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Does BMW's second-generation crossover make for a better used buy than rivals from Audi, Mercedes and Land Rover?

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The original BMW X1 racked up more than 700,000 global sales between 2009 and 2015, but for all its success it was plainly styled, poorly packaged and flawed on the road.

Happily, the Mk2 car of 2015 to 2022 fixed all of that, and it holds up today as a great-value family hauler with up-to-date technology and real kerb appeal.

BMW’s new compact UKL model platform sees the X1 fitted with a transversely mounted engine for the first time

Prices start at about £5000 for cars with more than 100,000 miles under their wheels, but with a budget of around £8500 you can easily find a clean and well-equipped example that will have the neighbours’ curtains twitching.

You might think it a relatively staid, front-driven family SUV, but the X1 is a surprisingly good car to drive, cleverly hiding the extra bulk and height it has over a normal family hatchback.

Its steering is precise and communicative, it maintains good body control and it generally inspires confidence when you thread it down a rural road. Sure, it’s not as engaging as some of BMW’s rear-driven offerings, but it’s pleasant nonetheless and reasonably comfortable.

If you’re after a bit more ride quality, look for the optional adaptive dampers, which add an extra layer of comfort. The alternative is to go for an entry-level SE car with the smallest (17in) wheels and comfort suspension.

And even SE trim is well equipped, with BMW’s iDrive infotainment system, a powered tailgate and rear parking sensors all included.

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A tidy 60,000-miler will cost about £10,000. You will need at least £2000 more for a car in M Sport trim, with its bodykit and firmer suspension. Sport and xLine trims offer the best value for money. The latter adds leather seats and LED headlights, and looks classy with its chrome exterior trim.

That said, all versions feel solid and refined inside: the plastics on the doors and by your feet are solid, while the aluminium brightwork on the dash exudes an upmarket feel. You sit nice and high in the front and there’s plenty of head and leg room in the back, too.

Make sure you find a car fitted with a sliding rear bench: it adds an extra layer of flexibility to the cabin and allows you to increase the boot capacity should you need it. That said, the 505-litre boot is good for its class and is large enough for a buggy, golf clubs or a few suitcases.

There’s a good mix of 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engines to choose from. The front-wheel-drive sDrive18d diesel is ideal for daily duties, and you can expect around 50mpg.

You can get the same oil-burner with four-wheel drive should you need the extra pulling power, but for towing a caravan or trailer we would opt for the 187bhp xDrive20d.

It has a bit more poke yet is just as efficient. Some will be drawn to the 228bhp xDrive25d: while it’s a bit firm-riding, it blends impressive performance with decent economy.

There’s also the 1.5-litre three-cylinder sDrive18i petrol engine borrowed from the Mini hatchback. It’s by no means quick, but you will easily get 40-45mpg out of it. Petrol options are that 138bhp sDrive18i or the sprightly 189bhp 20i, which can be had in front- or four-wheel-drive form.

A mild facelift in 2019 brought tweaks to the exterior and interior, while the 217bhp plug-in hybrid xDrive25e with an electric-only range of 35 miles joined the line-up. 

PHEVs are a bit dearer than regular petrols and diesels, but whichever engine or trim you go for, a Mk2 X1 is money well spent.

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RELIABILITY

Is the BMW X1 reliable?

Overall, the BMW X1 is a robust and reliable family car that shouldn’t present any major problems. Of course, it does suffer from a handful of mechanical issues, but these are well known and can be repaired. 

In What Car?’s Reliability Survey, the X1 finished in eighth place out of 34 cars in the family SUV class, with a score of 96.6% and finished above the likes of the Audi Q3 and Mercedes GLE. 

Engine: A clogged diesel particulate filter isn’t uncommon if a diesel car isn’t driven long distances, because regeneration is activated at motorway speeds.

Reduced performance could spell problems with the crankshaft sensor. Helpfully, BMW will replace this for you if your car is affected.

The passenger-side engine mount can crack. If you hear any strange noises or feel extra vibrations, getting this replaced should alleviate the issue.

Electrics: Watch for DAB radio, sat-nav and whole infotainment system failures. A broken control module or faulty wiring can knock them out. Software updates can assuage the problem.

Brakes: Discs and pads are known to wear more quickly on 4x4s, so check their condition and ask for them to be replaced as part of the deal if they’re on their way out.

Suspension: Bushes and suspension arms can wear prematurely, so listen out for knocks on a test drive.

Gearbox: It’s not uncommon for the gearbox to jump out of gear; this is generally more of an issue with manual X1s. If this happens on a test drive, walk away. Also listen out for a rattling noise from the dash at higher speeds or when accelerating, as this can also spell trouble for the gearbox. 

