This will likely seem like your run-of-the-mill BMW iX1 painted in Area Silver Metallic however there’s one delicate change on the entrance. The kidney grille has obtained a brand new look inherited from the long-wheelbase iX1 constructed and offered completely in China. Nevertheless, we’re coping with an everyday iX1 for the UK market – as denoted by the right-hand-drive format.

Thoughts you, this isn’t a Life Cycle Impulse for the iX1. In any case, the electrical crossover was unveiled in June 2022 and hit the market in October of the identical 12 months. Having been on sale for roughly a 12 months and a half, it’s far too early for the LCI therapy. It’s unclear why BMW has made this transformation with out telling anybody, however we reckon it’s to align the grille design with that of the iX2.

We checked various configurators throughout Europe and found that BMW has already up to date them to characteristic the iX1’s shiny new grille. In hindsight, the brand new grille isn’t truly all that new because it was first utilized on the standard-wheelbase iX1 when the single-motor, front-wheel-drive eDrive20 debuted in September 2023.

It eschews the vertical bars of the unique design in favor of rhombs that shrink in measurement as they get nearer to the middle of the grille. This new look lends the electrical crossover a extra trendy fascia whereas separating the zero-emission variants from the gasoline, diesel, and plug-in hybrid X1 fashions. BMW applies the brand new grille on each the iX1 eDrive20 and xDrive30 fashions, with or with out the M Sport Bundle. The German luxurious marque additionally gives these two grille designs on the X2, one for ICE variations and the opposite for the EVs.

This iX1 is a lesser front-wheel-drive model but it surely does have the non-obligatory M Sport Bundle, Shadowline darkish accents, and 19-inch wheels (871 M Type) that includes a two-tone coloration.

One other replace for the “U11” may arrive within the months to return as BMW will reportedly begin manufacturing of an X1 sDrive20d in July. We’re already listening to experiences the next-generation iX1 may transfer to the Neue Klasse platform and undertake the “NB5” inner codename. It’s allegedly scheduled to go on sale round 2028.

Supply: andrew.barker.bmw / Instagram