Attrition is a terrible thing for those who wait. After all, enthusiast cars are meant to be enjoyed, so by the time you’re ready to buy one, there’s a chance they’re all enjoyed-up. For instance, the BMW 335i was lots of people’s first taste of turbocharged German speed, and as you can expect, good ones are now few and far between. So, what do you buy when all the 335is in your area are either roached or crazy expensive? Well, provided you’re okay with an automatic transmission, a fantastic option already exists. Say hello to the E84 BMW X1 xDrive35i, a great example of powerful engine, reasonably small car.
While the BMW X1 currently exists as a reasonably practical way to stretch out the Mini platform, the nameplate didn’t always ride on a front-wheel-drive platform. See, right at the turn of the 2010s, BMW still stood for rear-wheel-drive over everything else, and it decided to turn the platform from the then-current E90 3 Series into a crossover. But hang on — didn’t they also do that with the X3? Well, sort-of. The first-generation X3 shares far more with the E46 3 Series launched in the late 1990s, while the second-generation X3 shares more with the F30 3 Series launched for 2012. The E84 X1, on the other hand? It didn’t just share a platform with the E90 3 Series, it even shared a wheelbase.
Standing slightly shorter and about five inches taller than a BMW 3 Series wagon, the original X1 was a weird exercise in pairing the interior room of a compact hatchback with the fuel economy of an SUV. We’re talking about 14.8 cu.-ft. of cargo space with the rear seats up, 47.7 cu.-ft. with the rear seats down, and 26 mpg combined for the xDrive28i all-wheel-drive model with the two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. So far, not so brilliant. However, BMW being BMW, it knew that an inline-six would fit. How about the N55 out of the 335i?
Yes, that’s right, the BMW X1 xDrive35i, a mildly ridiculous alphabet soup nameplate, took a three-liter turbocharged inline-six, paired it with a ZF 6HP six-speed automatic transmission, and shoved some serious squeeze into BMW’s littlest crossover. We’re talking 300 horsepower at 5,800 rpm and 300 lb.-ft. of torque from 1,300 to 5,000 rpm. Pair that with a highly regarded chassis and honest-to-goodness hydraulic power steering, and things get interesting.
Just ask Car And Driver. The magazine tested an N55-powered X1 in 2014, and not only did it run from zero-to-60 mph in 5.2 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 13.8 seconds at a strong 102 mph, it also drove like you’d expect a BMW engineered before downsized engines and electric power steering should.
When traffic broke, we found the 35i motored through the white stuff without drama. Traction in a straight line or around corners was plentiful, despite the X1’s sporty 18-inch Pirelli all-season run-flat tires. Stability control can be completely disabled to allow easy drifts (if that’s your thing), thanks to the xDrive setup’s rearward torque bias, although the system’s brain was quick to shuffle torque to the front axle when needed. Under all conditions, BMW’s once familiar, firm yet compliant ride-and-handling balance impressed. This 35i was agile but rode better than our long-term X1 xDrive28i M Sport tester, thanks to smaller wheels, higher-aspect-ratio tires, and non-sport suspension. A snowy skidpad prevented us from recording a grip figure for the X1, but we recorded 0.82 g in a roughly 100-pound-lighter, non–M Sport xDrive28i with similar tires. The 35i’s firm brake pedal was linear and easy to modulate—a boon on the slick roads we encountered—and the stoppers returned a solid 163-foot halt from 70 mph.
So, what we have here is essentially an all-wheel-drive 335i wagon that usually isn’t owned by the sort of crowd that’s prone to doing mods before maintenance. Oh, but because they don’t carry the same enthusiast cachet as a 3 Series, these X1 xDrive35i crossovers are surprisingly inexpensive on the secondhand market.
Let’s say you’re looking for one with reasonable mileage and the coveted M Sport package. Well, this 2014 X1 xDrive35i with the M Sport package is listed for sale in Georgia with 77,957 miles on the clock for $11,675. It’s missing a tow hook cover, but it has a clean Carfax, hasn’t lived in the rust belt, and appears to have mostly been dealer-serviced. If you’re okay with the color combination of white over black, this looks like a promising example.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for something on comfier suspension that’s a little more driver-spec, this 2013 X1 xDrive35i is up for sale in Illinois with 84,869 miles on the clock for $9,897. Sure, it doesn’t have the M Sport package and it has a minor hit on the Carfax, but the mileage is right, the price is decent, and the blue paint looks great. Come to think of it, this might be an even better sleeper than the M Sport car because it still has tons of room to turn up the wick without looking obvious.
