Distance: 326km
Location: Nova Scotia
Date: November 19-20, 2022
Up front: It’s objective not a bad car to drive but it is an uncomfortable car to sit in. Unlike BMW’s sedans, there is no thigh support and no lumbar support. The leather-like material on the seats are cheap and the sun visor is leather-textured hard plastic. The armrests on the door aren’t the same height as the centre console armrest, which looks like it was tacked onto the base portion of the centre console of a 3-series. The indicator stalk now feels just as soulless as the Tiptronic gear stick and you have no idea whether your indicator is still on while you keep your eyes on the road because the stalk returns to the centre position even before you’ve finished the turn. The cupholders under the centre control stack rule out tall bottles for long trips.
Ergonomic errors go on and on. The economic nature of this supposedly luxury supposedly crossover vehicle has meant many cut corners. The dead pedal is too close and too wide for comfort. Traditional BMWs have a narrower dead pedal to allow space for a clutch pedal but a manual is not available for the X1 in North America and neither is the ultra-efficient diesel. The gear shifter has been moved forwards to make room for the iDrive knob on the narrow centre console so it’s a reach to shift.
In the back: The rear seats have the same issues as the front seats. You can recline a little bit but there’s still a lack of thigh support and the armrests on the door are much higher than the centre armrest with flimsy cupholders. Two abreast is okay with plenty of legroom and an airy feeling from the panoramic sunroof. The 40/20/40 split folding rear seats make it easy to load large items and keep passengers on board. Since the middle seat folds down, they should’ve made that a substantial armrest with sturdy cupholders that matches the height of the door armrests. The Germans used to be renowned for attention to detail, seems they’ve lost it.
The rear hatch is easy to use with a level loading floor. You can fit a carry-on suitcase under the false floor, but I’d rather have a spare wheel. The 12-volt power socket and netted nook are useful additions, but I still miss the slide-out false floor of the 5-series estates of yore. BMW knows how to do it right, the frustrating this is they choose not to.
Driving: The four-cylinder turbo engine barely has any lag and the accelerator pedal is linear and responsive, as it should be. The classic floor-mounted long accelerator pedal makes cruising control redundant as its easy to keep a steady foot. However, the front-wheel drive biased nature of the all-wheel drive system is immediately apparent as soon as you make the first turn. The tires won’t squeal like on a front-wheel-drive only 1-series, but it’s no fun on a twisty coastal road.
It handles like a cheap 1-series, it looks like a jacked-up 1-series and sounds like a 1-series, it’s the hatchback for those in denial of reality.
