely excited to get my MINI Clubman S this week - I feel a love hate relationship coming though!
Have a great week everyone!
AlexYannoulatos
///Member
Awesome man, you just need those roof racks from me :cthulhu:
Hi Everyone,
Quick update, so I was going through some old photo's looking for some content to share and stumbled upon these two video clips.
Both clips are at Helderberg 4x4 on the advanced sections of the route and I didnt share them because I had my two brothers and a mate in the car (fully loaded) and because there is a lot of commentary and frankly, hysterical laughing.
But re-watching the videos they best describe what this car is about off road. Its a constant anxiety and then a stupendous amount of laughter and patting each other on the back when the car actually does the obstacle.
Whilst to most people Helderberg 4x4 route is a nice gravel route there are 2/3 very tricky sections for the softies.
This first vehicle is called Boomslang, you drive into a gorge and then have an incline so steep its fairly difficult not to fall over on with tree stumps slowing the car down. The X1 managed this surprisingly easy, but all you can see is sky, the handbrake cant hold the car and rolling back down is unbelievably scary, especially with everyone in the car... But, I rolled back, left foot on the brake to hold the car, and pulled off, with a BMW X1 on 2.6 bar Pirelli Runflats and completed the obstacle.
The video:
The second video is still a favourite. This was on a return trip to Helderberg but I had just fitted non-runflat tyres and the lift kit. Again, 4 up, fully loaded. This obstacle tests the strength of your vehicles axle articulation as well as its strength in locking its diffs and transferring power, which X1 is incredible at.
You will see, as we enter the obstacle I take a specific approach, knowing how my cars chassis will behave but was caught by surprise by all 4 wheels physically spinning the car sideways. After a quick reverse, and careful feathering of the throttle it was a matter of keep your foot flat and let the car do its thing.
My favourite part of this video clip is the sheer angle at which the car exited the obstacle (and how hard it came back down). These BMW's are built damn well. A screenshot says many things!
And the video itself:
Again, this isnt a difficult route, but it has technical moments and besides Murasie, I would do Helderberg 10 times over just because its an honest and interesting route that lets you push the car without ruining it.
Have a great week everyone!
Mike
Quick Additional Video's:
A few guys have asked why my torque rating is so low despite the car making around 190kw on the dyno. Note this first video of the Boomslang obstacle, and the sheer incline thereof.
Video:
You will notice the car actually cuts the motor after I sat spinning all 4, those twin turbo's were overboosting and the car correlated the boost with the wheel speed and shut the car down. That was the first time it ever did that to me and I am grateful that BMW engineers these cars like this. Hence, I have a lower torque output in order to save my driveshafts in situations like this.
The second outside perspective video is what you saw from the inside of the car in the last post:
Inside Perspective:
Outside Perspective:
These video's display beautifully how Xdrive manipulates the differentials using the ABS to control power output.
Mike
Quick update, so I was going through some old photo's looking for some content to share and stumbled upon these two video clips.
Both clips are at Helderberg 4x4 on the advanced sections of the route and I didnt share them because I had my two brothers and a mate in the car (fully loaded) and because there is a lot of commentary and frankly, hysterical laughing.
But re-watching the videos they best describe what this car is about off road. Its a constant anxiety and then a stupendous amount of laughter and patting each other on the back when the car actually does the obstacle.
Whilst to most people Helderberg 4x4 route is a nice gravel route there are 2/3 very tricky sections for the softies.
This first vehicle is called Boomslang, you drive into a gorge and then have an incline so steep its fairly difficult not to fall over on with tree stumps slowing the car down. The X1 managed this surprisingly easy, but all you can see is sky, the handbrake cant hold the car and rolling back down is unbelievably scary, especially with everyone in the car... But, I rolled back, left foot on the brake to hold the car, and pulled off, with a BMW X1 on 2.6 bar Pirelli Runflats and completed the obstacle.
