1. Introduction / Design and Appearance
2. Interior and Features / Space and Practicality
3. Driving Experience / Comparison / Conclusion

Interior and Features

The interior is also where the X1 also makes significant gains. The second-gen car, as you can read in our vintage 2016 test drive, showed an interior that wasn’t as luxurious as larger BMWs with less posh material choice, smaller screens, and so on, even if it wasn’t lacking in function. 

This isn’t the case with the new X1: it looks and feels like a luxury car, even at first glance, thanks to larger screens, upscale material choices, design flourishes, and fancy ambient lighting. It’s also nicely set off by the well-made seats and plentiful room, especially the headroom. 

We particularly liked the detailing of the air-con vents, the milled feel of the satin chrome trim panel on the dashboard, and the wireless device charger with its backlit ‘halo’ that also makes it easy to find your phone in the dark.

BMW’s Widescreen interior is now familiar, but no less impressive. A 10.7-inch touchscreen serves for infotainment, with a 10.25-inch driver’s display – both run the latest BMW OS 8 with sharp, upscale graphics with a futuristic geometric theme. Everything a lux car should have is here too, including good voice assistance (BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant), full navigation, Android Auto /Apple CarPlay, and out-of-car app support.

It’s all been presaged by the 2AT, if you’ve read our review, but still impressive. One thing we don’t like though, in both cars, is the omission of the rotary iDrive controller, which means you have to fiddle with the touchscreen and small icons to get specific things done. Insert typical CarBuyer touchscreen bitching – fingerprints, fiddly-ness  etc – here. 

But making up for that is a particularly comprehensive suite of active driver assist systems (ADAS). This includes the standard AEB (autonomous emergency braking), but also a lane change warning/blind spot monitoring system, rear cross traffic warning with braking, rear collision prevention, and exit warning (warns passengers if traffic is approaching from behind). 

Space and Practicality

The second-gen X1 was a thoroughly practical car, and the third-gen model simply ups the ante because, again, it’s literally bigger. 

As mentioned, headroom is very good, with the tall windows lending a spacious feel to the car even though it lacks a sunroof. In the second row, the passenger space is also excellent in all key dimensions. One thing we noticed is how tall the rear door aperture is now, which is good for new parents who need to evict or install their life-sapping goblins and/or goblin-support thrones. 

The Very Useful features introduced on the second-gen car are still present : The second row seats can be moved fore/aft up 13cm, with adjustable backrests featuring a 40/20/40 split, so there is some level of individual comfort achievable. It’s larger, so three adults isn’t a squeeze like it is on say, a 116i, though two is still more optimal for long journeys.

As for cargo hauling, the X1 has always had plenty of space in the boot, and it gains even more space now going from 505/1,550-litres to 540/1600-litres. There’s a useful split-floor with a deep sub-floor space, and an automatic tailgate. Our only complaint is that there is no way to fold the seatbacks from the boot itself.

Page 3 : Many strengths but one weakness remains

1. Introduction / Design and Appearance
2. Interior and Features / Space and Practicality
3. Driving Experience / Comparison / Conclusion

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