Compare the2022 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2021 BMW X1

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Santa Fe are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The BMW X1 doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

Both the Santa Fe and X1 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The X1’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Santa Fe are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The X1 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The X1 doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The X1 only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

The Santa Fe’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. The X1 doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe’s standard cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The X1 doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.

Both the Santa Fe and the X1 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available all wheel drive.

The Santa Fe comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The X1’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe 6 years and 50,000 miles longer than BMW covers the X1. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the X1 ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 2 times as many Hyundai dealers as there are BMW dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Santa Fe’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2020 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than BMW vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai 10th in initial quality, above the industry average. With 23 more problems per 100 vehicles, BMW is ranked 18th, below the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than BMW vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai 7th in reliability, above the industry average. With 7 more problems per 100 vehicles, BMW is ranked 10th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than BMW vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 6 places higher in reliability than BMW.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 53 more horsepower (281 vs. 228) and 53 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 258) than the X1’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

The Santa Fe has 2.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the X1 (18.8 vs. 16.1 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Santa Fe offers an available sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The X1 doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better stopping power the Santa Fe 2.5T’s brake rotors are larger than those on the X1:

The Santa Fe stops shorter than the X1:

For better traction, the Santa Fe has larger standard tires than the X1 (235/60R18 vs. 225/50R18). The Santa Fe Calligraphy’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the X1 (255/45R20 vs. 225/50R18).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Calligraphy has standard 20-inch wheels. The X1’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Santa Fe’s wheelbase is 3.8 inches longer than on the X1 (108.9 inches vs. 105.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe is 3.2 inches wider in the front and 3.4 inches wider in the rear than the track on the X1.

The Santa Fe has 10.3 cubic feet more passenger volume than the X1 (111.5 vs. 101.2).

The Santa Fe has 3.7 inches more front legroom, 3.5 inches more front shoulder room, 4.7 inches more rear legroom and 3.1 inches more rear shoulder room than the X1.

The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the X1 with its rear seat up (36.4 vs. 27.1 cubic feet). The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the X1 with its rear seat folded (72.1 vs. 58.7 cubic feet).

The Santa Fe’s cargo area is larger than the X1’s in almost every dimension:

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Santa Fe’s (except SE) optional rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The X1 doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Santa Fe has a 2000 lbs. towing capacity. The X1 has no towing capacity.

The Santa Fe SEL/Limited/Calligraphy has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The X1 doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The X1 doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Santa Fe has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the X1 only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

Both the Santa Fe and the X1 offer available heated front seats. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the X1.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The X1 doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The X1 doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The X1’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park and it doesn’t offer remote control parking.