BMW X1 LWB First Drive Review

For years, the decision to buy an X1 was fairly straightforward. It was the most accessible way into BMW's lineup, premium enough to feel like a genuine upgrade, practical enough to be the only car you needed, and available in enough powertrain options to satisfy most buyers. But BMW has since complicated things, in the best possible way. The lineup now has the standard X1, the electric iX1, and now this, the X1 Long Wheel Base. It is positioned on the petrol side of the range and aimed squarely at buyers who loved what the X1 offered but wanted more room in the back. The question, though, is whether this is still the car to reach for when you are stepping up from a Rs. 30 lakh car and entering the luxury space for the first time. We spent time with it to find out.

The X1 LWB is unmistakably an X1 and, depending on your perspective, that is either a strength or a missed opportunity. The most meaningful change on the outside is dimensional. The car grows by 116mm in length to 4,616mm, and the wheelbase stretches by 108mm to 2,800mm. The natural consequence is larger rear windows and a more substantial quarter glass both of which make the car look more proportionate when you look at it from the side.

But if you are trying to spot the differences between the X1 LWB and the electric iX1 standing next to each other in a showroom, you will need a sharp eye. The grille is the obvious giveaway where the ICE car keeps the chrome kidney while the iX1 has a blanked-off version. But beyond that, the 18-inch alloy design, door handles, and bumpers are essentially identical. The BMW badge gets a blue ring on the electric model, which is about the most conclusive tell.

The X1's design has been around since 2023, but it has held up well. The dual eyebrow DRLs, the sculpted kidney grille, and the C-shaped rear lamps still look current. The LWB adds chrome window surrounds and a silver insert on the side cladding and rear bumper to distinguish itself from the standard car. There is no new-generation X1 on the horizon globally, so this design will be around for a while yet. The good news is that it does not feel like it needs replacing.

The cabin continues the X1's tradition of doing a lot with restraint. The dashboard is clean, minimalist, and more elegant for it. The dual-curved screens sit together in a single binnacle, the circular leather-wrapped steering wheel with the M lettering keeps things traditional, and the layering of black on the upper dashboard, silver at the centre, and a new brown on the lower half works together cohesively without feeling busy. Three years on from the X1's launch, this interior has aged genuinely well.

BMW has introduced a new interior theme called Castanea. It’s a deep, dark shade of brown that gives the cabin a warmer, more distinctive character. If that feels a little too statement for you, a white and grey dual-tone option is also on the table. The all-black interior that early X1 buyers could choose is no longer available, which may disappoint some.

The floating centre console carries over with its row of physical buttons for the infotainment, drive mode toggle, 360-degree camera shortcut, and drive selector, all logically placed and genuinely convenient in use. The armrest storage beneath is shallow but adequate for keys and small items. The front seats offer lumbar support and good shoulder bolstering, the headrests are adjustable, and the low dashboard means you sit with a naturally high view of the road. It is a well-composed place to spend time.

The features story is a mixed bag, and it is worth being clear about both sides of it. On the positive side, the wireless charging mount is one of the better implementations you will find. It keeps the phone visible and held securely while charging, rather than tucking it away somewhere inconvenient. The instrument cluster, while slightly smaller in display area than the infotainment screen despite sharing the same binnacle, offers good customisation with different layouts, ADAS readouts, integrated maps, driving data, and colour changes tied to drive modes.

The fixed panoramic glass roof, which benefits directly from the longer wheelbase, deserves a special mention. It does not open, but its sheer size transforms the ambience of the cabin making it feel genuinely airy in a way that a standard sunroof does not quite achieve. Both front seats are powered, and the driver gets memory function. Front USB-C ports are a pair, which is expected. The rear getting only one, however, is not, particularly when the iX1 offers two in the back.

Then there are the gaps that start to register the more time you spend in the car. No rear window blinds, despite the rear occupants being the primary beneficiaries of the longer wheelbase. No cooling function for the front seats. No head-up display for the driver. Front seatback pockets - gone. None of these individually is a deal-breaker, but together they add up to a list that feels slightly incomplete at this price point.

This is where the LWB argument is made most convincingly. BMW claims 109mm of additional knee room in the rear. And when you open the now-wider rear doors and settle into the back seat, that number translates into something you feel immediately rather than just read about. It is properly spacious back here. The seat cushion is 15mm longer, the doors open wider for easier entry and exit, and the fixed glass roof overhead makes the rear cabin feel open rather than enclosed.

Put the armrest down, slide your legs out, recline slightly, and the rear of the X1 LWB becomes a genuinely pleasant place to spend time. Both outboard passengers will be comfortable. The centre position, unfortunately, remains compromised by the floor hump and the middle passenger legroom is tight, and that is unlikely to change regardless of how much the wheelbase grows.

The aforementioned missing features do make their absence felt more here than they would in the front. When you are in a seat this spacious and comfortable, you naturally start wanting all the other pieces to fall into place too. Most do. A handful do not.

Storage is sensibly distributed throughout the cabin. The glovebox is cooled, and both front and rear door pads offer enough space for a standard one-litre bottle. Under the floating centre console, there is a reasonable amount of storage, though accessing it from the co-driver side requires reaching around the vertical support that holds the upper console in place, which is not the most convenient arrangement. Cupholders are available in both rows, and the centre armrest adds a small but usable storage compartment.

