Instrumented Test
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Stops shorter than a school bus! Also has fewer seats.
It’s been on sale in Europe for three years already, meaning the X1 is not new. And this repackaging of 3-series bits into yet another small crossover doesn’t break any new ground. It does, however, leave us longing for things increasingly missing from the land of the Roundel. Like a manual transmission. Or the sense that this car was conceived to deliver a singular driving experience.
The X1 drives like a 3-series, and by that we mean similar but not identical to. Its suspension is athletic and the steering is passable, yet still too numb. The car feels solid and resolute, though a 3822-pound curb weight has us pining for the smaller, lighter 1-series hatchback that BMW won’t sell here.
Thanks to its higher roofline, the five-door X1 offers more headroom than the previous-generation 3-series wagon, with which it shares its wheelbase and underpinnings. The X1 is 2.1 inches shorter, yet other key measurements, like legroom and cargo capacity, are essentially a wash.
Powered by the same 240-hp, 2.0-liter turbocharged four from the newer 3-series, the all-wheel-drive X1 we tested was quick, hitting 60 mph in 6.2 seconds. But it took an excruciating 189 feet to stop from 70 mph—a pickup-like performance, courtesy of its low-rolling-resistance tires.
Also frustrating: A stop-start system that sends shudders through the X1 every time it kills or refires the engine. Efficiency should not trump refinement, especially in a vehicle with an as-tested price of $45,095. (A fully loaded, 300-hp X1 xDrive35i can top $50,000.) At least the base model, the rear-drive sDrive28i, starts at a mere $31,545—cheaper even than the BMW 128i.
The X1 could be worse, much worse. Its appearance in the U.S. now serves mostly as a placeholder until BMW can ready the front-wheel-drive models foreshadowed by the Concept Active Tourer it showed at the 2012 Paris auto show.
Cue ominous horror-film music.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon
PRICE AS TESTED: $45,095
BASE PRICE: $33,245
ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 122 cu in, 1997 cc
Power: 240 hp @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 260 lb-ft @ 1250 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 108.7 in
Length: 176.5 in
Width: 70.8 in Height: 60.8 in
Curb weight: 3822 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 6.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 17.5 sec
Zero to 120 mph: 28.5 sec
Rolling start, 560 mph: 7.4 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.9 sec @ 93 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 130 mph
Braking, 700 mph: 189 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.82 g
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway: 22/33 mpg
C/D observed: 23 mpg
TEST NOTES: This compact wagon’s combo of heaviness, all-season run-flat rubber, and intrusive stability control yields very long stopping distances and low cornering limits.
*Stability-control-inhibited.
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