BMW X1 Stands Out With Rare Color: Desert Sand

Article Summary

• Desert Sand is an optional Individual color available for €3,900 in Germany.
• The 20-inch wheels are also an Individual upgrade, priced at €2,000.
• BMW highlights the X1 xDrive30e with an M Sport Pro Package.

An uncommon color for a common crossover; that’s one way to sum up this BMW X1 painted in Desert Dune. It’s a high-end specification of the xDrive30e, wearing the M Sport Pro Package and optional 20-inch Individual wheels. However, it’s the unusual body paint that immediately makes it stand out. At the same time, the odd exterior serves as a reminder that even BMW’s entry-level crossover is available with special colors.

The last time we saw this Individual body color was on an entirely different vehicle: a diesel-powered 7 Series. Codenamed S0F, Desert Sand is a beige/cream-like shade, and dare we say it’s a good match for the X1. However, this clearly isn’t a color people shopping for the compact luxury crossover will choose if they want to fly under the radar. It makes even a low-key vehicle like the X1 stand out in traffic, for better or worse.

Since it’s part of the Individual color palette, Desert Sand doesn’t come cheap. We found it listed in the German configurator for the X1 at €3,900, or about four times more than a regular finish. Usually, customers shopping in higher segments tend to splurge on special colors, which is why you likely haven’t seen too many 1 Series hatchbacks wearing Individual paint either.

While BMW is showing off this special X1, it’s also working on the model’s mid-cycle facelift with an unusual split. As we’ve previously reported, the combustion-engine versions (including the plug-in hybrids) will receive an LCI in 2027. Also arriving next year is the iX1. Rather than getting a facelift like its X1-badged counterparts, the fully electric model will be a full-blown, next-generation model.

This design will begin to look dated once the new X1 and iX1 break cover next year. BMW is overhauling its smallest X model with a Neue Klasse makeover. Spy shots of camouflaged prototypes suggest a baby iX3 look, and that should carry over to the interior as well. The iDrive X and Panoramic Vision are coming even to the entry point of the company’s vast SUV lineup.

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It will be interesting to see whether the X1 xDrive30e facelift brings more electric range. Currently, the model is rated for 55 miles (88 kilometers) WLTP before the turbocharged 1.5-liter gasoline engine kicks in. We’re hopeful BMW will upgrade the current 14.2-kWh battery and extract even more from the EV mode. The engineers could either use a larger battery or achieve a higher energy density from the existing pack.

While efficiency is likely the top priority for those shopping for a plug-in hybrid X1, the xDrive30e is no slouch. It takes 5.6 seconds to hit 62 mph (100 km/h), which isn’t too shabby for a crossover powered by a three-cylinder engine. That B38 unit works in conjunction with an electric motor to deliver a combined 322 horsepower, more than any other X1 version on sale today.

Photos: Samuel Zaťko / BMW Slovakia

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