SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.

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*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the stories.

We contemplate the BMW X1 xDrive 23d Exclusive Steptronic

A more practical SUV

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday September 1, 2010

South Africans are spoiled rotten with a choice of 117 BMW models, including seven X1s. Bearing in mind that this manufacturer has another two ranges of SUV on offer, do you wonder at a certain very rude overseas motoring writer questioning the relevance of the X1?

He makes an interesting point, but may I suggest that BMW might be better off dumping one of their bigger SUVs and concentrating on the X1 instead?  There is actually some logic here. Every day, I see tiny women struggling to park gigantic SUVs and double cabs in standard parking slots they can scarcely see; all for reasons of visibility and one-upping minibus taxis.  Apart from the futility of it all, what about the sheer waste of resources and fuel, expensive tyres and massive insurance bills?

The X1, on the other hand, is built on the BMW 3-series car platform making it more practical in terms of size than most of the mobile double-storey townhouses crowding our streets. It is in fact 77 mm shorter and 19 mm narrower, but 124 mm taller than the sedan. 

It is also no piteous orphan when it comes to bling and available options; our test unit boasted the Exclusive Package at R26 700, Cool Elegance leather sports seats and trim at R12 400 and another R68 800-worth of stuff that I could see. Available invisible options like handling packages may or may not have been fitted.

So what do you get in a "baby" SUV such as this X1?  First, it's a BMW; so there is all the style, trim, engineering wizardry and electronic kit that you expect from this manufacturer. You also get seating for five, a boot almost as big as the one on the 3-series sedan (more when the back seat is folded down), decent visibility all around, with the bonus of a reversing camera, a nominally 2,3 litre diesel engine and a really good automatic gearbox.

Whoa, I hear you say - nominally 2,3 litre? It's a BMW quirk. They use just one 2,0 litre diesel engine, but varying the amount of turbocharging gives three different levels of output. "Zis vun goes like a liddle-biddy eighteen hunderd, so ve call him a vun komma eight, ja und dis vun goes much bedder, so he is a two komma sree. "  There is a certain logic, but it confuses newcomers to the brand.

The only apparent real differences between X1, X3 and X5 are size, space and a few features. Rear seat headroom and legroom in the X1 is adequate for six-footers, but not huge, and deep sills make getting in and out a bit of a scramble.  The rear seatbacks (split 40/20/40) adjust for recline and fold almost completely flat to make a nice big load area. A foldout centre armrest opens to reveal a pair of cup holders.

In the boot, a seven-way compartment under a loose cover provides useful hiding space for small items. Don't look for a spare wheel; the X1 is fitted with run-flat tyres.

In "2,3 litre" form the engine develops 150 kW at 4 400 rpm and 400 Nm of torque at 2 000 rpm, providing all the performance a family should ever need. The magic 100 km/h comes up in just over seven seconds, overtaking is quick and easy and hills are mere formalities. Suspension is typically BMW-firm, making for excellent control through twisty byways, but not the most comfortable on dirt. The X1 keeps to the straight and narrow over potholes and corrugations, but one can feel that this isn't Grandma's feather bed by any means.

The xDrive system is on-demand all-wheel drive, allotting torque to where it is most needed at any moment. Forget about low range or difflock, and its approach, departure and rampover angles are not made for donga diving, but you knew that anyway. This car's all-wheel drive capability is there for odd bits of loose sand, mud or snow and keeping you on the chosen path when exuberance exceeds common sense.

With few exceptions, I am not a fan of big bulky SUVs and would probably never buy one, but something the size of an X1 could possibly persuade me to take the plunge.

The numbers

Price: R464 000 basic or R571 900 as tested

Engine: 1 995 cc four cylinder common rail turbodiesel

Power: 150 kW at 4 400 rpm

Torque: 400 Nm at 2 000 rpm

Zero to 100: 7,3 seconds

Maximum speed: 205 km/h

Real world average fuel consumption: 9,3 l/100 km

Tank: 61 litres

Ground clearance: 194 mm

Approach/departure/rampover angles: 18,0/21,5/16,8 degrees

Maintenance plan: 5 years/100 000 km

 

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax. 

So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

 

Comments?

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