BMW X1 sDrive 18d: fuel-efficient yet fun-to-drive crossover

YOU WILL appreciate the X1’s generous side bolsters when you’re really canning it hard on your favorite twisty road which is what all BMW’s are truly made for.

There are few cars that feel so right when you jump in. You feel confident gunning them until kingdom come, or when the road runs out, the speedometer explodes, or the cops put a damper on your shenanigans.

BMWs are one of these very few cars providing amazing agility, astounding road-holding confidence, absolute reliability, and amazing grace under duress.

So what happens when you put the BMW formula onto a raised vehicle, particularly a small crossover utility vehicle such as the BMW X1?

To put it simply, you don’t only get to go really fast, you get to go almost anywhere, and in almost any weather condition.

The engine is the heart of any vehicle, and BMW’s X1 features one of my favorite diesel engines: a 2-liter, 16-valve twin-cam design that features a CRDi system and BMW’s twin-power twin-scroll turbocharger delivering an impressive 143 horsepower and 320 Newton-meters of torque-transferring power to the xDrive all-wheel-drive system, or in my test unit’s case, solely to the rear wheels via the sDrive’s eight-speed automatic ZF transmission.

This is a far better fit to a compact crossover versus the   four-cylinder gasoline engine I tried much earlier when the X1 was first launched.

Hawkeyed readers might question why the 18d is touted as a 2-liter engine? Well, in a somewhat confusing naming game, there is in fact a 20d variant, with the same engine but actually featuring a higher state of tune, 178 HP and 380 Nm of torque.

SIT IN and fiddle with the reach-and-rake, adjustable three-spoke steering wheel.

This same engine can also be found in the X1’s larger sibling, the X3, as well as the BMW 1 and 3 Series sedans.

Dynamically, the X1 18d sprints from rest to 100 klicks in 9.4 seconds, barreling all the way to a 202-kilometer-per-hour top speed.

The X1 isn’t a full-on SUV of course, but it has a 178-millimeter (7-inch) ground clearance —a good 2 inches higher than most typical sedans. It might not be much, but in the world of offroading, that’s a lot.

More importantly, it has a very decent 304-mm fording or wading depth, more than 50 percent that of a typical sedan. Perfect for the school run.

It would have been easy for BMW’s engineers to raise the ride height of the X1 to give it better offroading and flood-wading ability, but doing so would have severely compromised its on-road athleticism.

The X1 is closely related to BMW’s previous generation

3 Series platform, making use of different gauges of steel to deliver massive strength in the cabin, while using lighter alloy steel in the crash/crumple zones to help deflect energy away during an impact.

Multiple front and side airbags envelope occupants in the event of a crash. It also comes in with ABS-EBD brakes as well as traction/stability control, as standard.

Open the door, and you literally sit inside. You don’t plop down or climb up; you just sit in.

For someone as big as me, it makes the X1 a perfect everyday roundabout car for multiple short drives when doing errands—perfect to run to the grocery and laundry shop, or grab takeout with.

But it wouldn’t be a proper BMW if it didn’t deliver the thrills one expects from Bavaria’s finest. Sit in, fiddle with the reach-and-rake, adjustable three-spoke steering wheel, and feel fine and handsome; it’s like you’re in a sports car or sports sedan than a compact crossover.

It’s leather bound, has auxiliary controls for the iDrive multimedia system which, though still not the most intuitive system, keeps getting better and easier to use.

THE X1 can be a perfect everyday roundabout car for multiple short drives when doing errands—perfect to run to the grocery, laundry shop, or grab takeout with.

It still took a bit of an effort to sync with my Android mobile media device. It refuses to sync when the X1 is moving, all in the interest of safety.

Information from the trip computer, entertainment and climate control systems can be viewed via the 8.8-inch LCD   on the center console.

The seats are on the firm side, too, but they offer impressive support. After a long four-hour stint behind the X1’s wheel, my bum and legs felt a tad sore, but my lower back felt fine, which is always an issue with many mass-marketed vehicle seats. You will appreciate the X1’s generous side bolsters when you’re really canning it hard on your favorite twisty road, which is what all BMWs are truly made for.

The steering wheel is on the light side but offers impressive feel only the likes of BMW can offer, the brakes reassuringly firm, and the long-travel throttle pedal as progressive and precise as it can be.

On a fast, winding B-road, the X1 feels alive. And, dare I say it, it offers more overall speed than your 3 Series, simply because the gummy thick 18-inch all-season highway terrain tires offer better compliance on Philippine roads, allowing you to keep your foot planted down on the loud pedal.

On the highway, the X1 just laps up the miles effortlessly. And in traffic, there are few places better to be stuck in than a BMW interior.

Keep the revs between 1,800 to 2,500 revolutions per minute, and enjoy the massive wave of torque pushing the X1 along the highway.

Yet despite the X1’s strengths, it’s not perfect, though it comes quite close to it. The diesel engine isn’t as quiet or refined as its European and even some Japanese and Korean counterparts.

The engine gets less noisy as it warms up, or if you keep the revs below 2,000 rpm while cruising on the highway.

The interior is tight: Seating five people in a pinch, occupants would be able to sniff each other’s shampoo, soap and deodorant, or lack thereof, completely.

The rear cargo space is big, especially if you drop the rear seats. But it’s not quite large enough to hold a pair of medium-size golf bags; you do have to drop the second-row seats to make them fit.

At P3.292 million, the X1 seems expensive (Blame our tax laws on that, as the BMW X1 is cheaper abroad particularly in Europe, thanks to lower taxation, it being a fuel-efficient oil-burner).

But BMW claims an impressive 20-km-per-liter fuel consumption on the highway, and an easy 12 kpl in city driving.

THE REAR cargo space is big, especially if you drop the rear seats.

I got close to 10 kpl in the city, and a very decent 14 kpl on the highway, which I found impressive, considering I sure as heck wasn’t driving Ms Daisy.

But considering the build-quality, impressive engineering, performance and fuel efficiency, the X1 seems good value if you’re in the market for a small compact and fuel-efficient yet fun-to-drive crossover.

The premium compact SUV segment is growing globally. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Land Rover and Lexus are filling this segment to the brim—thanks partly to a booming Chinese market where people want to display their newfound affluence despite lacking well-built roads.

The premium SUV is the best way to show off and enjoy your newfound wealth.

In the Philippines, however, flash floods are an even bigger and more immediate concern. The core automotive market is really shifting towards raised vehicles such as SUVs and crossovers as well as pickups.

The premium segment is no exception, so expect more of these compact crossover SUVs to hit the streets soon.