Fashion Quarterly‘s features writer Phoebe Watt takes the new BMW X1 for a spin. Here’s what she thought:
Who’s that girl?
That girl is the BMW X1 xDrive20d.
Very nice, how much?
Pricing for the BMW X1 starts at $65,000 including three year scheduled servicing, a five year warranty and five year roadside assistance.
Looks matter. What first impression does this make?
As something of a gateway SUV, the BMW X1 only puts me halfway towards the big, black, bulletproof SUV of my dreams, but it sure is an upgrade from my usual wheels so I’ll take it. Stuck in traffic on the Ellerslie Panmure highway, the first thing I do is use the voice command functionality to make a phone call via Bluetooth, all of which has me feeling like a reality TV star except my reality is way more low rent – I’m not talking to my rapper boyfriend, I’m calling FQ’s creative director Marcel (who I know to be at Westfield St Lukes) and placing an order for a Wendy’s Shake n Dog. Hey, at least my car is fancy.
If this car was a person, who would it be?
Drake. It’s gangster, but it’s politely gangster. Sure it’ll take you on a hell of a ride, but it’ll insist on making sure you feel comfortable and safe at all times. 18-inch alloy wheels and BMW TwinPower Turbo engines? Check, check. Heated seats and steering wheel and an SOS button that will call emergency services for you in a crisis? Check, check, check.
What can this car do? Any fancy gizmos or tech?
I love that, if I’m playing music through my phone via Bluetooth, it starts up automatically every time I get in the car. My phone could be buried at the bottom of my bag and as soon as I turn the engine on it just picks up where we left off. And say, at 6pm, I’m not feeling Beyoncé like I was at 8:15 am, there are two control panels—one on the steering wheel and one on the centre console—that I can use to scroll through my iTunes and select a new album. So much safer (and more legal) than scrolling through your phone while driving, and so much less effort than rummaging around for it in the first place.
Most importantly, how are the cup holders/lipstick mirrors?
The flexible cup holders are designed to accommodate any sized vessel, which came in handy on Sunday when I needed a Powerade, a takeaway coffee, and a water bottle within arm’s reach at all times. As for the lipstick mirrors, I’m not normally a makeup rush-job in the car kinda girl, but running late on Monday morning I was grateful for a decent reflective surface to curl my eyelashes in.
Anything you wish it had or could do?
If you want to charge your phone there’s a dock inside the centre console that you can click an iPhone 4 – 5S into directly, but if you have an iPhone 6 or newer you need a USB cable. First world problems, I know, but it’s just another thing to remember when you’re walking out the door, and then again when you’re getting out of the car.
Parking difficulty level/how many attempts did it take?
The rear view camera made reversing into a tight carpark a breeze. My only complaint is that when you are 30cms away from a wall but you have to keep rolling back as your large vehicle requires that you use every inch of space available, the incessant warning beeps are kind of the equivalent of having your Mum in the front seat yelling at you that you’re going to crash. I know what I’m doing Mum, just let me park!
Is it one you’d drive for yourself or for the attention of other women or men?
Definitely myself, if only by default. It’s certainly stylish but it’s too ubiquitous to really turn heads. Driving it around central Auckland I didn’t feel like one in a million, I felt like about one in 10.
Things that matter to car geeks
Take my word for it, this car is really fast. You want specifics though so here goes: The BMW X1 xDrive20d is a 4.9 litre, 8-speed Steptronic automatic all-wheel drive with a 140kw engine and 18-inch alloy wheels. It has a keyless ignition, electronic park break, head up display, and is equipped with a rear view camera and parking assistant with front/rear park distance control. It comes with a built-in navigation system and a BMW ConnectedDrive app which offers a concierge service and real-time traffic information. The headlights are automatic, the tailgate operation is electric, and the upholstery is leatherette.
Best feature
I suspect that this is fairly standard these days, but not owning a car that was built in the past 10 years, the fact that the front-seat passenger and myself could enjoy completely different air conditioning settings was very novel to me. As there was at times a six degree difference between our temperatures of choice, you can imagine how car trips normally go for us.
A wardrobe full of Prada, Chanel, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Celine, Stella McCartney, Givenchy, Dior, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Tom Ford or this car?
No question, the fashion. Again, it’s such an incognito car. If I was spending all that money I’d want it to be on stuff that I don’t see a dozen other people wearing between Symonds St and City Works Depot. But the BMW X1 is both stylish and comfortable, so it probably has one up on the fashion in that respect.