The video:
The second video is still a favourite. This was on a return trip to Helderberg but I had just fitted non-runflat tyres and the lift kit. Again, 4 up, fully loaded. This obstacle tests the strength of your vehicles axle articulation as well as its strength in locking its diffs and transferring power, which X1 is incredible at.
You will see, as we enter the obstacle I take a specific approach, knowing how my cars chassis will behave but was caught by surprise by all 4 wheels physically spinning the car sideways. After a quick reverse, and careful feathering of the throttle it was a matter of keep your foot flat and let the car do its thing.
My favourite part of this video clip is the sheer angle at which the car exited the obstacle (and how hard it came back down). These BMW's are built damn well. A screenshot says many things!
And the video itself:
Again, this isnt a difficult route, but it has technical moments and besides Murasie, I would do Helderberg 10 times over just because its an honest and interesting route that lets you push the car without ruining it.
Have a great week everyone!
Mike
Quick Additional Video's:
A few guys have asked why my torque rating is so low despite the car making around 190kw on the dyno. Note this first video of the Boomslang obstacle, and the sheer incline thereof.
Video:
You will notice the car actually cuts the motor after I sat spinning all 4, those twin turbo's were overboosting and the car correlated the boost with the wheel speed and shut the car down. That was the first time it ever did that to me and I am grateful that BMW engineers these cars like this. Hence, I have a lower torque output in order to save my driveshafts in situations like this.
The second outside perspective video is what you saw from the inside of the car in the last post:
Inside Perspective:
These video's display beautifully how Xdrive manipulates the differentials using the ABS to control power output.
Mike
Hi Everyone
Its been a trying week of BMW X1 ownership.
My car has an Eibach Pro-Lift Kit fitted which is essentially just uprated springs - There are only 5/6 people in the world with this lift kit fitted to an E84 X1. I noticed from day one that the car was leaning towards the drivers side, we also noted the camber was heavily positive on the front wheels.
So I popped in at Tiger Wheel and Tyre Willowbridge to say hi to my buddy Jeanre. The front tyres are shredding themselves as you can see and its starting to work on my tits:
We checked the alignment which came in perfect, but still with massive amounts of positive camber. What is frustrating is that I am in contact with four of the guys who have this kit and theirs does not lean and is not shredding tyres. So I have made a call, the car must go back to stock springs.
The issue is with Xdrive you MUST change all 4 tyres, you cant just do the fronts... The entire system has a 3% tolerance in it. I dont mind doing all 4, but its gonna get stale if I must do all 4 every 15 000km because the car is eating them. Remember, it may be a mommy wagon but I drive it like its a racing car, so a that wear is from 15 000km or so of heavy cornering and enjoyment.
At the same time, given the car was on the lift I checked for anything out of the ordinary and found a lovely boost leak.... Great.
Refitted the pipe on the spot and drove the car home, instantly noticing the car felt lazier.
After a brief inspection in the road I noticed the boost pipe to the big turbo was also not correctly clipped in, and breathing, badly. My brothers popped in, my brother inherited our family MK5 Golf GTI. 2005 Model, 38 000km when he got in March, its spotless and his first car, it is meticulously cared for.
We used the car for the day and by the time we got home my obsessiveness was really causing pain, off came the bumper:
I decided to remove the intercooler and boost pipes for a clean – The intercooler on this car is placed very low and it annoying tends to pick up a lot of mud and dirt when we do trails.
So before:
And after:
And the Intercooler getting a bit of a clean up, once again, it was filthy.
In between we had a bit of a laugh with the one boost pipe, meet the ATM TUNING BMW X1 warrior cry!
I also noted, it seems my downpipe is leaking as when I removed the Air Filter Enclosure it was covered with black soot.....
Hmmmmm whats better than one potential turbo bill? TWO.
Another issue I am experiencing with the car is that even AFTER all of this, the car still feels lazy and I have noticed with the cruise control set it every now and then jerks for no reason. I dropped my brothers for paintball earlier and noticed it swung 1 or 2 more times than normal and also that the fuel gauge seems to be erratic and not displaying the correct tank reading.
