City test: BMW 118d xDrive - also a unit with all four firmly on the ground

Like the Bavarian Golf, the Enica is a well-known model to most people, with its characteristic BMW image, sporty driving characteristics and rear-wheel drive. Less well known is the fact that it recently got the option of four-wheel drive, which makes it even more versatile and useful throughout the year and regardless of the weather and driving conditions. We tested the BMW 118d xDrive!

Except on the outside rare xDrive inscriptions you will not have to recognize whether the specimen in front of you is driven on the rear or both pairs of wheels. Even when driving, this is not noticeable in terms of weight and the associated bouncy, and the same applies to the spaciousness of the passenger cabin and trunk. In all the aforementioned respects, this is a classic unit, but the differences appear in driving characteristics, or behavior while driving.

Except for the rare inscriptions on the body, you will not distinguish the unit with four-wheel drive from the classic ones by (merely) the rear wheel pair.

Famous and numerous four-wheel drive Namely, xDrive brings even more stability to the 1 series when driving dynamically through bends, through which the unit is driven as if on rails, and it performs just as well when driving on poor surfaces, as there is much less sliding of the rear, and correspondingly greater safety while driving and also safety.

However, the 1 Series did not lose anything with this drive in terms of agility and lightness, which the engineers paid a lot of attention to, as they wanted to preserve the characteristic driving feeling of the rear drive. They achieved this so that under normal circumstances the electronically controlled system on rear axle is sending 60 percent of the torque, and the remaining 40 to the front wheels. If the system detects slippage of the front wheels, on this hypoma reacts and completely undetectable, a larger amount of torque sends forward.

The interior is characteristic and exactly the same as in the other versions, and in terms of spaciousness it is somewhere in the golden middle of the "golf" class. — The interior is typical and exactly the same as in the other versions, and in terms of spaciousness it is somewhere in the golden middle of the "golf" class.

So you can drive the unit with the xDrive system carefree all year round, regardless of the weather conditions, because with the right footwear, the car will always and everywhere be firmly on the ground with all four, and you can be completely carefree.

For those of you who are almost at the door and on your way to the showroom, let us tell you that xDrive on the 1 Series can only be obtained in combination with the variants 118d, 120d and M135i, which means about a third of all engine variants, but all things considered, the range is pretty good. He drove the tester weaker than both of diesel alternatives, 105 kW, which this engine develops turns out to be more than sufficient, even with an additional 75 kilograms, which are brought to the scale by the xDrive drive.

Even in the second row and the trunk, it is just as spacious as in the two-wheel drive units, which means that the trunk accommodates 360 to 1,200 liters of luggage.

Performance is very similar to that of the rear-wheel drive version, the same also applies to consumption and emissions, as the former is only about two deciliters higher and with 5.6 liters more than favorable. 121 grams of CO2 emissions (118d otherwise 109g), otherwise it does not mean anything shocking, but considering the 4WD drive, the achievement is quite solid.

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The requirement is a unit whose wealth of equipment, as with other BMW models, is strongly related to the depth of the owner's wallet, for the four-wheel drive of specific 2,650 euro surcharge. Although four-wheel drive is still a rarity in the C-segment, this example can only be had VW golf, which is also considered one of the biggest rivals of the unit, where this safety supplement is offered for a small fee more favorable 2,200 euros. But this is BMW, and as we're used to, everything is slightly better (read: more expensive) with them. And given the market success of the brand and its models, there are still many buyers who are looking for just that and are willing to pay a bit more for it. We say yes four-wheel drive in the smallest Bavarian model due to excellent driving dynamics it is not necessary, should be chosen by those who want exceptional safety no matter what and if you will visit a high mountain ski resort with it a few times a year.

The interior is typical and exactly the same as in the other versions, and in terms of spaciousness it is somewhere in the golden middle of the "golf" class.

Even in the second row and the trunk, it is just as spacious as in the two-wheel drive units, which means that the trunk accommodates 360 to 1,200 liters of luggage.