The all-new BMW X1 has finally been officially revealed after a plethora of photographs were leaked into the web last night. Cutting to the chase, the X1 is BMW"s new entry-level SUV model slotting right under the X6, X5 and X3. It will arrive at European showrooms this fall rivaling high-end versions of the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V and Volkswagen Tiguan compact SUVs while BMW has also confirmed that the X1 will be offered in the States from 2011.
If BMW"s latest SUV/SAV looks familiar to you, it"s no surprise as the X1 was shown in pre-production form at last year"s Paris auto show under the ConceptX1 moniker. Compared to the X3"s fussy styling, a more streamlined look has been adopted for the X1 that incorporates flatter surfaces and tauter forms. We"re still trying to get used to that large snout, but we"ll wait to see the car up close for our final judgment (don"t expect us to fall in love...).
Moving on to the interior, let"s just say that if you have sat in an X3, you will feel right at home in the X1 as the only styling feature that is new here is the driver orientated center stack that will be making its return on all future BMWs.
Built on the 3-series platform architecture, the X1 is close in size to the current X3 measuring 4,454mm or 175.3-inches in length, 1,798mm or 70.8-inches in width and 1,545mm or 60.8-inches in height. That means its roughly 110mm or 4.3-in. shorter, 60 mm or 5.5-in. narrower and 140 mm or 2.4-in. lower that today"s X3, which is expected to grow in size when BMW introduces the second generation model.
Back to the X1, the luggage compartment capacity may be increased from 420 lt or14.7 cu ft to a maximum of 1,350 liters or 47.3 cu ft with the rear seats folded.
The X1 will debut in Europe with an initial choice of four engines while for the first time ever in an X-Series model, BMW"s crossover will available in rear-wheel drive (bearing the sDrive moniker) and xDrive all-wheel drive configurations.
The range includes a 3.0-liter straight six gasoline engine that produces 258HP launching the X1 from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in 6.8 seconds, and three 2.0-liter four-pot diesel units with outputs of 204HP, 177HP and 143HP that achieve up to 5.2 liter/100km or 45.2mpg US on the European test cycle. Initially, only the 177HP and 143HP diesel models will be offered with the option of rear-wheel drive.
BMW is also expected to enhance the X1"s range with a 2.0-liter four-banger gasoline engine offered with various outputs as well as with more sDrive variants.