Case in point: Dinan has a 50-state-legal tune that’ll crank output up to 355 horsepower and 401 lb.-ft. of torque. Those are gains of 55 horsepower and 101 lb.-ft. of torque, all without running afoul of California emissions laws. Want crisper shifts? A company called xAutomotive sells a reputable transmission flash tuning suite for an equally reasonable $237. The aftermarket for this platform is great, but there are a few things you should probably address first.
First off, the charge pipes on these things are made of plastic known for getting brittle from age. Considering these pipes carry boost from the turbocharger to the throttle body, cracking one of these means going into limp mode. Secondly, N55 engines aren’t immune from electric water pump issues, meaning it’s better to change that preventatively than retroactively. Thirdly, make sure if you’re buying a 2013 model that the high-pressure fuel pump has been replaced. Most of these early designs failed under warranty and were replaced early in the life of the car, and the failure pattern is benign rather than catastrophic. Finally, keep an eye on the oil filter housing gasket. If it leaks, oil can saturate the serpentine belt, and the belt can eventually find its way inside the engine. It’s an insane failure, but a preventable one. Otherwise, the N55 isn’t the same nightmarish clusterfuck as its N54 predecessor. BMW actually learned something here.
Still, if you’re willing to spend a bit of maintenance, you can own one quick turbocharged subcompact crossover with great driving dynamics on the cheap. Think of the original X1 xDrive35i a bit like the closest thing the U.S. market has to a 335i wagon, and suddenly it starts making sense.
(Photo credits: BMW, Autotrader sellers)
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I remember getting one of these as a loaner once when my 320i was in the shop (its natural habitat). It was an absolute blast.
It would be any easy $3K if you paid a BMW dealer to repair all the things you noted. That’s a 25% markup for the white one. Best make sure the repairs are already done or that you are paying at least 25% below market value if not.
These have always been tempting as a substitute for the 3 wagon, but we cant get the n52 in a North American one so I’ve always passed on these.
X1 35i owner checking in. Our x-line trim is my wife’s not-quite-daily driver. I bought it when she said she wanted an SUV..heh heh heh. With a little over 40k on the odometer and following the Mike Miller old school BMW maintenance schedule, it’s been a fun little runabout. Mrs. CoStanza’s not a car nut but frequently remarks how well it drives.
The N55 was like a Timex, compared to the tuned N54 in my 5er wagon that ate coil packs like it was voiced by Frank Oz.
Reviews at the time maligned the hard plastic trim pieces, but the interior fit and finish is top notch and has held up well. Stepping from the 535 to the X1, the sense of subtraction is perceivable, most notably in door heft and seat comfort and adjustment. Go for a model with the Sport seats, even if added as an a la carte option on non-Sport Pkg cars.
The E84 35i really is an underrated gem, offering one of the last combinations of rear(biased) drive, taut steering and responsive yet compliant chassis that constituted the classic BMW Secret Sauce – in an unsuspecting CUV package. The “X1” naming only serves to prompt Pee-Wee Herman jokes in our household, so if you’re a loner…a rebel, the X1 may be your ride.
I think I would rather prefer a Lexus or a Cadillac over this…not that it is bad…with poor maintenance, it will punish you to a greater extent than even the worst SRX will…(they had bad model years as well, as did Lexus as well in their RX).
But you’d have to drive a Cadillac SRX ????
Well, if it what only some can afford, and not a Lexus, how can you blame them. Yes, they have their own issues such as oil consumption, timing chains which are problematic on some years, but Lexus too has…other problems.
Or, jump for a GMT800 Escalade. Will outlast the BMW well maintained and even half maintained…
The only thing an X1 has in common with an Escalade is the fact both come with Automatic transmissions, two completely different vehicles for different people. Yeah it’s more reliable but it’s going to cost you significantly more in fuel and it’d be significantly harder park and own if you live in the city.
Then in that case a Park Avenue would be better.
