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2020 BMW X1 gets a bigger grille along with other small updates

The subcompact crossover heads into 2020 with a handful of changes.

Steven Ewing Former managing editor
Steven Ewing spent his childhood reading car magazines, making his career as an automotive journalist an absolute dream job. After getting his foot in the door at Automobile while he was still a teenager, Ewing found homes on the mastheads at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog and Motor1.com before joining the CNET team in 2018. He has also served on the World Car Awards jury. Ewing grew up ingrained in the car culture of Detroit -- the Motor City -- before eventually moving to Los Angeles. In his free time, Ewing loves to cook, binge trash TV and play the drums.
Steven Ewing
2 min read
BMW

The  gets a number of updates as it heads into the 2020 model year, though none of them is all that major. According to BMW's announcement this week, updated exterior styling, revised transmission programming and some new color and wheel options highlight the X1's mid-cycle update.

Up front, you'll notice the larger grille, the enlarged kidneys better linking the X1 to its X5 and X7 stablemates. There's a lot more sculpting around the turn signal housings, and the X1 adds hexagonal running lights to complement the new LED headlights.

Move around back, and you'll see the 2020 X1's tinted taillights, with L-shaped running lamps. BMW also says the new X1's exhaust outlets are 20 millimeters larger in diameter, for whatever that's worth.

2020 BMW X1
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2020 BMW X1

The 2020 X1 gets redesigned taillights and ever-so-slightly larger exhaust pipes. 

BMW

Inside, every 2020 X1 comes standard with an 8.8-inch touchscreen, running BMW's older iDrive 6 multimedia software. As before, Apple CarPlay is available, but iDrive 6 still can't support Android Auto . The only other noteworthy cabin update is the addition of an electronic gear shifter.

Speaking of gears, BMW says the X1's eight-speed automatic transmission has been reprogrammed for smoother overall performance. Otherwise, the SUV's powertrain carries over unchanged, meaning every X1 is powered by a 2.0-liter, turbocharged I4 engine with 228 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Both front- and all-wheel drive configurations are available.

Pricing isn't available just yet, but given the minor updates, we don't expect the 2020 X1 to command much more than the 2019 model. That means pricing should begin right around $35,000 when the updated X1 arrives in US dealers later this year.

BMW X1 gets a fresh face for 2020

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