The BMW X1 handles all conditions and offers level of comfort

I HAVE been watching re-runs of cult American series The Wire, to the extent that I no longer need the subtitles. The cops drive long, low saloons. The villains drive big SUVs. Nobody is driving anything remotely nice. Such as? The BMW X1.

This is BMW's smallest 4x4 hatch, a mostly good looking car which I adored. My mother did, too. BMW must have been doing some serious promotion because mother's tone was sheer approval when she read out the BMW etching on the doorway scuff plate. Nor did she have to get all high and mighty to get in. This SUV or whatever BMW calls it (probably an activity vehicle) is almost at normal height.

It is the newest member of the X family, playing support to the X6, X5 and X3. It is the nicest to drive (pending a shot in the latest X5). It is large enough for five adults, low enough not to scare mother, and it drives like a dream.

The suspension coped really well with normal country roads, such as the dip and curve hill road on a moorland jaunt. The steering is just right, too. One doesn't realise how "right" it is until trying something else in the class. Such as? Volkswagen's Tiguan, which is a much taller car and at a disadvantage in the handling department.

The X1 catalogue opens at 23,325 for the sDrive 1.8d SE which has front-wheel-drive and a 1995cc diesel engine producing 143 bhp.

The same car with automatically engaging 4x4 transmission, badged xDrive, costs 24,640. There's another 1995cc diesel model, badged the 20d, in both sDrive and xDrive, delivering 177bhp. Treetop X1 is the 23d, again based on the 1995cc motor but giving 204bhp and is sold only as an xDrive.

Automatic gears are offered with the xDrive 20d and xDrive 23d, the latter as tested costing 29,975

My time with the X1 was straightforward. Snow was in ready supply a few weeks back and it did what was required, pulling away where a front wheel-drive model would be scrambling and anything with rear-wheel-drive would be enriched by curses from the driver.

The cabin is conventional: rear seats that fold down easily, a useful net pouch in the door pocket so that your house keys etc do not have to slide about the pocket.

Fittings are up to BMW standards, with faux wood embellishment adding some panache, though not liked by some passengers.

The i-Drive information control system was logical and not as involved as the all-embracing system fitted on bigger BMWs. The automatic gearbox had a Tiptronic-type selector plus paddles behind the steering wheel – not something that intrigues me. I leave an automatic in automatic, and this engine has enough torque to do just that. You start the engine on a button after first pushing the bladeless key into a slot, just a bit fiddly.

On the road

It is: BMW X1 xDrive SE 23d Automatic – flagship of the X1 range, with all-wheel-drive in a compact body.

Price: 29,975. Range opens at 23,325 for front-wheel-drive model.

Motor: 2-litre giving 204bhp and 295 lb ft torque.

Top speed: 127mph with 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds.

Economy: Overall official average 44.8mpg with 167g/km CO2. On test the trip computer showed 30 to 36 miles a gallon driving at normal speeds.

Verdict: Rather thirsty in this version but high in refinement.