The vehicle is a nice idea in theory, much more likely to find one of these that’s not been beaten by a fool than something else but once you have that clean example… what exactly do you have other than a tall automatic station wagon with high repair bills?
Sounds like you get a decently zippy RWD beemer. We’ve all got our lists of acceptably impractical cars, I’m sure this thing makes the list for a few folks here.
The N54 and N55 engines were absolutely delightful. My E88 (which had the N54) was fast, it sounded fantastic, pulled like a freight train, and was rev-happy with no turbo lag.
You can, with some light modification (esp cooling, and esp on the earlier models), boost these for Big Power, too, with minimal reliability impact. 450+ RWHP is attainable for a DD, in that little package.
Chef’s kiss.
Stay on top of maintenance and they can be trouble-free.
Don’t stay on top of maintenance and, on the N54 in particular, it will bankrupt you.
I had an e82. Amazing little machine. Mine was a bone stock manual. I miss it
The N54 was in the 13th variation of its injectors when I sold it, that’s not regular maintenance that’s poor engineering.
The market seems to have improved for these. Last time I remembered these existed, the few options on sale ranged from “wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole” to a nicer car with a “I know what I got” price tag on it.
Looking today in my area, it seems there are some decent options. If I drive a bit, there is even one with a brown interior (the right choice). Maybe the responsible owners are ditching them at this point before something really bad happens.
Also the E84 generation X1 had better shaped trunk than the 3-series, where the wheel wells cut more into trunk space. Also the X1 was more of a hatchback than crossover, and excellent one on paper. The issue is mostly stupid maintenance plan of BMW where the lifetime fluids basically mean that the stuff lasts for about 100tkm. Especially the front diff and transfer boxes go bang every 120tkm if no fluids are changed. Also ZF recommends about 80tkm service interval for the 8 speed, but for BMW it’s lifetime. And the oil change interval is not great either.
We had 2l diesel that was othervise great, but our front diff granaded at 120tkm as we didn’t know that was not service item. After that it racked about 240tkm with no issues (we changed oils ever 15tkm vs factory 30). And excellent fuel economy on 2l diesel.
I had the N54, which was such a POS it was amazing it was legally allowed to be sold to the public. The n55 was ‘improved’ but the bar was already too low. These engines are absolute trash.
I thank the goddess every day I didn’t buy a 135i with the N54. Or that matter, the N55 either.
It amazed me how my dad’s turbo BMW from the 80’s was working better than my 10 year old BMW from 2007. Solidified me never buying a BMW ever again after that build quality experience.
80s BMW and 10s BMW are not comparable. Cadillac seems to have improved from 00s to the 20s….but the Northstar killed their reputation even though with fixes it can be reliable (after the MY06 year).
I’m not handy so reliability is critical.
Hear me out: This, but with a 4N Motorsport 9k-rpm 2.6L N55
I had a coworker with one of these and my goodness was it a problematic pile of crap. This is definitely a situation where the theory far outstrips reality. The X1 itself had stupid issues, and then the N55 had its own issues. The coworker wisely ditched it before the warranty expired. Nice idea, crap execution.
I want to feel feelings for the things you’ve just described, but the lack of a manual leaves me cold. I know, they might have sold four of them, but still. I would always and forever feel like something was missing.
It’s really important in a car like this. My truck is an automatic, but who cares? At the other end of the spectrum, I could be swayed by a supercar auto, because “driver engagement” at that point is hanging on and tearing ass around everywhere you go. But this beautiful, important midpoint demands three pedals. I want to feel like a badass ripping up out of second, into third, easing of just enough to fit back into second gear before tearing up and away again, when I could have absolutely puttered the whole thing through in bland automatic shifting, or even left it in a single gear and bopped along that way. I want to be truly engaged in a car like this.
I think the 1st gen X3 had a manual option that was paired with an inline 6. X3 30si is the name I believe
They do. I managed to miss out on two of them before I settled for my automatic e83 X3 3.0.
“Nightmarish clusterfuck” is the best description for the N54 I’ve ever read.
But if you $$ up the maintenance and keep them sorted, they will keep a smile on your face.. At least my e93 does.
You have a higher risk tolerance than I do lol. I love BMWs, but would never consider owning one with the N54.
