SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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The power of x: We drive BMW’s 2016 X-1, xDrive, 25i Steptronic

Don’t upstage the boss

Posted: 1 March 2016
Interior pic by author

New X-1 highlights:
•    More power and torque for 20i, 20d models
•    New 1500 cc three cylinder engine for 18i models
•    25i with less power but same torque replaces 28i
•    More head- and leg room
•    85 litres more luggage space
 
The numbers:
Basic price including CO2 tax: R614 475 – 40
Price as tested: R688 825 – 40
Engine: 1998 cc, DOHC 16-valve, twin-scroll turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 170 kW between 5000 and 6000 rpm
Torque: 350 Nm between 1250 and 4500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 6.5 seconds
Maximum speed: 235 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 9.5 l/100 km
Tank: 61 litres
Luggage: 505 – 1550 litres
Ground clearance: 183 mm
Maximum towing mass (braked): 2000 kg
Warranty and maintenance plan: 5 years / 100 000 km

Good: Now that the internet skimmers, with their short spans of attention, have moved along, let’s get to the review:

The 25i version of BMW’s Type B48A2000 motor can, at present, only be had with xDrive and eight-speed Steptronic transmission. But should you wish to smarten up your little fabric-upholstered X-wagon, packs on offer include xLine, Sport Line and M Sport.

Our test rig had the R24 000 xLine pack fitted. That gets you combination cloth and leather upholstery in Granite Brown with black accents, interior trim strips in high gloss black with accent strips in Pearl Gloss chrome, matt aluminium bars on the grille, and matt silver accents for the air intakes, side skirts and underbody protectors. Is part-leather upholstery and some different coloured trim worth R24 000? Only you can decide.

Other kit added to our test car included a full length sunroof with opening front section at R16 900; automatic opening and closing for the rear hatch at R5 600; a Harman-Kardon nine-speaker sound system upgrade for R8 400; parking distance alarms at R2 950; parking assist camera at R5 900 and the basic navigation setup for R10 600.

Appearance-wise the new car has a more prominent grille, new head lights and a new lower valance with larger air intakes. At the back, the tailgate has been redesigned with new tail lamps, a reshaped spoiler with high-level brake light and a redrawn lower diffuser. Inside, the dash is completely new with a vertical information (non-touch) screen, new vents, redesigned ventilation and music controls, new steering wheel, reshaped centre console and an electrically powered parking brake.

While the new body is the same length as the old, it’s 32 mm wider and 53 taller. Repackaging permits higher seating positions (+36 mm in front and +64 in the back) without sacrificing headroom. Our tall backseat driver gave it a solid eight out of ten, even though the sunroof “stole” its usual inch or so of space.

Knee room increased by between 37- and 66 mm, depending on how far through its adjustment range of about 13 cm the back seat is moved. The same passenger rated maximum knee space at “eleven out of ten” and foot room under the fully lowered driver’s chair a solid ten. Luggage volume grew by 85 litres to 505, while the seatbacks fold 40:20:40 to provide a load-through hatch should you need one. Naturally, each segment shifts fore and aft, and its seatback reclines, independently.

Provided you opted for the automatic opener, the hatch raises itself majestically while you stand back and watch. The flat cargo floor is easy to reach, being only 66 centimetres above ground level. A light, a 12-volt socket, two bag hooks, six lashing rings, a pair of side wells for small objects, a full-width pull down handle (for those who did not buy the automatic option) and remote release tabs for the chair backs all make life easier. The first aid kit, triangle, tools, cargo net and spacesaver spare (a worthwhile addition since the 23d we drove in 2010) are all under the floorboard.

BMW states that the new X-1’s body has been made stronger and more rigid while gaining only 40 kg in weight. This, along with reworked all-wheel drive and improved chassis technology make it handle less like an SUV (sorry, SAV) and more like a BMW saloon. We certainly had no complaints. Its dirt road behaviour was excellent too.

Comments from the front seat: Both are electrically adjustable but only the driver gets a pair of memory settings. Computer controls are as before with rotating controller and buttons, but it’s unfortunate that some functions are difficult to find. It’s possibly time to upgrade that vertical tablet to a touch screen. We’re used to electric tabs for parking brakes, but this one neither set nor released itself as those on many cheaper cars do. Guess we’ve been spoiled.

We tried the sunroof because it was there. While the full length sky vista was grand, the actual open air experience was like most others; glorious up to about 100 km/h but noisy after that. Could we justify R16 900 for the skyroof views while ignoring the opening feature? Possibly.

Three driving modes providing EcoPro for softer and more economical reactions, Comfort for daily driving and Sport for more aggressive use, were fun to play with but Comfort, the default setting, works well all the time. The stick-shifting manual override function on Steptronic enables sportier driving although paddles are provided too. The car loafs along at about 2000 rpm at 120 km/h in eighth gear; with easy roll-on acceleration thanks to its superwide and flat torque band that begins at only 1250 rpm.

Summing up: It’s a BMW so it’s well put together and it charges like a platoon of Sturmtruppler. There's more usable space than before and it handles better. It’s certainly as much SAV as you’ll ever need, so why waste money on something with a bigger, fancier-sounding, number? Oh, of course: bragging rights. But with the money saved you could buy more fuel and get more face time with the boss; where it counts, out on the golf course. And she’ll appreciate you not trying to upstage her bigger X-wagon.

Test car from BMW SA press fleet

Our review of the previous generation X-1 23d is here



xLine interior

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
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