New BMW Concept X1 unveiled: first official photos

This is the new BMW X1. Okay, BMW calls it the Concept X1 – it will be wheeled out tomorrow at the opening day of the Paris motor show – but 99 percent of what you see here will be arriving in production form in the UK in autumn 2009. Expect prices to kick off around £20,000 as the X1 tries to capitalise on its lack of direct rivals – Audi’s Q3 is still two years away. No surprise BMW is predicting 100,000 sales a year as buyers continue to downsize without loss of image.

This Concept X1 is quite easily the ugliest BMW yet – and that’s saying something!

Err, yes, it’s a safe bet that the X1’s lines are likely to have design purists swooning for all the wrong reasons. Its busy mix of lines, uncomfortable proportions and heavy-handed detailing means the X1 stands out – but probably in more of a point-your-finger-and-snigger way than its designers would like. BMW obviously disagrees because it believes the X1 is all about ‘cool elegance, modern style, and variable function’. So there.

Codenamed E84 and known internally as Sports Activity Wagon, the German-built car is underpinned by architecture borrowed from the E90 3-series – the same basis for the 2009 Mini 4×4 – which means an extensive range of four and six-cylinder turbo-charged direct injection petrol and diesel engines, hooked up to six-speed manual and new eight-cog automatic transmissions. Efficient Dynamics will also feature to trim the X1’s thirst and emission levels, and a hybrid should arrive within two years of the production version.

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