[quarantaseih]

Im currently renting a BMW with this gear selector.

In fairness, I throughly hate the car (an X1). Terrible lag, awful throttle response, terrible steering, unpredictable brakes, etc.

But the two candidates for worst feature of the car are

1. The gear selector 2. The indicator lights

Every time I have to engage one of the two I let out a little curse.

I driven stick shifts, autos, rear wheel drive cars, trucks, front wheel drive cars, uHaul trucks, and manual motorcycles.

Ive off-roaded in CA, driven through blizzards, Mediterranean traffic.

This is by far my most hated driving experience.

[simondotau]

Pretty much everything you’ve said is the exact opposite of my experience (BMW 1-series F20 125i).

Great throttle response, minimal turbo lag, precise steering, and highly controllable confidence inspiring brakes.

I can see why someone might not like the shifter and indicator stalk, but they simply haven’t been an issue for me. In fact there’s aspects of them which I prefer.

[smilekzs]

I have driven the X1 and various other BMWs. The X1 is indeed horrible, and there is a reason:

For handling / lateral dynamics: The X1 is derived from essentially a MINI platform which is FWD-based (transverse engine), compared to the rest of the BMW lineup which is RWD-based (longitudinal engine).

For power / longitudinal dynamics: If GP happened to be driving a 3-cylinder, then of course the turbo lag would be high. OTOH, the 4-cylinder B48 is a venerable engine with negligible lag (again used all across the BMW lineup).

[sgt]

Maybe throttle response/automatic transmission/turbo lag isn't completely predictable across the same models? That would be disturbing.

I know that for example turbodiesels (even newish ones) start off pretty snappy but then turbo lag and other lags creep in.

[sgt]

Does the car say at which factory it was built?