Those of you looking to snap up a compact yet sporting SUV in the not too distant future might be interested to hear that BMW recently rolled out their brand new X1. Lighter and smaller than that geometric malady known as the X3, this latest addition to BMW’s otherwise successful X line of vehicles has been fettled to attract the attention of the world’s younger and more trendy road warriors. The Wheel Deal took it for a drive was left mightily impressed by its combination of style, performance and savvy tech.

Exterior

While the X5 comes across all cocky and arrogant and the X3, well, just darn right ugly, I think the bold new shape of the X1 is considerably easier on the eye. Slightly reminiscent of the chunky 1 Series Hatch and Coupé, this youngest member of BMW’s X generation intrigues your peepers with its bullish nose, upright intake grille and two sharply defined shoulder lines. Complemented by the firm’s trademark short overhangs and four almost square wheel arches, the overall design of the X1 should – in my mind at least – certainly tick all the image boxes of the people BMW want to garage this car, namely overpaid up-and-comings who have a penchant for True Religion jeans, designer coffee shops and adventure sports.

Questionably the most aesthetically pleasing of all the current X models, the X1 also sports a drag coefficient Cd of just 0.32 – one of the best in its class. Finally, too keep the most ardent of hipsters happy, an optional BMW X Line design kit can be fitted that comprises of silver-painted inserts on the front and rear bumpers finished in body colour, as well as on the side-sills, and a painted crossbar subdividing the lower air intake. Those keen for more personalization can finish their roof railing in black matt of eloxy silver.

Interior

Like most of the cars in BMW’s model lineup, the interior of the new X1 is beautifully made and extremely well put together. Switchgear ergonomics are top notch too as the designers have kept the amount of knobs and buttons down to the absolute minimum. Even cooler is the fact that this user-friendly driving environment can be further streamlined with the fitment of the firm’s optional iDrive control system. Hooked-up to a glossy Control Display that gets shoehorned into the centre of that flowing dashboard, this stellar interface operates with an Apple-like degree of slickness and puts all the most important cabin controls at your fingertips – definitely worth speccing.

Functionality aside, the X1 also benefits from a driver-focused cockpit that makes you feel considerably more involved when you finally push the start/stop button, fire up the engine and head on down the road untravelled. Heightened by the addition of a small-diameter leather steering wheel and body-hugging sports seats, the BMW X1 is a great machine to spend time in. Decked out as standard in Elektra cloth upholstery, you can chose to funk up the innards of your X1 with either the jazzier Median cloth or vastly more luxurious Nevada leather. And, like its exterior, this Beemer’s interior can be customised with no less than seven trim and five trim-bar colour options.

Space wise, the X1 delivers 490-litres of boot space with the back seats up and a pretty sizeable 1350-litres once they’ve been fully folded down. On the music side of things, audiophiles will be pleased to hear that this BMW comes standard with a six-speaker sound system that features a single CD frontloader and an auxiliary-in jack for connecting Mp3 players or iPods. Our launch cars all came kitted out with the optional harman/kardon Surround Sound System that, courtesy of those centrally mounted subwoofers, thrills your ears with impeccable bass delivery. It also adds a USB port that lets you to control your third-party music device via iDrive.

Power

BMW has a reputation for fashioning some really trick powerplants, so it’s no surprise that the ones bolted into the X1 all dish out a tasty helping of performance and all-round frugality. In the South African market we’ll be receiving two engine derivatives, namely a two-litre turbodiesel in both the sDrive20d and xDrive20d versions, as well as a peppy new two-litre twin-turbodiesel that’s already debuted in the 123d Coupé overseas. Both units feature all-aluminium crankcases, common-rail direct injection and, for the first time in our local BMWs, Automatic Stop/Start Technology that cuts the engine out whenever you come to a standstill at traffic lights or stop streets. See the Fast Facts box below for exact power, torque and economy figures.

