No one thinks about the things they’ll leave behind when they die. In my dad’s case, that included a BMW X1, the most pedestrian of luxury cars. It’s basically a more expensive version of a Subaru Outback — a stocky, subcompact SUV with a bit more trunk space than an average four-door sedan.
Inside, there’s not much to gawk at. It’s a base model X1, and lacks a few notable features that many other cars were built with in the mid 2010s. Namely: a backup camera and a built-in GPS. There’s no central display for maps or audio, as is present in my partner’s marshmallow-shaped Chevy Spark from the same era.
Don’t mistake this as a complaint, though. There’s nothing wrong with simplicity, and it’s certainly a nice car. It drives real smooth, has heated seats (the absolute best in the winter), and a neat little sunroof.
But to be honest, I’m not sure why my dad chose this BMW instead of the flashier, sportier models that the carmaker is known for. Or why he didn’t just buy a Subaru Outback, which would have likely been cheaper and provided more basic features.
Anyway, I’m not writing about my dad’s old car to criticize his choice of vehicle, or to ponder his motives for buying it. I’m writing about the X1 because today it’s my car, and it’s been a pain in the ass to take care of lately.
When the time came to divvy up my dad’s things in 2018, I was the only one in my immediate family in need of a car. My mom asked if I wanted to take the BMW back to school. Of course I said yes! Who am I to turn down a free vehicle?
It didn’t matter that the X1 is technically a luxury car (something that made me feel undoubtedly weird driving around campus as a college senior). It also didn’t matter that I didn’t have the finances to pamper the car like the BMW dealership seems to want you to do.
What did matter is that the car was, generally speaking, reliable. My dad had bought it used just a few years prior to his death, and it hadn’t presented any major issues. Mom promised to help if it catastrophically broke down and I had to take it in for repairs, since I didn’t have a full time job yet.
Having any car, much less one I didn’t have to pay a dime for, was infinitely better than having none. In 2018, I accepted an internship that required me to have access to a vehicle, so inheriting a car was a weird blessing in disguise. And eventually when I moved to the suburbs after graduating, driving became a necessary evil.
But as someone who’s not particularly into cars, I’ve always been a little nervous about caring for a BMW, which get notoriously finnicky as they age.
For those unfamiliar, BMWs are well known for their oil leaks and engine problems, among other part failures. I’ve had people tell me to get rid of the car by 100,000 miles, since that’s when the big problems start (like engine failure).
They’re also tricky to get serviced if you live anywhere outside a major city, since dealerships and independent BMW specialists can be few and far between. And when you do need to go in for repairs, spending thousands of dollars on parts and labor (but mostly parts) is not out of the ordinary.
In general, I’ve come to expect a major repair ($2000 or more) every 1.5-2 years. Last time, it was my brakes and rotors, which need to be replaced because I was a dumbass and kept driving on them even when they sounded weird. I think there was a random oil leak repair thrown on my tab as well.
Then a few weeks ago, my car started having trouble again. Which checks out, since it’s been about two years since the brake/rotor thing.
I knew something was wrong when I stepped onto our driveway on July 5 and there was a huge puddle dripping from the undercarriage. It looked like the car was pissing itself. When I bent down I smelled something sweet — coolant — which took about a week to dry up once I moved the car to a new spot.
We tried refilling the coolant bottle since maybe the leak wasn’t that bad and I could just keep filling it up and driving short distances. Nope! Anything we poured into the car immediately dripped out.
By this point I’d already been calling around to mechanic shops and seeing who was available. The one European car specialist in the entire county was booked until September. Thankfully, two other shops agreed to take a look, but with the caveat that they might not be able to fix it.
I booked two appointments with the available shops a week apart, just in case the first mechanic couldn’t do the repairs. Then, I planned out how I was going to get places without my car for an indefinite amount of time, which presented its own challenges.
The town I live in is thankfully large enough to have a bus system, and small enough to feel safe(ish) riding a bicycle. I took the bus into town the day I discovered the leak in my car, which was wise since the mechanic later told me it would not have been safe to drive in with zero coolant.
I ended up relying on public transit and my bicycle for three weeks, which was a bit weird. That probably sounds silly to everyone reading this who lives in a city, but taking public transit is not the norm in smaller towns (though honestly, it should be).
Not many people ride the bus here since almost everyone has a car, but it’s really a godsend when your options are limited. Plus, it’s just nice to not have to drive all the time. And the bus is literally faster than my car when it comes to getting downtown; the drivers really haul ass when there’s no one waiting at the stops.
The only downside is that the bus doesn’t go that far where I live, and there’s just a single route that runs through my neighborhood. And it only comes once per hour.
In the end I found myself eagerly waiting for my car to be fixed. To my surprise, mechanic #1 was able to fix the problem — a busted water pump and jammed thermostat. He told me it was really a project getting the thing fixed, since my car uses an electric water pump, which isn’t normal. Thanks, BMW.
One day I hope to have a more normal car, one that doesn’t require me to put thousands of dollars on my credit card every time something goes wrong. Or that requires me to call half the mechanics in town, hoping someone is able to fix it.
Don’t be surprised if you see me driving around in a Subaru Outback in a year or two after I find someone richer to buy my dad’s car. For now, I hope it’s enjoying that new water pump, and that it can stay reliable for a little while longer.