We recently attended the official media launch of the BMW X1 and what a launch it was indeed. It’s hard to believe but the new BMW X1 looks like it had to take a step-in school back in-order to move 5 steps forward to fully graduate into its own shadow – in a BIG way. As it stands, the previous generation X1 has had a good history in South Africa but the new one feels like it had to grow up into its ‘own car’.
The first noticeable change the X1 has to be the sheer size of it – a few spots in the ‘gym’ has seen the model bulk up in size, to such a point where I felt like I was in an X3, except that I was not. “I am driving an X1” – that’s the constant reminder I had to keep recalling as we cruised through various Joburg landmarks.
The cabin felt very comfortable throughout the drive, even through the raised seating that made visibility all that better, and the cabin space can never be a concern at any stage. The seating position gave the rear occupants ample room to move about and the ability for the rear seats to fold down fully meant more room to haul more goods in the back.
Pit stop into Muldersdrift and one had to truly appreciate the BMW X1 for what it is, a functional ‘mid-sized’ SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle) which won’t give you any headaches should you decide to throw your sporting equipment through the 540L boot.
The bigger size in the car means that there is more ground clearance to work with, should one decide to take a short-left in the Drakensburg instead of sticking to the urban jungle. Mark my words in that the car does make a statement on the road; through the expressively sculptured bodylines and a long roofline to the overall dynamically stretched silhouette of the vehicle. One can stack on the striking LED lights and flared wheel arches and the math all adds up as to this winning formula.
The driving feels a tad under-powered though, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. The is a lack when one puts their foot down and it feels like the three-cylinder 115kW petrol engine is still deciding on whether to pump out more power as a result. The 110kW diesel engine was more responsive though, but it still felt like it needed to squeeze a bit more power out of the four-cylinder engine. However, I don’t imagine anyone drag racing these cars through a shopping mall anytime soon – mind they are not slow by any accounts. The lack of power is not all that bad though, it just means that fuel economy is relative good with the petrol variant averaging an acclaimed 6.5L/100KM and the diesel hitting around 5L/100KM in its 54L fuel tank.
The BMW X1 will only be available in a 118i and 118d. Unfortunately, we will not be seeing the 120 on our SA streets but the 118 will pave the way for the release of the iX1 xDrive30e, an all-electric variation of the X1(more details to follow soon).
We are really looking forward to spending more time behind the wheel of this car and we hope it graces our garage in the near future for a more extensive look into it. But for now, it seems like BMW has ticked off the right boxes off the list and made a noticeable upgrade to a car that really needed to be its own and make its own mark in our motoring industry.
Recommended retail price (including VAT and CO2 tax):
| BMW X1 sDrive18i | BMW X1 sDrive18d | |
| xLine | R753,045.40 | R790,616.60 |
| M Sport package | R793,045.40 | R830,616.60 |