I think a GMT800 Escalade or a CTS-V would fit you. Yes, they are also not exactly hassle free or cheap in terms of maintenance, but they are less likely to bankrupt you than a BMW…
I’ve got 105k miles on my 335is E93. I have probably put over $9k in parts a services. I have done most of the labor, including dropping the front suspension crossmember to replace the oil pan gasket, replacing the oil filter housing, the center section of one turbo and other repairs. The thing that drives me crazy is the cost of add-ons. For instance, the pan gasket was about $40, but a set of pan bolts required to do the job was another $40 or so for a gasket that will leak like a sieve in another 50k miles. The exhaust manifold gaskets and bolts are over $100. What should be simple and cheap, is not. The $500 water pump & thermostat wouldn’t be quite as galling, if it didn’t crap the bed every 50k miles. There’s entirely too much plastic in the cooling system that grows brittle and breaks… just because.
Put a thin layer of Reinzosil on both the pan and block next time you do the oil pan gasket. It’ll never leak again.
If you drop the subframe to do the pan gasket again, the water pump becomes a 20-minute job.
But… w/ an aluminum/magnesium block and an aluminum oil pan and 2 dozen bolts holding them together, it shouldn’t be that tough to make an o-ring gasket that should never leak. But as the OFHG proves, that can’t even get the o-rings to not leak.
For some reason, the Germans can’t seem to figure out how to keep the fluids inside their homes.
BMW may not, but Mercedes absolutely can. There is a huge different between the oil pan gasket on an N52 and Mercedes engines from around the same time, most of which used just sealant and never leaked. The oil pan gasket used on the MXX and NXX engines are absurd – tiny thin strip or rubber on one of the largest gaskets in the engine.
You should look into the alternator bracket gasket on the N62 if you want to talk about seals that shouldn’t be that hard to make leak-free!
I always loved these. I tried desperately to convince my wife to buy one back in 2015, but she chose the CX-5 instead as she didn’t feel comfortable spending the money at the time and was worried about maintenance and reliability given the mileage we were doing in those days. In retrospect, she’s probably the wiser of the two of us when it comes to cars.
She made a good choice. My Father once was duped by a seller into buying a BMW for 25k dirhams in Sharjah…but the seller asked him to pay to see the car. He did not buy it and got a 2 door Pajero 3.5 V6 instead. Now when I remember, it was a good decision he made.
These were cool, are cool, and will always be cool. It’s such a shame that the entry level Bimmers we’re now saddled with are bloated front wheel drive Minis all powered by the same 4 popper when only 10 years ago they were rear wheel drive with an available straight 6 as god intended.
I have 0 issue with front wheel drive cars (in fact I own and daily one) but I honestly have no interest in any BMW product that isn’t rear wheel drive with a straight 6 or V8. Maybe I’m showing my advancing age here a bit but that’s what comes to mind when I see those 3 letters…
Considering BMW initially built their reputation on the 2002, and the E30 with a range that included the 318iS and original M3, four-cylinders absolutely have a place (so long as six in a row is still an option).
ALL of the N55 cars are pretty cheap to buy at this point, no matter what body that motor is stuffed in. Because the price of entry is merely the downpayment, compared to the relatively anvil-like reliability of the n/a sixes of that era. To paraphrase an old friend – the N52s have minor issues, the N54/55s have major dilemmas, not helped by the fact that most owners seem completely unable to resist tuning the damned things and thus pulling the pin even further out of the grenade.
But the fact that BMW put the N55 in this but could not be bothered to put the N55 into the e91 wagon for the US (or the turbodiesel for that matter) is completely and utterly baffling. The Venn diagram of diesel lovers and wagon lovers is pretty much a perfect circle. And today, the ONLY way you can buy wagons from BMW and Audi in the US is as moah powah peak stupidity versions. Mercedes having ruined theirs a different way by Outbacking it.
But ultimately, I am still perfectly happy with the unicorn RWD/6spd stick e91 328i that I bordered new, and I would not have bought it with any other engine even if I could have.
Audi will still sell you an Allroad
If I wanted an Outback, I would buy a Subaru.
The wife did recently say she thought an X1 in the parking lot was cute…
X1s and X3s are for females…because BMWs and most german cars (maybe not a Amarok) have a female stereotype to them, from what I observe. An Escalade is more balanced…and rugged.