Wheels: Check for scuffs and make sure that cars fitted with diamond-cut alloys aren’t suffering from the dreaded white worm.

An owner’s view

Ian David: “I bought my X1 xDrive20d in April 2021, and so far it has proved to be a reliable and capable family car. It was the ideal replacement for an X3 that we had run for several years. While it is a bit firm-riding, the X1 is nice to drive, and I like the raised seating position. It’s very efficient, too, and will do more than 55mpg on the motorway. I did have to pay £320 for a new battery for the SOS emergency function, because it wasn’t covered under warranty, but aside from that it has been very reliable and decent to live with.”

Also worth knowing

X1s came fitted with run-flat tyres, which are noisier than conventional tyres and can make the ride less comfortable. Consider buying a new set if you want a bit more comfort; Continental and Dunlop offer good alternatives.

DESIGN & STYLING

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The original BMW X1 notched up global sales of 730k vehicles

The most apparent change with the second-generation X1 was a proportional one. The jacked-up estate car looks of the original car had been replaced by a much more conventional crossover bodystyle, with a higher roofline, beltline and seating position.

The visual awkwardness had gone, too, and the X1 looked more like a downsized BMW X3 or BMW X5 and, perhaps even more important, much more like a premium-brand alternative to a Nissan Qashqai, rather than a curious sort of BMW 1 Series ‘allroad’.

The X1 has bonnet creases which converge on the kidney grille in an ‘X-shape’, similar to the BMW X3, X4, X5 and X6

That the car looked slightly shorter of snout was down to the fundamental shift through which all compact BMWs were destined to go over the years that followed the X1's launch - longways engine and rear-wheel drive were replaced with a transverse engine and typically front-wheel drive.

The X1’s UKL platform brought with it a steel monocoque underbody that, BMW claimed, was significantly stiffer than that of the previous car and also allowed for a near-perfect 50/50 front/rear weight distribution.

Most of the car’s panels were made of steel, with aluminium used for the bonnet and in places throughout the suspension. MacPherson struts featured at the front and a multi-link axle at the rear, both combined with fixed ride-height coil springs. Adaptive dampers were offered as an option, as was BMW’s speed-dependent active-ratio Variable Sport Steering system.

The engine line-up consisted of a range of twin-turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines, including three different tunes of diesel engine - the 148bhp sDrive (front-wheel drive) and xDrive18d, the 187bhp xDrive20d and the 228bhp xDrive25d. Meanwhile those craving a petrol could opt for the 188bhp xDrive20i X1.

Higher-end variants of the X1 got an Aisin eight-speed automatic transmission as standard, and a choice of either front-wheel drive or part-time four-wheel drive, which was delivered via an electro-hydraulic clutch situated on the rear axle.

If you really must have a manual, then the only engine options were either the smaller petrol or diesel lumps, otherwise you got dual-clutch or automatic 'box. 

There were four trim levels available: SE, Sport, xLine and M Sport, although the plug-in hybrid was only available in Sport or above. M Sport came with a more aggressive styling, and obviously additional levels of equipment, but even the base model didn't look too impoverished. 

INTERIOR

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Inside the cabin of the BMW X1

BMW’s reward for turning the X1’s engine through 90deg was readily apparent inside the mk2 car. The mechanical change was part of a process that had transformed the X1 from being one of the least practical crossovers of its size into one of the most.

Although you sit 30mm higher in the front than in the old car, and higher still in the rear, there was an abundant amount of head room and generous leg room in the front row.

It’s pleasing to find a cabin that takes on a fresh character as the sun sets and the X1 looks classy after dark

Further back, our test car’s optional sliding rear seats made for good passenger space, so in both rows the X1 offered more room than our class-leading crossover, the popular Nissan Qashqai. Both of the BMW’s premium-brand rivals, the Mercedes-Benz GLA and Audi Q3, were less spacious.

The X1’s boot was big, too. It wasn't desperately wide, but it’s long and deep and bordered by back seats that fold 40/20/40 and lie completely flat for the utmost load-carrying flexibility. A folding front passenger seatback was also available as an option. So, at the second time of asking, it seemed that the X1 actually delivered the enhanced practicality its crossover status implied.

The cabin also did justice to a premium-brand badge with its pleasing material quality, which, again, was something you’d never have said of its predecessor. From shoulder level right down to the door bin and transmission tunnel mouldings, and from the column stalks to the bonnet release, the X1’s cabin plastics looked and felt solid, smooth and well finished.

