Pricing
So Much Fun To Drive
Just picked up the M35i in Storm Bay Metallic. It’s beautiful and powerful. Came out of a ‘21 X3 and this is so much more fun to drive with just slightly smaller cargo and interior space. The engine is powerful and the handling is great. Love the looks!!
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Pretty but very glitchy
I leased this car from BMW South Albany after one test drive, in May ‘24. I go a brand new one from the factory. I fully admit being suckered by looks and an initial fun drive HOWEVER the electronics are extremely glitchy across the board. Even after help from the tech guy who turned off the BMW system (terrible) so I could use Apple play without interference the sound comes and goes every few minutes and sometimes the reverse camera doesn’t come on. The whole system is also VERY complicated to use. A month in, while I was parked someone reversed into my new car causing what looked like minor damage to the front grille. I sat on it for a month more but BMW Albany said it could affect the sensors and I should get it fixed so .., The car has been in the shop for 2 weeks and it will be another month till the parts arrive. In the mean time I can’t drive my car but I am still making huge lease payments. I have to say this is a dire combo of crappy dealership and customer support from the greater organization of BMW. The other owner’s insurance is paying for a rental for me. It is a Toyota Camry. It’s a less fun ride but its electronics are totally glitch free and I don’t fear being locked out. Oh yes, that happened too…
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- xDrive28i 4dr SUVMSRP: $35,997
- M35i 4dr SUVMSRP: $49,591
- M35i 4dr SUVMSRP: $49,998
Bad Infotainment System !, update
I just purchased a new 2025 X2 and it has , by far, the WORST screen EVER ! The 'alleged genius' at BMW was very little help. Here are some things wrong : To get the remote start to work (which I did after multiple questions to AI) 1. Click Vehicle ( you must be on the right screen to see this) 2. Click climate control (two screens appear, neither is what you need) 3. Click the little gear in the lower right corner 4. on the next screen click the little gear in the lower left corner now you are where you can turn it on 5. click the on/off slider to turn remote start on 6. But wait ! you aren't through ! don't just click home, you must click the white 'OK' letters otherwise you are starting over. And then if you click the BMW symbol on your remote 3 times the remote start will start. Nothing really guides you there, without AI, I wouldn't have found it. AI had trouble too, it required multiple precisely worded questions. For satellite radio, you get big icons for categories. But if you want to add a station to a pre select there isn't a good solution: 1. you can add to 'Sirius XM favorites' 2. you can add it to you 'shortcuts' If you do number 1, the process is 1. Click Media 2. Click Sirius XM, scroll through the stations 3. press the selected item, them click add to Sirius XM favorites Then to listen to, click Media, Sirius XM, Sirius XM favorites, then scroll through the favorites and select your station. So you can click 4 buttons to get to one radio station If you 'add to your shortcuts' then you have to figure out how to get to your shortcuts, which isn't straight forward. You have to swipe down from the top center, but make sure you are on the right screen. The swipe down feature seems to disappear on different screens. Also: 1. the screen is full of worthless junk that you will probably never use. Like games, zoom for your car, the BMW store, etc. too many to list. 2. The screen appears to be designed like an iPad. The buttons are too small. If you were sitting at a desk it would be fine, but when driving you want to just glance at them, and you need bigger buttons for that. 3. You can’t get rid of , or even hide the worthless apps that you will never use and you can’t resize the buttons. 4, you have a big picture of the car in the center console, then a tiny little gas gage , lower left. and a tiny little temperature gage lower right. 5. I think the car uses Ultra wide band technology. Every time I walk by the car it unlocks. often, I'm not going anywhere, just walking by the car. I'm an Ex application developer, and I know it ie easy to make screens difficult, and more work to make them clear and simple to use. Maybe they put some rookies on the design team :) 08-14-2025 update. I’ve got a little bit more used to the infotainment system, i’ve had the car since February 2025 and I’ve had time to experience things a little more. The system will do quite a bit, but clearly it is plagued with bugs, and BMW seems to be pretty slow at fixing them. I did some research and I found: the iDrive 8.5 software is Linux based. The iDrive9 software is Android based. Both are still in use on different new BMW vehicles You can easily tell which one a BMW will have because the iDrive8.5 has a twist knob on the council for selecting different modes. The idrive9 is the ‘future’ ( allegedly). I suspect the I drive 8.5 is much more stable. One thing really annoying is that you have to click OK , acknowledging you will only use the infotainment system software when it is safe. This is every single time you get a vehicle and start it. I called them one time and said I think I’ve done this Maybe 800 times now, I think I’ve got it. Is there a way I could get out of clicking OK , and BMW told me you can’t. BMW did not have to do this. If you look at some of the other cars sold in America, they do not have this. I suspect BMW is doing this because they feel it will limit their liability. I think all they are really doing is annoying their customers. In the older 8.5 software you could get ‘Bimmer code from the App Store and disable or change settings.BMW has locked this down in the iDrive9 software so you can’t change it. As of right now, here here is how things are going: - my phone gets dropped from time to time and I have to re-add it - and when adding the phone I have to add Apple CarPlay again - if you have two phones, the system will get confused and not know which one to connect even if you identify one of them as the primary - the radio will come on by itself and stay on after you exit the vehicle and the only way you could get it to shut off is to lock the doors - if you get in the vehicle and your door doesn’t close good and you don’t put your seatbelt on then put the car in drive. The software will automatically put the car back in park and it will display a message in your dashboard that states the vehicle is ready to drive. you will see the message and think everything is OK and put the car and drive again in the same thing will happen. Granted you should have your seatbelt on and you should have your door closed good but maybe you’re just moving the car a few feet and it really isn’t necessary. They do display a message that tells you to put your seatbelt on, but if you happen to be looking out the window and not looking at the dashboard, the message will go away and then you will see the message that the vehicle is ready to drive. They really should give you a chance to look at a message before they change it. In fairness, I have to say that the Card drives and handles beautifully. But when you have to keep dealing with software problems, it kind of takes away the enjoyment ownership. I recently visited a friend in another state and he had a new GMC Acadia and the software in that vehicle made my BMW software look extremely crude. At times I think about giving the car a higher review for its driving capabilities, but having had to deal with so many software issues I sometimes wonder if it should be two stars instead of three. If you look at the used 2025 BMW X2’s at Edmunds, you will see some with extremely low miles on them. I saw one that had 12 miles and one had around 900 miles. I kind of wonder if those owners experienced some of the problems that I’ve been experiencing ? I’m used to dealing with software issues as an application developer, but I know it can be very frustrating.
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Too many features on the screen
Just about everything is on the screen which is distracting and a safety hazard. I wish there were more knobs and buttons. Plus, many of the on-screen features require several clicks which is also distracting. Other features I don't like: No back windshield wiper; can't adjust the height of the shoulder seat belt; car connects to phone as soon as you open the door and not when you start the car which is distracting when you're talking on your phone and open the car door, even just to put something in the car. Not the best car I've ever had. Can't wait for my lease to expire.
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