You won't see many X1s doing this
These are the first official images of the new BMW X1, the company's fourth model in its X-series SUV line-up, which hits UK showrooms this October.
Even though it looks like the offspring of a 7-series, 3-series and an X3 (if that's possible), we think - dare we say it - that the new BMW X1 doesn't actually look too bad.
BMW says that "through its body design the BMW X1 demonstrates self-confident elegance, a versatile and sporting character, as well as spontaneous agility." We probably wouldn't go that far, but it doesn't have the awkward proportions of an X3 or an X6.
Bold nose is reminiscent of new 7-series...
As for where the new car fits into the BMW line-up, Munich has this to say: "For the first time the features and characteristics of a BMW X model are carried over in modern style into a unique vehicle in the premium compact segment". Translating that from PR-speak to PH-speak, we reckon that means the X1 is basically a 3-series-sized soft-roader.
Powering the X1 is a choice of five engines - two petrols and three turbodiesels. The petrol range starts with a 141bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder motor, while BMW's familiar 3.0-litre 254bhp straight six tops the range as a whole. Diesel choices are two single-turbo 2.0-litre units with either 141bhp (xDrive18d) or 175bhp (xDrive20d), or the storming 201bhp twin-turbo diesel xDrive23d.
...while the rear smacks of 3-series
with smaller SUVs at the moment, there is also the option of two-wheel drive, with the bottom two diesels and base petrol models all offered with rear-wheel drive as an option.
Performance for the range-topping xDrive28i is strong, with the sprint to 62mph dealt with in 6.8secs and a respectable top speed of 143mph. Mind you, the twin-turbo diesel manages 62mph from rest in an impressive 7.3secs and, although it runs out of puff at 127mph, it can manage 44.8mpg combined while the petrol six is done at 30mpg.
A more natural home for the soft-roader
The underpinnings, which come more or less wholesale from the BMW 3-series, are the familiar MacPherson strut set-up at the front, with multi-link rear suspension. Transmissions are either a six-speed manual or six-speed auto. Keen observers will note that the shifter on the auto isn't the joystick-style affair seen in the X5 and X6, presumably due to the X1's close relationship to the 3-series. The new car also differs from the rest of the X-series in that it will be built in the firm's Leipzig plant rather than the US Spartanburg facility where the rest of BMW's SUVs are produced.
Prices for the X1 range start from around £24,500.