Test: The second generation of the BMW X1 does a lot better

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• The new BMW X1 is actually a 1 Series Touring
• The first Range Rover only had two doors
• With a newly developed chassis and sports steering
• The GLE Coupe is the X6 from Mercedes
• Soon also available as a three-cylinder

The new BMW X1 is actually a 1 Series Touring

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When the BMW X1 came onto the market in 2009, it was the first of its kind; no other German manufacturer had a premium compact SUV on offer at the time. In the meantime…The competition has since followed suit, and BMW is already bringing the second X1 generation onto the market.

Source: BMW

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The first generation has sold more than 730,000 times. The new edition is a lot better, but it won’t be easy to build on this success.

Source: BMW

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Unlike its predecessor, this time the X1 does not take over the technology from the 1 Series, but, like the 2 Series Active Tourer, uses the brand’s new front-wheel drive platform.

Source: BMW

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The new X1 came onto the market in October 2015, and previously celebrated its official premiere at the IAA in Frankfurt.

Source: BMW

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The proportions have changed a little: the X1 has recently been 1.61 meters in height instead of 1.55 meters, while the length has shrunk by around four centimeters to 4.44 meters…r.

Source: BMW

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The trunk has grown significantly by 85 to 505 liters, …

Source: BMW

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… there is a maximum of 1550 liters, 200 liters more than before.

Source: BMW

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In the (very high-quality) interior, too, things have recently become a bit more airy than before.

Source: BMW

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The passengers now have more space, especially in the rear.

Source: BMW

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As an extra, you can now order a sliding back seat for additional knee space.

Source: BMW

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The X1 is equipped with air conditioning, audio system and i-Drive control technology as standard. A head-up display, LED headlights and numerous assistants are available for an additional charge.… Including a cruise control with a traffic jam function and an emergency braking system for city traffic.

Source: BMW

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The headlights look a little grimmer lately …

Source: BMW

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… and at the back there are the typical L-shaped lights.

Source: BMW

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The starting price for the new X1 is 32,900 euros.

Source: BMW

More space for passengers and luggage, revised optics and new engines. The new BMW X1 is an all-round success. However, BMW is only bringing the real revolution onto the market a little late.

M.Sometimes you just have to be the first. The first X1 was at best of average quality because it was put on the road at high pressure and the developers had to make a few compromises. But because BMW was years ahead of its colleagues from Mercedes and Audi, the small off-road vehicle still sold extremely well. With an average of more than 100,000 registrations a year, it plays a large part in the fact that almost every third BMW is now an X-model.

But the competition never sleeps: Mercedes now has a GLA, and Audi is planning a more manageable Q2 in addition to the Q3, which could perhaps drive the X1 even more clearly into the parade. That is why BMW is preparing for the tougher competition and will be launching a new edition at the end of October at prices from 32,900 euros that looks much more thorough, more sophisticated and more mature than the first from 2009.

This is not only due to the design, which looks beefier, stronger and more robust and which therefore comes much closer to the X3 and X5. This is what the new platform is all about. After the Active Tourer and Grand Tourer, the X1 is the third BMW from the so-called UKL architecture, which offers completely new possibilities.

The first Range Rover only had two doors

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The first of its kind: The original Range Rover celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2016

Source: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien

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It can look back on a glorious history, the off-road vehicle has many fans.

Source: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien

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The furnishings were surprisingly sparse and, from today’s perspective, took some getting used to. The lambskin carpets would certainly be damaging to sales today.

Source: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien

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The eight-cylinder engine comes from Buick.

Source: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien

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There are four decades between the body shapes of the old and the current Range Rover.

Source: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien

Two centimeters shorter than before, but wider and, above all, significantly higher, the space is used much better. The front seat is therefore no worse than in the X3, the knee room in the rear increases by three centimeters, and if you order the sliding rear seats, adults can even cross their legs in the back.

At the same time, with a slightly reduced length of 4.44 meters and a wheelbase of 2.67 meters, the trunk has grown by 85 to 505 liters and can be gradually expanded to include a folding front passenger seat. In the best case, up to 1550 liters fit behind the electric flap. That is 200 liters more than before; that stamps the X1 as a replacement for the 1 Series Touring, which BMW does not want to build.