The car seems to have two pumps, a tank feed pump with a switch and the a high pressure fuel pump on the rail itself.
The Tank Pump (low pressure):
And the High Pressure Fuel Pump:
In the past, with the level of off-roading the car did and dust it would pick up, I had endless issues with the MAF. I clean it religiously along with using a High Temperature Liquid Grease on things like the turbo actuator and moving parts. Often after a hectic off road session the car would limp for no reason and the fault code was always “fuel pressure supply low” but it never affected the car for more than a few minutes and then it ran perfectly again for months.
So, given the tank reading issue as the sender and pump are linked, and the past warnings (20-30 000km ago already) and the cars seemingly laziness I suspect my tank low pressure pump may be on its way, the high pressure pump would, I imagine throw a engine warning, which I have never had on this car.
I generally also run a Diesel Fuel System Cleaner through my tank every month which I haven’t done in a few months, and given I fill up every 3-4 days I tend to burn a lot of the devils fuel often running the tank into reserve even though I shouldn’t.
The diesel filter was last changed about 30 000km ago so I think I will get BMW to do it at the next service in 3000km (basically a month from now) as its about R1200 for the service and R1100 for the diesel filter with an aftermarket filter coming in at around R800 anyway, so it makes sense to keep it OEM.
Will monitor it, but I have a feeling the car may leave me on the side of the road in the next few weeks.
Mike
Its been a trying week of BMW X1 ownership.
My car has an Eibach Pro-Lift Kit fitted which is essentially just uprated springs - There are only 5/6 people in the world with this lift kit fitted to an E84 X1. I noticed from day one that the car was leaning towards the drivers side, we also noted the camber was heavily positive on the front wheels.
So I popped in at Tiger Wheel and Tyre Willowbridge to say hi to my buddy Jeanre. The front tyres are shredding themselves as you can see and its starting to work on my tits:
We checked the alignment which came in perfect, but still with massive amounts of positive camber. What is frustrating is that I am in contact with four of the guys who have this kit and theirs does not lean and is not shredding tyres. So I have made a call, the car must go back to stock springs.
The issue is with Xdrive you MUST change all 4 tyres, you cant just do the fronts... The entire system has a 3% tolerance in it. I dont mind doing all 4, but its gonna get stale if I must do all 4 every 15 000km because the car is eating them. Remember, it may be a mommy wagon but I drive it like its a racing car, so a that wear is from 15 000km or so of heavy cornering and enjoyment.
At the same time, given the car was on the lift I checked for anything out of the ordinary and found a lovely boost leak.... Great.
Refitted the pipe on the spot and drove the car home, instantly noticing the car felt lazier.
After a brief inspection in the road I noticed the boost pipe to the big turbo was also not correctly clipped in, and breathing, badly. My brothers popped in, my brother inherited our family MK5 Golf GTI. 2005 Model, 38 000km when he got in March, its spotless and his first car, it is meticulously cared for.
We used the car for the day and by the time we got home my obsessiveness was really causing pain, off came the bumper:
I decided to remove the intercooler and boost pipes for a clean – The intercooler on this car is placed very low and it annoying tends to pick up a lot of mud and dirt when we do trails.
So before:
And after:
And the Intercooler getting a bit of a clean up, once again, it was filthy.
In between we had a bit of a laugh with the one boost pipe, meet the ATM TUNING BMW X1 warrior cry!
I also noted, it seems my downpipe is leaking as when I removed the Air Filter Enclosure it was covered with black soot.....
Hmmmmm whats better than one potential turbo bill? TWO.
Another issue I am experiencing with the car is that even AFTER all of this, the car still feels lazy and I have noticed with the cruise control set it every now and then jerks for no reason. I dropped my brothers for paintball earlier and noticed it swung 1 or 2 more times than normal and also that the fuel gauge seems to be erratic and not displaying the correct tank reading.
The car seems to have two pumps, a tank feed pump with a switch and the a high pressure fuel pump on the rail itself.