The soft-touch surfaces up top, juxtaposed skilfully with textured aluminium and satin chrome inlays, conjured an expensive ambience, the oyster and black leathers of our test car playing an equal part in that effect.

There was a generous amount of storage in both rows, with good-sized cubbies at the foot of the centre stack and under the centre armrest, and bottle holders in the door cubbies big enough for one-litre bottles.

Assuming that BMW’s characteristic sense of reserve in the styling of its interiors was to your taste, the X1’s cabin was a difficult one to find fault with.

We'd have preferred that second-row passengers had more than one 12V socket as a means to charge their various electronic devices and also dare say that some parents might miss a third set of Isofix child seat anchorages for the rear row’s middle seat. But neither concern was sufficient to stop the X1 getting a perfect score here.

BMW was only just about as generous with the X1’s entry-level specification as it needed to be in order to justify the car’s pricing. SE trim had iDrive and a 6.5in multimedia system with navigation, DAB radio, CD player, USB connectivity and Bluetooth media streaming — so nothing earth-shattering, then.

Besides the flawless iDrive system the SE trim got auto wipers and lights, 17in alloys, automatic tailgate and rear parking sensors, while the Sport trim came with bigger alloys, a sporty bodykit and sport seats.

The mid-level xLine trim was fitted with leather seats, heated front seats, and LED headlights, while the range-topping M-Sport got a designated interior, bodykit, alloys, suspension and Alcantara seats.

As with every BMW on sale, there was an extensive options list that could don the car with more luxuries and convenience, such as our test car’s larger 10in control display, online services, remote control functionality and head-up display, which was part of the Navigation Plus package – it cost £1490 when the car was new. 

It was worth spending the money on though. All of the infotainment functions were more navigable and accessible via the widescreen set-up, and the navigation map was detailed, clear and expansive. BMW’s RTTI live traffic information was also quick to update your route and seems more reliable than rival systems in helping you to avoid jams.

Our test car also had BMW’s Harman Kardon premium hi-fi, which possessed impressive audio system quality and power.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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The 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel engine in our BMW X1

As juvenile as this may seem, job one for any BMW worth its salt – even a diesel crossover – was to outstrip its competition on outright accelerative pace. Buyers expected nothing less. But while the X1 performed well, it fell marginally short of that mark.

Our performance data archive had a like-for-like Audi Q3 at a narrow, solitary 0.1sec disadvantage to the X1 from standstill to 60mph, and a similar one both through the gears and locked in fourth gear from 30mph to 70mph.

The X1’s gearlever is shared with the Mini, but you can't help missing the one-touch wands the other X cars get

But the Mercedes-Benz GLA 220 CDI 4Matic that we performance tested in 2014 matched the X1’s 0-60mph sprint of 8.2sec and was slightly faster than the BMW to 100mph and in other respects.

If the X1 had gone as fast as BMW claimed (7.6sec to 62mph), the familiar selling point would be beyond doubt, but it couldn’t be made to do so. Missing that mark by more than half a second, in a run-in car and in dry conditions, meritted a black mark.

However, the X1 certainly felt swift, muscular and relatively free-revving from the driver’s seat. The eight-speed gearbox chose its ratios well, shifted smartly and locked up without slipping at low revs, allowing the engine’s low-end torque to shrug off the car’s mass when climbing gradients, even in higher gears.

At the other end of the rev range, the 2.0-litre diesel kept spinning long after rivals had thrown in the towel, revving to well beyond 5000rpm without undue complaint. Given that most similarly sized crossovers took a couple of seconds longer to hit 60mph from rest and weren’t nearly as flexible or free-revving, driving performance could probably still be a selling point for the X1.

It was a pity that refinement didn't do more for the car. A mix of road roar and the usual undertone of coarseness that you tended to get from BMW four-cylinder diesel sent our decibel meter soaring to relatively high levels.

The X1 was four decibels louder at a 70mph cruise than a Nissan Qashqai, and that kind of difference was more than big enough to be noticed.

Braking performance for the car was competitive but not outstanding, although the pedal felt carefully tuned and is easy to modulate accurately.

RIDE & HANDLING

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The BMW X1 has good body control...

Crossover buyers are a demanding bunch, because they can afford to be. The best examples of the crossover breed never felt like big cars but instead covered their extra bulk and higher roll axis with the body control, agility and balanced ride of a normal family hatchback.

As a result, their drivers didn't even have to recognise any inherent compromise, on ride or handling, for choosing a bigger, heavier car, much less accept one. Those buyers would, by and large, find the X1 capable of the same trick.