The X1 makes full use of the parts kit for the new front-wheel drive models and takes on the option of LED headlights or adaptive cruise control, for example. But it also affords the luxury of its own extras such as the full head-up display. Where the information is projected onto a Plexiglas pane on the tourers, the electronics in the X1 mirror the data where it belongs: directly into the windshield.

With a newly developed chassis and sports steering

And the appearance of the material is also a bit more elegant. The X1 looks good wherever you look, and it feels good where you touch it. And only when you fumble very deeply and, for example, get your hands on the foam around the steering column, you notice that BMW too has to watch out for money from time to time.

Not only the appearance, ambience and equipment are new – nothing remains the same with the drive either. The X1 runs completely with the new generation of modular engines and starts with two petrol engines in the X1 20i with 192 and in the X1 25i with 231 HP and three diesels from the 150 HP X1 18d to the X1 25d with also 231 HP. This enables speeds between 205 and 235 km / h, and fuel consumption is reduced by up to 17 percent to values ​​between 4.1 and 6.6 liters, not least thanks to a new all-wheel drive with a decoupling rear axle.

The GLE Coupe is the X6 from Mercedes

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What does the Daimler star on the rear of the BMW X6 do? Oh no! This is actually a Mercedes, more precisely the new GLE Coupe, the coupe offshoot of the u…revised M-Class. In addition to a slightly different appearance, the large SUV now also has a new name. It’s now called GLE.

Source: Daimler

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The coupe variant of the GLE also has four doors, but looks much more dynamic thanks to the sloping roof towards the rear. The similarity to the BMW X6 is striking. I got there…n the designers are likely to get a lot of inspiration.

Source: Daimler

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A diesel with 258 hp and a petrol model with 333 hp are available for the massive SUV coupe at the market launch.

Source: Daimler

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The starting price for the base model of the GLE Coupe is 66,700 euros, the normal GLE SUV is available from just under 53,970 euros.

Source: Daimler

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As a special treat, three particularly powerful AMG models will be available shortly after the market launch …

Source: Daimler

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… at the start with 367 hp, 557 hp and 585 hp.

Source: Daimler

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The driver and front passenger sit in sports seats. A large touchscreen is located in the center of the center console.

Source: Daimler

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A special feature is the elaborately refined Dynamic Select chassis, with which the character of the car can be changed in up to five stages. The driver has the option…t to switch between sedan chair and sports car.

Source: Daimler

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The coupe shape may make the GLE look sportier, but it has also made the trunk smaller. However, it still holds between 650 and 1720 liters…. A big minus, however, is the high loading sill of the SUV coupe.

Source: Daimler

For all its economy, the X1 also wants to be sportier. This is particularly noticeable when you take the 25i for the first time. Sometimes it growls like a diesel and is unusually grumpy for a gasoline engine, especially since the X1 is otherwise an extremely quiet and well-insulated car. But the two-liter engine stands well in the forage, balances the car with its 350 Nm from 0 to 100 km / h in 6.5 seconds, storms over the left lane at up to 235 km / h and puts you in a good mood on a winding country road.

Because with its newly developed chassis, sports steering and variable dampers, the X1 is a veritable corner robber who does not notice the new height. But as powerfully as the 25i strides and as crisp as it is tuned, it will hardly be enough to stand up to a Mercedes GLA 45 AMG or an Audi RS Q3.

With the exception of the basic diesel, all engines will initially be delivered with all-wheel drive. But whoever orders the X1 18d sDrive will have to change a bit. Thanks to the new platform, it no longer has rear-wheel drive, but instead grabs it with the front wheels. And that is not the only departure from one’s own ideals.

Soon also available as a three-cylinder

Shortly after the market launch, a small cultural revolution begins under the hood: While the good old six-cylinder units are still not an issue and M GmbH has avoided the X1 as before, there will now also be three-cylinder units there for the first time. Because as the base engines, the Bavarians then submit an 18i with 136 and a 16d with 116 hp.

With the X1, BMW established an SUV segment for the premium league six years ago, thus adding another building block to the success pyramid of the X models. And it shouldn’t be the last. Because now that the X1 has been renewed, the developers can turn to the next project and focus their attention on the other end of the range: Because there is no more space below the X1 for a new model, they are now aiming at the other extreme and working with high pressure on the X7.

The trip to the test drive in the new X1 was supported by BMW. You can find our standards of transparency and journalistic independence at www.axelspringer.de/unabhaengigkeit

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