BMW X1 2013 Review - International

It’s more like a thick coat of moisturizer than a facelift, even though BMW insists there are a host of new bits scattered around the bodyshell.

Up front, a tweaked pair of lights squares off the X1’s face and there are slight changes to the air intake. Oh, and body-coloured bumpers are now standard.

There is, fortunately, more under the skin, including a new thumper of a diesel four-cylinder engine, while the family’s eight-speed automatic transmission has been swung in to provide more slickness and better economy.

There’s also a fiddle or two inside the cabin, but apart from the new, larger centre console, you’ll want to have your micrometer with you to find them.

Instead, it clumps purposefully down the same production line as the 3 Series and if you’re confused about the naming strategy, you’re not alone. The X3 ends up being based around the 5-Series and the X5 has close links to the 7 Series. In hindsight, BMW’s naming nerds might regret that but for now, X1 equals 3 Series family.

To diffuse the X1 nameplate even further, in Germany BMW now lets you buy a base X1 (which nobody much buys) with xLine (for a mildly off-road look), Sport Line or M Sport packages.

Those packs include a mix of LED headlights, sill protection and a lot of details that don’t make interesting reading, except if you work for BMW’s finance department.

Apart from that, you’ll see the car has picked up new, round foglights down in the bottom corners of its new three-intake nose and there it now has what BMW calls ‘apron inserts’ at both ends to make it look like it has underbody protection, even though it doesn’t have (or will ever be likely to need) underbody protection.

Automatic idle-stop has been included in the new package (even with the manual gearboxes) and, like all modern Bimmers, it regenerates electricity every time you coast or touch the brakes. And, if you look very closely, you’ll find that the side indicators have migrated up to the mirror housings.

There’s a better grade of plastic all over the dashboard (though it’s still not up to Audi levels) and the X1 also scores a glossy black surface treatment for its climate-control and audio fascias.

Oh, and while 17-inch wheels are standard fare across the board for the dizzying array of X1 models, there is finally a 19-inch wheel option for the bigger-engined models to top the 18-inch alloys it always had.

As for engines… There are a lot of them, though a lot of the lesser lights will get diverted to the $2.40/litre roads of Europe before they get to the boat marked “Australia”.

The range-topper is the X1 xDrive 28i, then there’s the X1 xDrive 20i and the X1 sDrive 20i (the two-wheel drive version of the same machine). Unlike almost anybody else who makes a two- and four-wheel drive version of the same SUV, BMW’s 2WD X1 is rear-drive, largely because it owes so much to its 3 Series roots.

The petrol motors are rounded out by the X1 sDrive 18i, which is the only non-turbo in the family.

If diesel is your preference, there’s the brilliant new X1 xDrive 25d awaiting you, though it won’t be cheap.

Like the petrol range, you can get the slower 20d in both AWD and rear-drive forms, along with an EfficientDynamics edition that’s big on fuel savings (it actually drop down to 4.5L/100km).

But that isn’t the bottom end of the range, because there are also AWD and RWD versions of the 18d, and there’s even a 16d on offer in Europe, though 11.5 seconds to 100km/h isn’t Sheer Driving Pleasure enough to pique BMW Australia’s interest.

As in most things BMW, it’s deceptively simple. Even with three nameplates, the petrol range has only two engines.

The biggest of these is 1997cc (2.0 litres, as far as most people are concerned), has direct fuel-injection, variable valve timing and lift and a single, twin-scroll turbocharger.

The smallest is 1995cc (again, 2.0 litres) and powers only the lowly 18i. This it does without the aid of a turbocharger and produces 110kW of power and 200Nm of torque, neither of which sounds impressive for a 1430kg sort-of-SUV.

It’s unlikely to be a starter for Australia, so don’t worry about its 9.7-second sprint to 100km/h or its 7.7L/100km fuel consumption.

But the (very) slightly bigger, turbo motor develops 135kW between 5000 and 6000rpm in both 20i variants (xDrive and sDrive) and 270Nm of torque. Critically, this torque peak arrives at just 1250rpm and hangs about until 4500rpm, so there is strength everywhere.

Both the six-speed manual and eight-speed automatic versions reach 100km/h in less than 10 seconds, though the rear-drivers are about 0.4 seconds quicker. The difference in weight between the two is only 90kg, so the speed differential is purely weight.

That lower weight (1485kg versus 1575kg) also makes the rear-driver more economical, posting 6.7 litres/100km as an automatic (6.9 as a manual), which tips the all-paw version by half a litre.

But the heavy-hitter is the 28i, though it’s really just a remapped version of the 20i. This is the same four-cylinder engine found in the 328i and replaces the classic in-line six, so it would want to produce the goods. BMW has much riding on it.

They’ve cranked 180kW of power from the 2.0-litre four from 5000-6000rpm and it punches 350Nm at 1250rpm, too.

This torque flat-lines for another 3550rpm on top of that, which helps with around-town gristle, while the flat-lining power peak delivers you to 100km/h in 6.1 seconds. Admirable pace, indeed. It does it without suffering much in the economy stakes, posting 7.2L/100km as an automatic (7.7 as a manual) and it also hits 240km/h.

It’s the same story with the diesel family, because the entire range of X1 badges, from 16d to 25d, uses basically the same 1995cc turbo-diesel engine.

The base 16d won’t come here (it delivers only 85kW and 260Nm), but the 18d is a chance, given that it has both rear- and all-wheel drive.

It also has 105kW of power and 320Nm of torque in a solid line, as all but the most powerful of the “larger” diesels do, from 1750rpm to 2750rpm. That also means, oddly, that the 20i and 28i petrol engines actually deliver their torque peaks earlier than the diesels. Modern electronic and turbocharger technology delivers counter-intuitive results sometimes.

