BMW eyes new engines for X1

BMW Australia is working towards introducing a new turbo-diesel engine and a pair of turbocharged petrol engines when it launches a revised X1 compact SUV range in October this year.

The German car-maker’s latest eight-speed Steptronic automatic transmission is also expected to become available as an option to the standard six-speed manual in the X1, replacing the existing six-speed auto.

A new twin-turbo version of the company’s existing 2.0-litre diesel – which already powers the 23d variant in Australia – was this week revealed in Europe as the 25d, which will be the top model in the mainly diesel X1 range over there.

The new engine lifts power over the 23d by 13kW to 163kW and torque by 50Nm to 450Nm, with drive going exclusively through all four wheels.

BMW says the smaller of the two turbochargers, which features variable geometry technology, is responsible for low-rev response, with peak torque available from just 1500rpm, while the larger turbo is concerned with higher-rev output, resulting in 0-100km/h performance of 6.8 seconds – 0.5 seconds faster than the 23d.

This new xDrive25ds model goes on sale in the UK from July and could come to Australia, although the local division is concerned about the relatively low take-up of top-end diesel variants.

On the petrol side, however, the high-output version of BMW’s familiar ‘TwinPower’ 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder – which has a twin-scroll single turbocharger, not twin turbos as the name might suggest – is likely to come here as the xDrive28i, replacing the 25i variant that was discontinued in January.

The 28i has been available overseas for a year and the engine is already available in a number of other BMW models in Australia, including the X1’s larger X3 sibling, where it produces 190kW and 310Nm.

A less powerful version of the same engine, producing around 135kW and 270Nm, could become the new entry-level front-wheel-drive X1 offering as the sDrive20i, replacing the existing sDrive18i that offers 110kW and 200Nm from its four-cylinder non-turbo petrol engine.

BMW Australia head of corporate communications Piers Scott told GoAuto the X1 engine line-up for Australia has not yet been settled.

“There’s a pretty good chance the N20 2.0-litre TwinPower petrol engines will come here as the 20i and 28i,” he said. “It’s been very successful in other vehicles so we would be pretty excited about them coming here in the X1.”

Mr Scott said the engine line-up would not be decided until as late as July or August, with the range being introduced here in late September or early October.

As we reported last month when the facelifted X1 first appeared ahead of the New York motor show, the midlife revision is more about mechanicals than cosmetics.

Visual changes include extended painted surfaces front and rear, new headlight internals, LED corona-ring main beams with the optional Xenon package, new fog lamp surrounds, restyled side sills, indicator lights in the external mirrors, a more prominent rear underguard and new alloy wheel designs.