[TusharK]

According to a media report, the BMW X1 facelift could be offered with a 1.5-litre petrol engine in the entry-level variant in India.



The 1.5-litre engine is available in the X1 sold in other countries. The 3-cylinder, direct-injection, turbocharged petrol unit produces 138 BHP. It could be offered in a slightly lower state of tune in India.

At present, the BMW X1 comes with two engine options. The first one is a 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder petrol unit that makes 189 BHP and 280 Nm of torque. It is paired with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The second engine is a 2.0-litre diesel unit that makes 188 BHP and 400 Nm of torque. This is engine is offered with an 8-speed automatic transmission.

The BMW X1 facelift is expected to be launched in India around mid-2020.

Source

Link to Team-BHP News

[Nazaar25]

A 1.5L 3 cylinder engine would be completely out of place in a luxury car like the X1!
Is BMW going the AUDI way?

[landcruiser123]

3 possibilities behind this move:
1. More disposable income among the masses and potential for volumes (hope the base variant is well loaded in that case)
2. BMW wants to have that elusive model to bring down the entry price
3. BMW is plain stupid

[TDCi'd]

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[GTO]

First the weird grilles, and now this.

What a sad decision. These cars are anyway overpriced in India and blatant compromises like a 3-cylinder engine are too hard to digest. BMW India should realise its in the "luxury" business. It's like the Taj Hotel switching off its air-conditioning, or serving you dinner in paper plates . Time & again, it has been proven that even 10-lakh rupee customers no longer accept compromises, so it's silly to assume that 35-lakh ones will.

The regular Joe might not have much of a clue about engine specs, but they do care about engine size. BMW might face a marketing & perception problem too.

[drmohitg]

There was a recent statement in the media also from MSIL regarding Indian customer's preference for a higher displacement engine rather than a smaller one with a turbo charger. And going by the pricing strategy, the price difference is not going to be huge for this trim regardless.

I guess they are just trying to gauge the response to petrol motors as diesel is slowly being pushed out of the market.

[Hayek]

Is this the 18i? If so it is not so bad. I drove a BMW X2 18i across Spain this summer - from Madrid to Guadaloupe, Sevilla, Granada and Malaga. It was a mix of driving on motorways and hill roads. And the speeds were higher than anything we would do in India (albeit not the autobahn speeds I did in Germany). I actually found the car good to drive - and never felt the lack of power in getting from 0 to 60 or 30 to 120. If this is the same engine they plan to use here, I don't think anyone other than boy racers will have a reason to crib. Whether it overcomes the mental barriers folks have about 3 cylinder engines is a completely different question.

[Reinhard]

Nice. Keep making cars 3 cylinder across the price spectrum. That is the one big push that will send die hard petrol heads finally to like EVs.

The curtains are being readied for ICEs.

[np23]

Well I drove this in April this year, in Pakistan of all places, and on their silky smooth motorways from Lahore to islamabad, dare I say better than autobahns, both in quality and driving manners, this seemed more than an adequate as a cruiser. However going by the sales of the 1.4 A4, I seriously believe the Indian customer does care of displacement and this’ll take a hard time selling, though if they price it well, they might just have a winner.
Remember the first time the E90 320d corporate edition was launched? After the 325i and 320d, many didn’t give a chance to CE’s initially but it showed if the price is correct then people do overlook features and comfort creatures not so sure about the engine displacement though
Cheers

[Santoshbhat]

Sad to see BMW moving away from their 'ultimate driving machine' tagline. The brand was once the go to brand for young, affluent, driving pleasure seekers. Starting from the F generation of cars, BMW has tried to go mainstream, which undeniably makes good business sense since they can appeal to a wider audience, but has ended up creating an identity crisis for itself.

Almost all the German marques have small entry level engine options for their cars in the EU and singling out BMW may be a bit unfair though. Small engined big cars are somewhat like our sub 4 meter sedans in the EU. They are all after the tax breaks for lower CO2 emissions!

[Durango Dude]

I see cubic capacities & power going south but the prices are always going north. I'll take a bet that this 1.5 L petrol engined BMW X1 will cost close to ₹ 40L all for the badge and packaging.

[SpideyBoy]

I think by all means BMW must be thinking why criticize only Volkswagen, I'm here for that too. This decision is absolutely foolish. Assuming it to be priced nothing south of 35 lakhs at minimum, I'm wondering who would even consider buying it. Even though BMW stuns everyone and price it super aggressively, it will still be costly and utterly unworthy.

[bottle]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

BMW X1 will cost close to ₹ 40L all for the badge and packaging.

Originally Posted by SpideyBoy

Assuming it to be priced nothing south of 35 lakhs at minimum,.

I bought my X1 expedition for 34.9 all inclusive OTR, and I think there are further discounts now. I dont think they can get by pricing this higher. Maybe they are looking to target the segment between 20-30 lacs where there are no real options other than Jeep Compass

Or maybe they plan to increase prices for the 2 litre and have this where the expedition is now

[ds.raikkonen]

I'd rather go for the Tiguan (if I had the money!). Although the xDrive is technically better than VW's Haldex in terms of splitting the torque.

Hope VW offer their 1.5 TSi engine in the Tiguan next year (which they're already offering in other markets).

Here's a quote from WhatCar about the Tiguan:

The Tiguan is a strong competitor in the family SUV class with great handling and a long equipment list. Other premium rivals like the BMW X1 are just slightly better finished, though.

[veedub89]

The sole reason for offering this smaller engine is price.
BMW wants to get its price down to make the brand more accessible. So the chance of the 1.5 litre engined car being well loaded and having xDrive is negligible.
It will probably be a stripped down version so that BMW can throw adverts like - "The X1 now starts at Rs. 2x.xx lakhs!"

You will then walk into the showroom and realise that this is not the car you want because it sucks and the Tiguan and Kodiaq are better VFM.

BMW will hope then that you will pick the higher variants and not walk out of the showroom with a lesser regard for the brand.

Dumb move in my opinion. I would walk out and go to Merc or Jaguar or Volvo if I wanted brand value.