Friyay: A weekend with the BMW X1 XDrive20D

Friyay: A weekend with the BMW X1 XDrive20D

It’s been years since I’ve been in a BMW, so I decided to start small

As I pulled up to the fancy building in a cavalcade of luxury cars, waiting patiently for the bigger ones to do their 7-point U-turns and get back out, I marvelled at how some people lived. The security guards at this apartment building were uniformed, polite, and directed guests to pre-arranged parking. Parking. In a residential building. In South Mumbai. Very, very south. Mind. Blown.

Walking away from my basement parking (in a 1960s building, even!) originally assigned to some expat or other, I patted myself on the back for having the foresight to schedule a luxury car drive during this frou-frou party I found myself at. My 100,000km Polo with one missing hubcap might have brought out the less polite security guards. My partner and I were elegantly dressed, so perhaps the boy-racer M-Sport blue paint didn’t quite fit, but it did the job — PARKING IN SOBO CHAMAYLA!

The X1 I drove is the second-generation in India and like most vehicles these days, it has grown plumper. However, I have to say that the extra girth does good things for the entry-level BMW SUV. The previous X1 felt distinctly shorter and more crossover than SUV, and served as the most affordable way to park the blue-and-white roundel in your designated spot. This one — at least in the media fleet spec — feels a lot more premium. The colour is catchy, of course, as are the uprated wheels and body kit. The visage is muscular, larger than before but not enormous. The panoramic sunroof — obligatory by now — is present. I had no problems at all snaking through the tight, hilly lanes to my destination. In that sense, the X1 feels smaller than it looks — both inside, and to drive.

Being in a crowd at least thirty years senior necessitates a certain course of action. Polite smiles and nods, an attempt or two to congratulate the happy couple (they were not in their seventies, however), a quick pass of the bar, then to an empty table. A malt for me, leaving the Double Black for whoever the fuck drinks Double Black. “You’ve got the right idea,” remarks the wiry American, taking a seat opposite. I don’t know what his excuse for being pickled was, but being surrounded by various magazines’ rich-list was enough to get me started. The yank was a ‘consultant’ in the most vague of terms, and an author. An ex-diplomat, LinkedIn later told me. We got to talking about motoring journalism, cars, how he avoided buying a luxury car and bought a regular brand with the same features, while he occasionally introduced me to one industrialist after another as India’s “most well-known automotive journalist”. His pickled hustle was strong. We exchanged cards.

The talk about luxury cars and value got me thinking about the BMW I had driven in. Is Rs 44.5 lac (ex-showroom) good value for what the X1 offers? Sure, you can get the same sort of equipment package for less, but without the cachet of the brand. The M Sport package also comes in at ten lac above the base price, and all-in, you’ll spend over half-a-CR getting this on the road. It’s about par for the segment, and about 20x lower than what an apartment cost, where I was sitting. But you do get a fair bit of equipment for the money. No skimping on the powered seats, for instance — both driver and passenger get those. This is particularly useful for senior citizens, as I continually discover with advancing age. It’s surprising how laborious moving a seat back and forth manually can be for someone unused to it. No such problems with the X1. I also got to appreciate the seat height and ride height in general. It makes for elegant ingress and egress. Space in the second row is good, with adjustable seats, and the boot is generous — although I missed a powered tailgate. My recent drives in cars of European descent left me feeling indifferent about the climate control. This is the case with the BMW. For my taste, none of my recent rides have cooled the cabin fast enough. The X1 will get there eventually, but it takes a bit. One can always hit “Max AC” for a while, but it defeats the purpose of climate control, somewhat.

My small Malt had been despatched over an hour prior and the air-kissing had given way to pet pooja. Circling back from the well-chosen buffet, I found the consultant/author gone, replaced by a perennial Colaba page 3 couple and a repugnant society dame who had nothing to contribute apart from how much better France was, where she had lived for all of fifteen years. There were no opportunities for automobile talk beyond this point, and I was itching to get back in the driver’s seat. BMW continues to impress as a driver’s car. The 190hp/400Nm two-litre diesel motor and the sweet 8-speed automatic are perfectly paired and make for sporty driving. The “ECO-PRO” mode will even deliver some stellar mileage numbers if you let it. This, despite being an all-wheel drive vehicle. You don’t get adaptive suspension, but the ride quality is a decent compromise even with the M Sport springs. I suspect the smaller wheels and softer setup (without the M Sport package) will provide a plusher ride. The motor is also a bit noisy, which was a surprise.

As I made my way home that evening, I continued to be impressed at the BMW X1. I could have arrived in something much more opulent, but the modestly-sized X1 made for a smart and appropriate way to get around in comfort and style. The drop-off point for the car was a far cry from the gentrified SoBo hills, with dreadful cratered roads on the approach road to the workshop. The X1 still made do without a scratch or scrape. It’s a solid package, you don’t feel short-changed and it’s contemporary. For the same money, you could tinker with a Volvo XC40 that gives you a lot more in terms of gizmos, but it won’t be to everyone’s taste. The X1 is sensible, fun, and gets it done.