2010 BMW X1. Click image to enlarge

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By Dustin A. Woods; photos courtesy BMW

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2010 BMW X1

Mallorca, Spain – Until very recently, my only experience with camouflaged pre-production vehicles was trying to decode the updated lines and bodywork of the spy shots that graced the pages of my favourite car magazines. Last week, however, I was fortunate enough to be invited to Mallorca, Spain to drive BMW’s new X1 SUV not only before it hits showroom floors, but before it even starts coming off the assembly line. Car companies rarely, if ever, allow us journalist types to see, let alone drive, a project that hasn’t been completed, but BMW evidently felt confident enough with the progress of the X1 to start showing it off.

2010 BMW X1. Click image to enlarge

After having a chance to put it through its paces, I can see why. Aside from some fine tuning from the driving dynamics team and the fitment of some interior bits and pieces, the current X1 is darn close to what European customers will experience when it is launched later this year. Canadians will have to wait for the 2011 model, likely to arrive sometime in 2010.

On route to the event, the origins of the X1 chassis were the topic of a hotly contested debate. “Obviously it will be based on the 1 Series platform,” quipped one journalist. “Otherwise it would make the X3 obsolete,” he added. Upon meeting members of the engineering team, this debate had to be put to rest. As it turns out, the X1 is in fact based on the 3 Series platform, sharing its wheelbase and some mechanical bits. The reason for this, in addition to ride quality and cabin size, is that the 1 Series doesn’t currently have xDrive capabilities – which was a priority for the X1 project.

Considering it was a relatively short program, our group was able to test the X1 in a wide variety of diverse driving conditions. After a short jaunt down a gravel path, we immediately went off-road and handily tackled terrain I wouldn’t have expected the X1 to be capable of traversing. Steep inclines and declines, loose rocks, tree stumps and uneven ground that would make a ‘Trail Rated’ Jeep bounce around uncontrollably, the X1 negotiated the obstacles without protest.

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