First Drive Review: 2016 BMW X1 xDrive 28i by Henny Hemmes - The Auto Channel (blog)
Indeed, BMW has benefitted from the ever growing popularity of sport-utes in general and compact premium ones in particular, even though the Germans started selling the X1 in 2013 in its main market, North America. “The sales of the X1 were more than expected," said René de Heij, product marketing manager BMW Netherlands, whom I met shortly before my first X1 drive. For the second generation, BMW is using the new front-wheel-drive architecture that debuted in the new Mini last year and was a first for the BMW brand in the 2 Series Active Tourer. Fans may not like it, but moving away from rear-wheel-drive - and in the case of the new X1 - also from the beloved 6 in-line engine, has everything to do with upsizing interior space and downsizing engines for improved fuel efficiency. So far, the 2 Series Active Tourer and Grand Tourer (that are only available in Europe) have not disappointed and are selling really well, and we may expect that the new configuration will turn out well for the 20i and 18d sDrive models. Front-wheel-drive is always standard for the models with the smaller engines (20i and 18d), xDrive is an option for the 20i, others and is always standard on the 25i, 20d and 28d models. With the arrival of the new engine family, the 35i model with the six-cylinder motor will not get a successor. Source: www.theautochannel.com