The Tank Pump (low pressure):
And the High Pressure Fuel Pump:
In the past, with the level of off-roading the car did and dust it would pick up, I had endless issues with the MAF. I clean it religiously along with using a High Temperature Liquid Grease on things like the turbo actuator and moving parts. Often after a hectic off road session the car would limp for no reason and the fault code was always “fuel pressure supply low” but it never affected the car for more than a few minutes and then it ran perfectly again for months.
So, given the tank reading issue as the sender and pump are linked, and the past warnings (20-30 000km ago already) and the cars seemingly laziness I suspect my tank low pressure pump may be on its way, the high pressure pump would, I imagine throw a engine warning, which I have never had on this car.
I generally also run a Diesel Fuel System Cleaner through my tank every month which I haven’t done in a few months, and given I fill up every 3-4 days I tend to burn a lot of the devils fuel often running the tank into reserve even though I shouldn’t.
The diesel filter was last changed about 30 000km ago so I think I will get BMW to do it at the next service in 3000km (basically a month from now) as its about R1200 for the service and R1100 for the diesel filter with an aftermarket filter coming in at around R800 anyway, so it makes sense to keep it OEM.
Will monitor it, but I have a feeling the car may leave me on the side of the road in the next few weeks.
Mike
RAArmstrong
///Member
Really a great thread to follow. These videos were quite entertaining. I see what you mean about the anxiety followed by laughter. I ended up getting so invested in seeing the X1 make it and when it did, sat here laughing along with you guys :roflol:
The way it cut the motor to prevent the overboost was really quite interesting to watch and huge credit to the brains at BMW actually.
The way it cut the motor to prevent the overboost was really quite interesting to watch and huge credit to the brains at BMW actually.
RAArmstrong said:
Its so nerve wracking, you must remember we share the Northern Suburbs with the Hilux, Ranger boytjies, so when you rock up at an Off Road Event these okes don't filter their distaste for the car or its capabilities. When we did Murasie (I will post a video later), I had guys come to me and say outright, you wont make it back here in one piece, and the car did, I had people coming to shake my hand afterwards, saying they watched the car and they cannot believe it.
Its terrible to be so nervous, and absolutely on edge and you have some old dude in a Landy telling you "I wont recover that piece of shit".
Yup! Would be me, I stay in Boston, bellville and my fiance works at Tyger Valley Mall. I drop him and pick him up, any excuse to take the car for a drive :fencelook:
Awesome update.
What codes did you get that you suspect the low or high presssure fuel system?
The maff is notorious for going. Mine packed up after 4 years of X3 ownership. On the X1 i just clean it when I have time. So much dust collects in that area and the code comes and goes. Too expensive to replace.
What codes did you get that you suspect the low or high presssure fuel system?
The maff is notorious for going. Mine packed up after 4 years of X3 ownership. On the X1 i just clean it when I have time. So much dust collects in that area and the code comes and goes. Too expensive to replace.
Twinz said:
Thank you.
The car would do this strange thing. The day after a lot of low rpm high load off road work the car would not boost. Zero boost until 3000RPM when the big turbo kicks in and all hell breaks loose.... Usually drive it a bit and it solves itself. No engine light.
Eventually I figured the bigger turbo has an electronic actuator and the smaller turbo a vacuum driven wastegate which, with the high heat and water and mud would get stuck. Manually work the actuator a few times and it would resolve.
Co-incedently, if I clean the MAF, it also does this once or twice usually afterwards. I just drive the car and it figures itself out.
I had combined electronics read (Matt himself) codes after it would do this no low rpm boost show a few times and it was something along the lines of a drop of pressure post the fuel filter (which is heated with a sensor on it). So I changed out the fuel filter (which BMW said was overdue despite them servicing the car the week before and saying nothing about it).
The car still did this soft limp no lower rpm boost - Since I stopped off roading with the car, its not done it once so now I am wondering about the fuel sender pressure vs the HPFP pressure and if the fuel filter is perhaps clogged up as my symptoms are spot on those of a failing fuel pump.
Mike