The 18d twins both sneak under 10 seconds for the 0-100km/h dash and the rear-driver slips under 5.0L/100km, but it’s not the most economical.

That honour goes to the X1 sDrive 20d ED (Efficient Dynamics), which returns 4.5L/100km (and 119 grams of CO2/km) without sacrificing any torque. It still delivers 380Nm and it’s got a healthy 120kW of power, too, and will hit 100km/h in 8.3 seconds, but that’s not the point.

Instead, it uses changes to the programming for the throttle, the automatic transmission, the cruise control, the climate control, the seat heating and even the mirror heating to minimize energy use around the car whenever it can. Apart from arriving on the smallest wheels, it delivers quite a lot without asking for much.

All facelifted X1s actually get a new Eco Pro mode, which does much the same thing as the ED but to a lesser extent. Get all nature conscious and you need only flick the switch alongside the gear lever and you’re operating in Max Eco.

At 1490kg, the rear-drive 20d is both slightly quicker to 100km/h (7.8 seconds) and more economical (4.9L/100km) than the 85kg-heavier all-wheel drive version, though not by much.

The strongest of them all is the 25d. Though it’s also the heaviest (1585kg), it has the muscle to carry it. Its 160kW is only 20 shy of the 28i version, while the 28i is also the only X1 to get within 100Nm of its 450Nm at 1500rpm.

Still, it’s slower than the petrol 28i (6.8 seconds plays 6.1), even though it’s only 5kg heavier. It strikes gold at the pump, though, posting 5.5L/100km as an automatic.

There are other mechanical fiddles to the X1 besides their engines and the adoption of the eight-speed auto. The suspension has been retuned to offer better ride quality and there’s a less-darty version of the electro-mechanical steering system.

The X1 also attracted a lot of attention from the braking boffins, but mainly the software guys rather than the hardware guys. Besides ABS, it gets Corner Brake Control, Dynamic Brake Control, Dynamic Traction Control (which uses the brakes), Brake Assist, Brake Fade Compensation and a Brake Drying Function.

Choose a 20i engine or stronger and you also get a Brake Standby Function and a hill-holder, and there’s an optional Brake Performance Control. And at the heart of all of that is still a single-piston brake caliper.

Instead, the X1 makes its play for practicality honours with a 40:20:40-split folding rear seat that can also be folded in 10 steps from almost vertical to 31 degrees. And laid flat, if need be. With the seat in the normal position, the X1 has 420 litres of space, or 1350 with the seats dropped flat. Other than that, it’s more or less unchanged.

Internally, the promise of a 3 Series Touring on the horizon has surely forced some customers to ask difficult questions and the bottom end of the X3 range isn’t so far away that it’s out of the question. Especially for those looking at the middle-to-upper engines.

Then there are the outside sources. Audi’s Q3 has the (other) Bavarians fretting. It (and its Q5 sibling) is comprehensively out-selling the X1 and the X3 in Europe and promises to do the same wherever they meet.

The Q3 is newer, less-controversial looking, more practical and premium inside and its diesels are smoother.
Mercedes-Benz, too, has a contender for the X1, but has chosen to make the GLK in left-hand drive form only, so Australia is among the countries that will never know if it’s a match for the X1 or if it’s more of an X3 rival. That will change when the next-generation GLK arrives in a few years, before which time Benz will also offer a bona-fide compact SUV: the all-new GLA. 

There’s not a Japanese or Korean car company around that doesn’t have something this size lurking in a showroom, either, and there’s also Land Rover’s Freelander II and Range Rover Evoque – Australia’s top-selling luxury SUV.

The seats are also improved, though they still pinch a bit on the upper torso, while the rear seats are surprisingly comfortable.
We only had a 25d to play with and there’s no questioning its preferred energy source when you fire it up. Even at low rpm and light throttle, the 2.0-litre four is very clearly a diesel.

Yet it’s a diesel in sound - more than vibration or harshness - and it’s not bad in any area, but Audi has set a very high bar for diesel power and the X1 doesn’t quite clear it.

That sound never really goes away at any point in its rev range and it’s only a not-insignificant amount of wind noise around the A-pillars that finally silences it, leaving full-throttle as the only position to hear it intrusively above about 80km/h.

It’s stupidly strong at low to middle rpm, though, and all that torque means it’s never in the wrong gear, even if the eight-speeder is too clever to easily catch doing the wrong thing anyway.

The strength of the engine is both impressive and all-pervading. It jumps off at any thought of throttle input and makes city traffic a doddle. It’s also pretty handy at overtaking on the autobahn, feeling stable and strong all the way to 230km/h.

It’s not hard to convince it to deliver good economy, either, and while it will doubtless be expensive in Australia the X1 25d mounts convincing arguments for consideration.

Less convincing is the chassis. Somehow the electro-mechanical steering lacks customary abilities to self-centre, which can leave it feeling quite pointy and even a little darty on the highway.

The need to save fuel has led BMW down this path and while it’s had more experience of these steering systems than most, it has not yet perfected the art and, in the X1 at least, it doesn’t deliver the intimate driving feel BMW’s best hydraulic systems used to.

The X1’s taut body control tries to make up for it, but something about its suspension makes the X1 feel demonstrably heavier than it is, which helps its ride and makes it feel a very different car to its predecessor – far more so than its on-paper changes suggest.

It’s a machine designed to feel halfway between a traditional SUV and a sedan/wagon, and that’s how it feels on the road. It nicely soaks up bumps that are big enough to unsettle a sedan but controls its bodyroll far better than a full-house SUV.

There are many more X1 variants to try, of course, and we’ll get to them, but in the meantime the X1 xDrive 25d gets a very solid pass mark.

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