The xDrive28i—powered by the naturally aspirated, 3.0-liter straight-six rated at 261 hp—will also be available at launch. BMW will later add the xDrive18d and xDrive18i (both rated at 141 hp) as well as the 168-hp xDrive20i. The company has told us that the X1 will be available in the U.S. as the xDrive30i, using a higher-horsepower and lower-torque version of the 3.0-liter six in the xDrive28i. In xDrive30i versions of the X3 and X5, that engine makes 260 hp and 225 lb-ft of torque.
Performance will be passenger car–like, with the xDrive20d, 23d, and 28i topping out at 132 mph, 139 mph, and 143 mph; 0–62 mph takes 8.4 seconds, 7.3 seconds, and 6.7 seconds, respectively. Fuel economy is especially impressive for the diesel versions; the X1 23d gets 37 mpg in the European cycle. BMW will later add a rear-wheel-drive version that gets over 47 mpg.
The X1 will be offered in Europe starting at about €30,000—that’s roughly €5000 less than a comparably equipped X3 and equivalent to $42,000. The production model will stand at the Frankfurt auto show in September, with sales beginning shortly thereafter. It will be interesting to see how U.S. pricing is affected by production location, since the X1 will be built at the Leipzig, Germany, plant, while the next-generation X3 will be built alongside the X5 and X6 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
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