The powered tailgate opens to a 540-litre boot. BMW has also provided a 40:20:40 split rear seat configuration, which is more flexible than the standard 60:40 and allows a combination of luggage and passenger use that most buyers will find useful in real life. Fold everything flat and the boot expands to 1,700 litres. A 17-inch spare wheel is also included, which is worth noting at a time when more cars are moving to repair kits only.

The 10.7-inch touchscreen is the hub of the X1's digital experience. Paired with the 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster in the same curved binnacle, the setup looks coherent and feels intuitively laid out. The home screen is customisable with favourites, vehicle settings, ADAS functions, and navigation are all logically grouped, and the whole system runs on BMW's latest OS 9 which is noticeably smoother and more responsive than the versions earlier X1 buyers experienced.

The 12-speaker Harman Kardon audio is a highlight. It delivers well-balanced output with clear vocals, controlled bass, and a staging that does not feel artificially pumped up the way some multi-speaker systems do. The mesh design on the speaker units, however, looks cheaper than it should for a car at this price.

The 360-degree camera is sharp, accurate, and the guidelines are well calibrated. The one criticism is that the camera feed does not fill enough of the screen and a larger display area for the surround view would have made parking in tight spots even more confidence-inspiring.

Six airbags are standard, and the X1 LWB adds a knee airbag on top. The Park Assistant Plus with Reverse Assist is one of the more practically useful features here. When you drive past a tight parking spot and then want to reverse into it, the system memorises the last 50 metres of your path and can reverse the car along that exact trajectory automatically. It sounds like a party trick until you actually need it, at which point it feels like something you cannot imagine parking without.

The active safety suite covers the expected bases well with autonomous emergency braking, high-beam assist, lane keep assist, and adaptive cruise control. The lane keep assist, in testing, works reliably on well-marked roads. The electronic parking brake, tyre pressure monitor, and 360-degree camera round out what is a comprehensive safety package.

The X1 LWB comes with a single powertrain choice. It’s a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol, now producing 154bhp and 230Nm, paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission in front-wheel drive configuration. The diesel that is available with the standard X1 is not on offer here, and xDrive all-wheel drive has been left off as well. BMW notes that uptake for AWD in India remains low.

The 20bhp bump over the previous output makes a noticeable difference. It does not transform the car into something dramatic. There is no sudden surge that pins you back but the power builds more linearly and confidently, particularly in the mid-range where everyday overtaking happens. For a three-cylinder unit, refinement is impressive. There is minimal vibration at idle, and the engine stays composed and quiet even when you push it. One omission that sits awkwardly for a BMW is the omission of paddle shifters. Given how much the brand's driving character is built around driver involvement, their absence on the DCT transmission is a curious call.

BMW calls the X1 LWB's setup a comfort suspension, and it shows. The ride is firm as BMWs tend to be but not sharply so. There is more give here than in the standard X1, and the car handles broken surfaces and city undulations with a composure that does not punish occupants. Build speed and the ride flattens out further, with potholes and minor road imperfections filtering through minimally at highway pace.

Handling is where the X1 reminds you that it is, at its core, a BMW. The steering is accurate and well-weighted, the body stays controlled through direction changes, and the different drive modes. particularly Sport add perceptible weight and sharpness to the experience. It does not excite the way a 3 Series does, but for an SUV with a stretched wheelbase, it handles with more engagement than most buyers will expect. Put simply, if you enjoy driving, the X1 LWB will not disappoint.

Refinement in the cabin is well managed. Wind noise is largely suppressed at highway speeds, and road noise while present over coarser surfaces stays at a level that does not intrude on conversation. The 1.5-litre engine, as mentioned, is a quiet unit that does not make its three-cylinder nature obvious during everyday driving. Put together, the X1 LWB offers a cabin environment that feels appropriately premium.

Prices for the X1 LWB are yet to be officially announced but are expected to land very close to the iX1's price point which makes the choice between the two an interesting one for buyers who are drawn to the X1's form factor. Both share near-identical styling, and the decision will largely come down to powertrain preference and how much the daily range question matters to you.

When the pricing is confirmed, the X1 LWB will continue to square off against the Mercedes-Benz GLA and the Audi Q3 both of which have not received significant updates in a while. Against that backdrop, the X1 feels like the fresher choice in the segment, and the addition of a longer wheelbase variant only widens its appeal. The variety BMW now offers with a standard wheelbase, LWB, and electric in a single nameplate is a genuine advantage over the competition.

There is, however, a broader question worth asking. At the price this car will command, the Indian market now has some genuinely spacious full-size seven-seater SUVs that offer more room, more features, and more practical versatility. If space and practicality are your only priorities, there are compelling arguments to be made elsewhere. But if you are seeking to add a luxury badge to your garage, one that brings a genuinely different driving character, a well-resolved cabin, and the credibility of the BMW name, the X1 LWB makes its case quietly and convincingly. It does not shout. It does not need to.

Pictures by Kapil Angane