This is the new BMW X1

BMW customers, it seems, are nothing if not resilient. They've swallowed up almost 750,000 X1s since 2009, despite the SUV-crossover being less than beautiful, less than brilliant to drive, and hardly the roomiest offering on the market for a fair chunk of money.

Enter this: the new BMW X1. And it looks like BMW's stoic buyers are finally being rewarded for their grit and determination, because the new car is not only taller and roomier - it'll also be cheaper to run.

The new X1's secret weapon is its ‘UKL' underpinnings, the smart new modular platform already seen in the latest generation Minis and BMWs.

The ‘UKL1' architecture underpins the new three- and five-door Minis, while the larger ‘UKL2' version used here sits underneath BMW's 2-series Active Tourer MPV, and will eventually give birth to a new 1-Series. And what do all these cars have in common? Yup - front-wheel drive.

FWD would be sacrilegious in a Beemer saloon, but the X1 was never all that handy as a rear-driver, and the benefits of swinging the engine through 90 degrees pay off massively inside.

BMW says the new X1, which stands 53mm taller and 21mm wider than the old car, has more room for legs, knees and other extremities of the human body, despite the car being a bit shorter overall. The boot's no longer a rabbit hutch either.

Of course, you don't have to have front-wheel drive. Adaptive ‘xDrive' capable of marshalling power between axles when required is fitted to the more powerful end of the range. Only the most basic X1 - the 18dsDrive - gets a six-speed manual, the rest using an eight-speed automatic as standard.

Engines? All familiar from the BMW parts cupboard range, once you've waded through the gobbledegook badging. There's a four-cylinder turbo petrol job in three states of tune, or the obvious diesel. Highlights? Well the most economical X1 (the sDrive18d) will do a claimed 69mpg, while the fastest (the xDrive25i) will do 0-62mph on a par with a Golf GTI, in 6.5 seconds.

The most interesting X1 comes later - a lighter, even more frugal three-cylinder petrol. Yes, geek-out fans - that's going to be the sweet little 1.5-litre triple that stars in the latest Mini Cooper.

On the inside, there's a lot of new anti-fool safety tech available that wasn't before, and a fresh head-up display.

It's very much not the enthusiasts' chariot, the X1. But this new one is lighter, cheaper to run, more spacious and even, dare we say it, not totally awful looking. Wouldn't you agree, adjudicators of the internet?