Diesel ballyhoo in a BMW is like watching Bullit to the tunes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. In added words, abominable and actionable in 48 states. And yet, active BMW’s fresh X1 is a decidedly John Deere-like experience. Is this a BMW or the ultimate agronomical machine? Maybe this array of abashing is the X1’s affliction problem.
In this day and age, BMW’s character crisis justifies a cerebral hotline. Ever aback Mercedes exhausted BMW in defining the midsize-luxury-SUV articulation with its acknowledged ML, the Bavarian automaker is accepting a break all-overs of sorts, antagonism to actualize fresh and added eyebrow-raising niches. The X3 may accept invented the premium-compact SUV, but the X6 and the contempo 5 GT accept been aggravating to acknowledgment questions no one absolutely asked.
You’d apprehend the X1’s classification to announce its roots lie in the bunched 1 series, but the X1 is absolutely a chopped 3 alternation Touring (same wheelbase, altered all-embracing length), which makes the X3 the animal duckling of the BMW family. Big-ticket and outdated, the X3 is beneath than 5 inches best than the fresh X1, acceptation the abutting bearing of the sandwich adolescent of the X alternation will accept to get a austere bang in admeasurement and kit to absolve the amount access over its babyish brother. When it does – acceptable in 2011 – the X1 will additionally access stateside.
The exoteric of the X1 is about as abashed as its identity. Up front, the X-junior bears BMW’s fresh cocked branch grill. Coupled with the annular bonanza from the 1 series, the aftereffect isn’t absolutely airedale – but absolutely polarizing. The aback is afflicted by the 5 GT, with an astonishing affinity to the E32 7 series, but the way the X1’s architecture elements affix is what makes it a bit of an odd bird. The accommodation are strange, and they aren’t helped by the contour band across-the-board from the advanced to the aback – which is handsome on the fresh 5 series, but feels active on the bunched auto that the X1 fundamentally is.
Thankfully, the X1 still provides at atomic some amount BMW experience. The seats are adequate and grippy, and the thick, neatly stitched council caster avalanche calmly into the driver’s hands. The active position is additionally abundant afterpiece to a accepted car than a authentic crossover – so that admirers of the brand may be a little disappointed.
The blow of the berth gets the basics right: aggregate in eye-level is adequately adorable to the eye and touch, but as you go bottomward you will ascertain chiffon plastics not aces of a car of this caliber. There’s annihilation actuality to accomplish you feel decidedly luxurious, and the accepted architecture of the berth is a little addled – alike BMW’s signature gearlever is replaced by a run of the comminute stick. Annoyingly, there isn’t alike a able armrest.
The newest affiliate of the X alternation does, however, get the practicalities right. Four cartage will be adequate and so will their baggage – a huge advance over the awkward 1 series. At about 15 cubic feet, the X1’s block is abate than the accepted 3 series’. It is, however, decidedly added adequate to load, acknowledgment to the applied allowances of the rear bear and the hardly aloft ride height.
Call me mad, but I’ve absolutely taken the baby-X to some balmy offroading, and imminently authentic that the X1 – and its big-ticket attractive bumpers in authentic – is allergic to as abundant as abstinent potholes. And unless you don’t alive in a country as brilliant as mine, you absolutely don’t charge xDrive – BMW allege for 4 caster drive – the car’s basal approval will apparently absolute it abundant quicker than betraying mud will.
The X1’s accustomed abode is the road, area it offers a acceptable (but mixed) experience. The ride is bad. Blame BMW’s admired low contour runflat tires for that. In moderately apathetic active the X1 feels aflutter and crashes on accessory city imperfections, while in college speeds and adulate anchorage the acquaintance improves decidedly – wind and annoy noises are kept at bay, too.
Other than that, the X1 drives like a BMW should, with beefy hydraulically-assisted council that’s not to anyone’s affection – abnormally not in boondocks and during parking maneuvers. Thankfully, it’s additionally authentic and communicative, abundantly accidental to a active acquaintance that’s actual abutting to its alley focused sibling. Body cycle is basal and the brakes are excellent, both in pedal feel and chaw retention. The well-praised six acceleration ZF gearbox is well-praised actuality too, with a bland and absolute action, but tap-shifters are hardly absent for active driving.
The agent is a alloyed bag too. With 177 anchor application on tap, it won’t set this BMW’s tires afire (or break them, for that matter), but 258 lb-ft of torque accept their way of accepting this crossover to 60 in about 8.5 abnormal on paper. Off paper, it feels quicker already the turbocharger bliss in at about 1,500 RPM. But again there’s that John Deere character issue. The agent clatter, which is able-bodied silenced in the blow of BMW’s diesel-sipping offerings, is present not alone while the agent is cold, but additionally during abstinent accelerations, about never absolution you balloon it’s bottomward there, and it won’t booty approved unleaded after a fight.
Casting a adjudication on the BMW X1 isn’t a “good car, bad car” activity as with best cars, because you accept to put it in context, and appropriate now you can’t. BMW appetite us to accept that their newest crossover is the aperture attempt in a fresh and active articulation which will be busy by the accessible Audi Q3 and Land Rover LRX, but as of the present, the X1 can’t be readily compared to any agent on the market.
Even added confusingly, the X1 isn’t a bad car – it handles able-bodied and has some applied edges. The downsides – a characterless cabin, capricious ride abundance with the banal runflat tires, and blatant agent – abode it afterpiece to the 1 alternation in the BMW affection hierarchy. In the end, it all boils bottomward to pricing. UK appraisement of the X1 abode it abutting in amount to an appropriately able 3 alternation sedan, but decidedly cheaper than the added ample 3 alternation touring.
In this amount ambit the X1 can accomplish faculty for bodies attractive for added acumen and aloft ride height, who are accommodating to cede some clarification and berth quality. But it additionally comes boss abutting in amount to the beyond Audi Q5, which makes me wonder: is there absolutely a abode for addition sub-niche in the alcove of the century?
