A Swing and a Miss

A key benefit BMW's products receive in the design process is close monitoring by a single source, design chief Chris Bangle, to be specific. This ensures that, for the most part, bimmers look great or at minimum, look consistent with the current styling. The newly announced X1, pictured below at the Paris Auto Show, is a hit in the design department. So why does this bug me?

In short BMW has created a compromise that costs too much. (To be fair, BMW has indicated it does not currently plan to sell the X1 in the U.S. so complaining about price isn't entirely applicable.) I went through this with the 1-series. Good looking? Yes. Great handling and speed? Yes. Comfortable? Um, it's a little tight, but livable for single-person use. $38,000*? Without being able to carry passengers and groceries? They lost me. I feel the X1 falls into the same category: great to look at but unworkable as a primary car, particularly at a price reserved for a token sports convertible.



BMWs have always been pricey, a requisite characteristic of luxury is exclusivity. However I find that they are on a string of offerings with less handling, space, or longevity all sporting unjustifiable price tags: 650i Coupe, 135i, 535i Wagon, X6, and now the X1. The point isn't that BMW can't make smaller or more utility-oriented cars; it is that I disagree with pricing them so closely to their better balanced siblings.


*The 128i costs just over 30, but just a touch higher comes the all-around winning 328i. And buying a 1-series without the twin turbo is just silly. The rest of the price comes from the destination charge and sport package.