For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Cadillac XT4 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.
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 XT4 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 XT4 Premium Luxury/Sport offers optional Reverse Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The X1 doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The XT4 Premium Luxury/Sport offers an optional Surround Vision 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 XT4’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 XT4’s standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Rear Cross Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The X1 doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the XT4 and the X1 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee 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 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Cadillac XT4 is safer than the BMW X1:
|
XT4 |
X1 |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
190 |
328 |
Neck Injury Risk |
28% |
32% |
Neck Stress |
218 lbs. |
360 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
43 lbs. |
60 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
181/231 lbs. |
257/329 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Cadillac XT4 is safer than the BMW X1:
|
XT4 |
X1 |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
114 |
143 |
Chest Movement |
.8 inches |
.8 inches |
Hip Force |
328 lbs. |
486 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
169 |
193 |
Spine Acceleration |
51 G’s |
65 G’s |
Hip Force |
598 lbs. |
637 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
13 inches |
13 inches |
HIC |
204 |
278 |
Spine Acceleration |
35 G’s |
39 G’s |
Hip Force |
522 lbs. |
815 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.