Preview: BMW X1 aimed at lively segment
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The BMW X1, shown with mandatory camouflage, will likely get the 3 L six-cylinder gasoline engine, with hopes for a diesel. It debuts in Europe in 2010.
MALLORCA, Spain–If there is a market segment that is relatively warm in today's otherwise cold-as-ice car market, it would be compact SUVs.
Customers still seem to want the utility and supposed image such vehicles convey, but are reluctant to buy anything much bigger than a breadbox for fear of the fuel bills.
Why they don't just buy compact station wagons beats me.
But the customer is always right even when the customer is wrong.
BMW has been quite successful mining this lode, with the large X5 and the smaller X3. (Smaller outside, anyway: when it was launched, the X3 actually had more cargo space than its big brother.)
But the Bavarian carmaker feels there is another vein just a trifle down the size chart.
Hence the X1, which will debut in Europe next year, and in North America later in that year or in early 2011.
Thus, June 2009 is very early for the first press drives, so early that the photos that were taken on our behalf (we were not allowed to shoot the car ourselves) show the vehicles in semi-camouflaged form.
The motivation for the sneak preview seems to have come from Heinz Krusche, head of "driving and functional assessment for BMW passenger vehicles." Rather than keep such developments secret, he felt it better to let the press know what BMW was up to, so the stories could get out and public interest piqued well in advance.
So he spoke with Andreas Lampka, the PR manager for all BMW "X" (i.e., four-wheel drive) models, and here we are.
It was a somewhat restricted test program, mainly held on a private estate in the eastern half of this Mediterranean island. Largely on dirt, some mud, some gravel, with a bit of paved highway tossed in, we scrambled up a twisty road to the summit of a small mountain.
The idea was to demonstrate the flexibility of the vehicle, and its go-almost-anywhere capability.
I say "almost'' because the X1 is not intended as a pure off-roader – its ground clearance is marginally greater than a 3-series Touring (station wagon) but less than the X3 – so no real rock-climbing capability here.
Instead, the objective was to show how the X1 offers space and utility, combined with genuine BMW driving dynamics – comfortable ride and sporty, rear-drive-biased handling, despite the full-time four-wheel drive – and the ability to handle rough cottage roads, winter trips to the ski hills, and other traction-limited conditions that its typical owner might face.
Calling it an X1 is a bit of a misnomer size-wise anyway; X2 might be closer. It is fractionally shorter overall than the 3 Touring, but taller and wider.
The doors are reasonably big for ease of access, even in the back (not a strength of the other X cars).
Package-wise, height is the free dimension; the seats are nicely up off the floor, so a comfortable seating position is available even with limited legroom.
The cargo hold isn't huge, but it is rectangular, hence easily packed. The three-way split-folding rear seatback offers several cargo configurations.
X1 will be aimed at the young suburban family that needs space for kiddie car seats, strollers and the like, yet they still want a traditional sporty BMW driving feel.
Want a traditional BMW feel? Start with traditional BMW mechanical bits.
Most of the suspension, drivetrain and the xDrive intelligent four-wheel drive system are adapted from the 3-series.
The engines in the European market will include a 2.0-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder in two states of tune, and a 3.0-litre gasoline in-line six. A four-cylinder gasoline option is also in the works.
The North American engine lineup hasn't been determined – or at least they aren't telling us yet – but the 3 L six is a sure thing.
I do hope they bring in at least the stronger of the two diesels though. My test car was thus equipped, and it's a gem. Quick, torquey, quiet, fuel-efficient and a CO2 champion. What's not to like?
It was fitted with a six-speed automatic transmission with manual override capability, a feature you're probably more likely to use if you do take the vehicle into more challenging topography than when just booting around town.
It shifts beautifully. Too bad then that they get the steering wheel shift controls wrong. Instead of "right to upshift/left to downshift," the way God in her wisdom intended, either button can perform either task, either by pushing on it (I find the fleshy part of the palm at the base of the thumb gets this task) or pulling back on it with the fingers. Needlessly confusing.
The challenge with four-wheel drive is that it promotes understeer – go into a corner too quickly and the car tends to plow straight off the road.
Or, as the Germans say, if you see the tree, that's understeer. If you hear the tree, that's oversteer – the back end has spun out.
The xDrive system has been calibrated so that under normal circumstances, about 60 per cent of the torque is directed to the rear wheels.
Less torque to the fronts means greater steering precision – the front tires don't have to work as hard generating traction, so they can focus on direction change.
If the Directional Stability Control system detects wheelspin at either end, torque is shunted to the other axle.
If DSC detects understeer, a relatively new feature called Performance Control applies brake pressure to the inside rear wheel, i.e., the right rear in a right-hand bend, to help pivot the car on its vertical axis and around the corner.
Krusche, the driving and functional assessment boss, admits that again, "Performance Control'' is a misnomer, because it is a handling system, not a go-faster thing.
You can dial down the DSC to so-called Dynamic Traction Control mode, which allows greater degrees of hooliganism before the nanny systems kick in.
Or you can shut it off altogether if you're feeling brave (or silly).
A corollary benefit to the electronic chassis aids is that the requisite degree of handling can be attained without overly stiffening the suspension.
This is the main problem on the X3: when it was developed, the sophistication level of the electronics wasn't sufficiently advanced, and the suspension boffins had to stiffen the springs up to eliminate a propensity for the tall narrow vehicle to roll over in emergency avoidance manoeuvres. That left it with its characteristic wooden ride.
The X1 by contrast has long suspension travel, relatively soft springs front and rear, and uses tuned bump stops to create a degree of progressive spring rate.
Hence, the X1 rides very well, yet is surprisingly chuckable for a four-wheel drive, with communicative steering and nimble cornering.
In other words, a true BMW.
All this of course, as best we could determine in a short evaluation, and without direct back-to-back comparison with other contenders in the class, which include the Volkswagen Tiguan, Toyota RAV4, and a handful of entries we don't get back home – yet anyway – like Ford's stylish Focus-based Kuga.
On the twisty mountain road, however, I happened to be directly behind Krusche, me in an X1, he in an X3. All BMW suspension engineers are outstanding drivers themselves, and I could easily see how hard he was working in that car to maintain the pace that was easily attainable in the X1.
The other suspension engineers on this program including Sebastian Sauerbrei, my shotgun rider, noted that the 3-series Touring would still be the ultimate sporty ride, thanks to the latter's lighter weight and lower centre of gravity, especially when equipped with that oh-so-heavy glass sunroof located way up there.
Again, I would agree. The 3-series Touring is one of the best all-round cars you can buy.
Trouble is, you won't buy it.
Pricing for the X1 won't be announced until much closer to the intro date.
Looking at the European roster, however, we can make an educated guess.
At around 30,000 euros ($46,000 Canadian), the X1 sits well under the X3's 35,600 euros ($55,100 Canadian).
But at the moment, the X3 starts at $45,300.
My guess is that the new X3, which will come along in 2011, will be significantly larger than the current one, and will therefore be able to carry a higher price tag, allowing the X1 to slide in roughly where the X3 is now – maybe a bit lower, depending on the standard equipment level BMW Canada chooses.
By comparison, the 3-series Touring starts at $44,100, but I think I won't convince many of you.
All that said, it's probably safe to say that the X1 captures the true spirit of BMW better than either of its larger, more expensive X-brothers.
Travel was provided to freelance writer Jim Kenzie by the automaker. jim@jimkenzie.com
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