The X1 has good body control but the firm ride gives a hollow feeling over the transmission bumps

Flat-handling, grippy, directionally responsive and fairly comfortable, the BMW felt almost as dynamically sophisticated as any of its rivals.

You wouldn’t call it the class’s best-handling act, though – not quite – and neither would you say that it did anything special. On both counts, that probably made it a lukewarm success by BMW’s high standards.

Even without BMW’s lowered and stiffened M Sport suspension set-up and with its Dynamic Damper Control, the X1 felt quite firmly sprung: a little over-damped, fidgety, and sensitive to coarse surfaces in all but Comfort mode on the Driving Experience Control switch.

For a BMW, perhaps that was as it should have been, particularly given that upright, alert handling was the trade-off.

Even without Variable Sports Steering, the car turned in smartly and resisted understeer well as lateral loads built. It remained stable at all times, which in a relatively high-sided car was more important than mixing greater body roll with greater off-throttle handling balance and flirting with unwelcome oversteer.

On track the X1 generated plenty of mechanical grip, kept its body in check at all times and made it known when its adhesion levels were on the wane by slipping from the front end first, just as it should.

Attack a tight corner hard, reapplying power earlier than perhaps you should on the way out, and you could feel BMW’s torque vectoring system diverting power away from the unloaded wheels and its four-wheel drive system shuffling power rearwards. It was reactive rather than proactive process, though, mitigating understeer as it increased rather than preventing it altogether.

The stability control was quite subtle, intervening gently to begin with. Turn it off and it’s possible to hustle the X1 through a corner more quickly, but considerably less tidily, albeit without encountering any underlying handling instability.

But that also meant the X1 didn't feel quite as dynamically poised as BMW’s rear-driven saloons and estates and couldn't be balanced or turned on the accelerator in the same way.

Much as it might promise otherwise, BMW’s four-wheel drive system didn't make a telling difference in that respect.

BMW could also have done a better job of filtering feedback into the X1’s steering, which, although nicely weighted and consistent, didn’t tell you much about how hard the front wheels were working.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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The second generation BMW X1

You can pay as little as £4500 for a high-mileage example, but stretching your budget to nearer £9000 will open up more options in terms of engines and trims. 

SE trim seems to dominate at the cheaper end of the classifieds but there are a handful of xLine and M Sport cars available. 

The X1’s LED lights provide good clarity and range but could be brighter

Around the £10,000-£15,000 mark you will find a broader mix of engines and trims, but you'll likely end up in an 18d or 20d xLine as these are the most common. It's easier to find a car with either a full service history or one previous owner.

A budget of £15,000 and above and you'll be able to get into a newer example, with more post-facelift models, as well as the plug-in hybrid, widely available.

Fuel economy and CO2 emissions are competitive but not outstanding. You should get around 45mpg day-to-day, and closer to 55mpg on longer stints up the motorway. 

 

VERDICT

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The much improved and now 4 star BMW X1

Owners of the previous-generation BMW X1 simply would not recognise the spacious, flexible, classy customer they'd taken delivery of here – and refugees from other crossover models would have plenty to say in praise of its practicality, quality and handsomeness.

But those with a broader experience of the BMW model range might not be quite so bowled over by the X1 and neither, quite, were we.

Much improved, but not the dominant act that its price implies

Although its performance was strong, it wasn't outstandingly so and the same was true of its real-world fuel economy. The X1’s handling was spry but it wasn't a desperately slick or engaging car to drive. And, for a premium-brand car, it still left a fair amount to be desired on refinement.

In reflection of all of that our rank for the X1 placed it outside of the top two. It was broad and challenging class, sure, but also one in which BMW could expect to do better if it offered better value for money.

As a result the BMW X1 still fell behind the class topping Nissan Qashqai, and the agile and engaging Ford Kuga in our top five crossovers listings.

Sam Phillips

Sam Phillips
Title: Staff Writer

Sam joined the Autocar team in summer 2024 and has been a contributor since 2021. He is tasked with writing used reviews and first drives as well as updating top 10s and evergreen content on the Autocar website. 

He previously led sister-title Move Electric, which covers the entire spectrum of electric vehicles, from cars to boats – and even trucks. He is an expert in new car news, used cars, electric cars, microbility, classic cars and motorsport. 

Sam graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2021 with a BA in Journalism. In his final year he produced an in-depth feature on the automotive industry’s transition to electric cars and interviewed a number of leading experts to assess our readiness for the impending ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars.

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce PhantomTesla RoadsterAriel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren SennaRenault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.