BMW X1: Love at First Sight

I am not a big fan of the BMW X1, or so I thought. That was the old one – this is the new one. And I dare say the car is capable of making even the most narcissistic ones among us eat our words for all three meals. Inside out, it’s a car that inspires a little bit of hoodlumism – that extra bit of fun. It’s the car that makes you pull over to the side of a street, wait for the road to clear up and do a pretend drag race on the neighbourhood flyover – all before being printed at the office door at 10am.

While the older car was something you bought only for the BMW badge, the new one goes beyond – largely thanks to a new 8-speed automatic compared to the 6-speed on the older one. The 2ltr motor also produces some 10-odd bhp more power. The steering, which had received as much flack as Die Hard 5 is suddenly a lot nimbler on its feet than the model it replaces.

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And it looks better too – especially in a new Midnight Blue that was the model we received for a couple of quick spins around the block. The front and rear bumpers have been redesigned, the side view mirrors now integrate turn signals and a smattering of changes have been made inside the cabin – the steering has received some silver accents, the AC vents have gone black and glossy and even the centre console hasn’t been spared.

It also now comes with an auto start stop function, which will serve you well in times of unregulated petrol prices, it does however start with a shudder that it could very well have done without. But body roll has never really been an issue with the X1 and the new X1 doesn’t disappoint either.

Now for the biggest question – which is the one that is fun to drive between the new BMW X1 and the Audi Q3 (The Mercedes B Class has done little to be taken seriously)? And that’s where it gets tricky. I love the sunroof on the Q3 – it’s a carryover from its full-grown siblings is an absolute delight. The Audi is also definitely the better looking of the two – simply because you might find it almost impossible to distinguish between the three from a distance. The X1 has consistently received flak and been called a station wagon and not an SUV.

While the older model might have been defensive about its looks, the newer one is surer of itself. And this is what will serve the X1 well because while this X1 is a better car to drive than the X1 from circa 2011. It also costs about 1.5 lakhs more than it did before. Despite the ₹27,90,000 for the base model and ₹32,50,000 for the sport model, it’s a damn good car. Plus, also consider the fact that you can get the top-line for the same money that you can buy a middle range Q3. Or like some of the others in the FHM team, just buy yourself a 3-Series.

From the April 2013 issue of FHM India.