Drivetrain

Okay, this is where I’ll help you make sense of the really long and confusing X1 model names. First up you get the sDrive20d that comes standard with a six-speed manual gearbox and rear wheel drive. Then you get the xDrive20d that keeps the exact same gearbox but trades up to BMW’s new intelligent all-wheel drive. Constantly varying the distribution of power between the front and rear wheels to suit the current road conditions, this innovative system also comes standard on the range-topping xDrive23d that, unlike its lesser brethrens, comes standard with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Driving Experience

On the day of the launch I got to roar around the scenic countryside that surrounds Leipzig in the all-wheel drive xDrive20d. Quickly able to get comfortable behind the wheel – yes, BMW really has done an excellent job in terms of honing this machine’s driving position – I found both these models displayed a considerable amount of drivability and attacked the coiling German black-top with a surprising amount of gusto. For even though you’re sitting reasonably high off the ground in what BMW like to call “a semi-command seating position,” the X1 behaves a lot more like a sporty estate than a SUV. A lot of this has to do with the firmly sprung suspension set-up that quells bodyroll and makes the X1 rather good at carving through the twisties. Unfortunately it causes the quality of the BMW’s ride to suffer, with lumpy sections of tarmac becoming something of a body-rocking affair. Now although the X1 can get away with this on generally pristine German tarmac, I think it’ll be a much more serious issue on our fabulously ill-maintained road networks.

An esteemed handler, the X1 also pleases with its finally tuned steering that – using hydraulic power assistance rather than the newer electronic set-up – transmits an enlightening amount of feedback through to your fingertips and allows you to position the X1 with a resounding level of accuracy. Blown by a single turbocharger, the two-litre diesel lump under the X1’s bonnet provides more than enough urge for anyone’s day-to-day driving needs. Comfortable and relaxed out on the autobahn, it also twists out a useful slug of low-down torque that really comes in handy when you’re darting around more challenging landscapes. It’s definitely no rocket ship – plumb for the xDrive23d if you’re after that – but it suits the X1’s character and delivers impressive fuel economy figures when you drive considerately.

When it comes to the subject of cog swapping, well, you really can’t go wrong with either the six-speed manual or Steptronic automatic. The latter is a gem of a transmission and, what with those paddle shifters on the steering wheel, gives you the best of both worlds; definitely the ‘box I’d go for in my X1.

Final Word

Although I spent just a few short hours with the BMW X1, I walked away feeling properly convinced about its capabilities. It’s certainly not a proper off-roader in the traditional sense – there’s no low range gearing or even near enough ground clearance for that – but as a trendy cross-over vehicle that’s good to drive and able to carry a lot of stuff, it really hits the spot. I also think that, in terms of overall design, the X1 is the most successful X vehicle to be launched by BMW and will definitely find favour with those who didn’t give the X3 a second glance. Available in SA from the second quarter of 2010, the X1 is definitely worth holding on for if you’re planning on bagging yourself an SUV that offers a lot of badge status and sportiness.

BMW X1 Fast Facts:

sDrive20d

Engine: 1995cc turbodiesel

Power: 130kw at 4000rpm

Torque: 350Nm from 1750 – 3000rpm

0-100km/h: 8.1 seconds

Top Speed: 205km/h

Fuel Consumption: 5.3l/100km (claimed combined)

CO2: 139 g/km

xDrive20d

Engine: 1995cc turbodiesel

Power: 130kw at 4000rpm

Torque: 350Nm from 1750 – 3000rpm

0-100km/h: 8.4 seconds

Top Speed: 205km/h

Fuel Consumption: 5.8l/100km (claimed combined)

CO2: 153 g/km

xDrive23d

Engine: 1995cc twin-turbodiesel

Power: 150kw at 4400rpm

Torque: 400Nm from 2000 – 2250rpm

0-100km/h: 7.3 seconds

Top Speed: 205km/h

Fuel Consumption: 6.3l/100km (claimed combined)

CO2: 167 g/km