For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Kia Sorento Plug-In Hybrid 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 X5 xDrive45e doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Both the Sorento Plug-In Hybrid and X5 xDrive45e have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Sorento Plug-In Hybrid 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 X5 xDrive45e’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.
Both the Sorento Plug-In Hybrid and X5 xDrive45e have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Sorento Plug-In Hybrid has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The X5 xDrive45e’s Cross Traffic Warning doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Sorento Plug-In Hybrid and the X5 xDrive45e have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Kia Sorento Plug-In Hybrid is safer than the BMW X5 xDrive45e:
|
Sorento Plug-In Hybrid |
X5 xDrive45e |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
21% |
34% |
Neck Stress |
168 lbs. |
308 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
22 lbs. |
112 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
212/405 lbs. |
636/584 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.8 inches |
Neck Stress |
159 lbs. |
220 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
89 lbs. |
91 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
81/191 lbs. |
527/418 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 post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Kia Sorento Plug-In Hybrid is safer than the BMW X5 xDrive45e:
|
Sorento Plug-In Hybrid |
X5 xDrive45e |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
280 |
308 |
Spine Acceleration |
32 G’s |
44 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.