Munich, Germany - 2 October 2019 - BMW’s X1 has proven to be a hit in our home country, and has now gone through a midlife revamp, or what BMW would officially call a ‘Life Cycle Impulse’ (LCI).

Picture: Barry Hayden

Their entry-level SUV (SAV in BMW talk) gets a much-needed refresh in styling, and is easily identified from the front end by the omission of its round fog lamp assemblies on the bumper; where BMW have instead tucked them neatly into the intakes. A re-styled signature kidney grille is now a one-piece affair, while its new headlamps, which feature hexagonal LED daytime running lights, are topped off by “eyebrow” style turn signal lamps.

Picture: Barry Hayden

In keeping with BMW’s current design language, its tail lamps have been redesigned, with the introduction of fin-shaped LED brake lamps. Tweaks to the rear bumper inlay, which is now body coloured, and larger tailpipes, keeps the X1’s styling fresh.

Picture: Barry Hayden

Three new colours have also been added to their palette, Jucaro Beige, Storm Bay and a personal favourite of mine for the X1, Misano Blue.

Picture: Barry Hayden

Interior tweaks include a new instrument cluster,with up to six colour themes, which is also found in its sister car, the X2, while a 10.25” infotainment display sits proud upon the dash… sorry friends still no gesture control.

The lower half of the dash also gets visually-appealing double stitching. USB C ports are also now available alongside USB A ones.

Picture: Barry Hayden

With its east-west mounted engine, there is less intrusion from the engine bay into the cabin; making the X1 quite a well-packaged vehicle; offering sufficient legroom for both front and rear passengers. Front seats offer up a good amount of support (thigh support cushions included), while those at the rear can be slid forward up to 12cm in 60:40 style for greater passenger and cargo holding flexibility. The addition of an electrical tailgate adds a little more convenience during loading and unloading. You get 505 litres of cargo space, and with the rear 40:20:40 style rear seatbacks folded down, cargo room goes up to 1,550 litres.

Taking the X1 for a shakedown through some lovely B Bavarian roads, shows promise of an engaging everyday drive; with a good deal of grip from those Pirelli P Zeros on our test cars.

Picture: Barry Hayden

Singapore will get only the FWD models, in two engine options, the sDrive18i, utilises their 1.5 litre turbocharged 3-cylinder unit, good for 140hp, 220Nm and a 100km/h sprint timing of 9.7 seconds; while the higher-spec sDrive20i M Sport model is equipped with a 2.0 turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. Power and torque figures are 192hp and 280Nm respective, and does 100km/h in 7.6 seconds. Sadly we will not see any diesel models on our shores, as I personally like the xDrive 25d.

Well...
Right about now… the funk soul brother…

Friday it is!

Prices begin at $171,888 for the “foot-through-the-door” sDrive18i model, and for $10,000 more, you get the same car with xLine trim. Both sDrive models unfortunately suffer from a $10,000 VES penalty.

Add another $1,000 to the latter, and you will be rewarded with more shove, with the sDrive20i model, which has been awarded neutral VES ‘B’ banding.

BMW X1 sDrive18i, VES C1, $171,888
BMW X1 sDrive18i xLine, VES C1, $181,888
BMW X1 sDrive20i M Sport, VES B, $182,888

#BMW #X1 #BMWX1 #UKL2 #Cars #Autos

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