BMW X1 facelift unveiled

BMW has revealed its upgraded X1 range overnight, but the crossover SUV isn't due for a full-on launch to the international media until next month.

Following that, according to BMW's local Head of Corporate Communications, Piers Scott, the new X1 is due in Australia in the third quarter or possibly early in the fourth quarter of this year.

Highlights of the new model include the migration from petrol six to TwinPower fours and the introduction of an eight-speed automatic transmission in lieu of the six-speed unit available in the current model range. In addition, the X1 update will feature auto-stop/start, brake energy recovery and BMW's ECO PRO facility. And the X1 will follow the trail blazed by the latest 1 and 3 Series model ranges, offering different trim levels to suit the personal tastes of the buyer.

A selection of three petrol and five diesel engines will be on hand to power the X1. Spec details are scant at present, but BMW has provided one example of the enhanced fuel efficiency of the new X1 range. The X1 sDrive20d was previously rated at 5.3L/100km in (ADR 81/02) combined-cycle fuel consumption, but the international press material reveals that the new variant will achieve as low as 4.5L/100km in NEDC testing. That figure is comparable to the sort of consumption figures possible from hybrids and is clearly possible through the fuel-saving tweaks BMW is set to introduce to the new model.

In the UK market the X1 will be limited to diesel powerplants only. Piers Scott says that is not a path BMW Australia will be taking.

"I would say that there's still room for at least one, possibly two petrol variants in our market; just given that our preference for diesel is not quite as strong as that of the UK," he told motoring.com.au this morning.

BMW's latest brochure for the current X1 (based on the company's March production), shows that the X1 xDrive25i variant, powered by a petrol six, has been quietly ditched from the company's local line-up. This is the car likely to be replaced by a TwinPower four-cylinder variant, if BMW feels there's still a need for a car to fill that gap. That's undecided for the moment, it seems, but we definitely won't be getting the higher-performance flagship of the X1 range when the SUV launches for the first time in the US.

"I believe there is a 35i being offered in the States and I can safely rule that out for our market," Scott said. "We wouldn't be getting that model. But there could be potential for... our N20 engine in 28i format — so four-cylinder petrol, but in the 180kW version. There could be potential for that here."

The 35i variant would be encroaching on X3's turf, Scott explained. And BMW has a policy of keeping clear air between the pricing of a flagship in a downmarket range and that of the range immediately above.

"It's not so much that they would cannibalise sales," he said, "it's more the fact that when you get up into a 35i variant you're starting to overlap, pricewise, with the X3 models. And that's something we try not to do: have the price ladders significantly overlapping."

It's unlikely that a top-spec X1 would snatch sales away from the X3, he added, because "the customer base of the two different vehicles is very different".

"In terms of X1, we have customers coming out of a vast array of different vehicles and marques. For us, as a conquest car it is our most successful, in the sense that more than 50 per cent of people buying the X1 haven't owned a BMW before. They tend to come out of compact sedans and, in some cases, hatchbacks; they like a car that is very manoeuvrable and practical in an urban environment, without much need of offroad or rugged lifestyle capability.

"In the case of X3, you're looking at a car that has far greater offroad and lifestyle capability, a higher ride height — and people are usually looking for that to meet their needs as a primary family vehicle, or at least something that they can look at for longer journeys and a more active lifestyle."

Scott doesn't expect pricing of the revised X1 to move very far from current levels, but it's really too early to tell, with the car's local launch still some months away.

"I certainly wouldn't be expecting major changes... I know that the product guys are in the discussion with Munich, literally as we speak. You could safely say we wouldn't expect pricing to move much, especially in light of how competitive that compact premium SUV segment is..."

BMW's Chinese plant at Tiexi, in Shenyang province is currently ramping up for production of the new X1. What is the likelihood BMW Australia will source Aussie-spec vehicles from there? Not very strong, it seems.

"I think I would categorically rule that out... I'm 99.9 per cent certain that our vehicles will still come from Europe," said Scott.

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