Compare the2024 Volvo XC40VS 2024 BMW X1

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC40 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The BMW X1 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The XC40’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The X1 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC40 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 XC40 and X1 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC40 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 XC40 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.

The XC40 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The X1 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Both the XC40 and the X1 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and its standard front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the XC40 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 207 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The X1 has not been tested, yet.

Volvo pays for scheduled maintenance on the XC40 for 1 year and 4000 miles longer than BMW pays for maintenance for the X1 (4/40,000 vs. 3/36,000).

The XC40’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 6 more horsepower (247 vs. 241) than the X1 xDrive28i’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

The XC40 has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The X1 doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

An eight-speed automatic is standard on the Volvo XC40, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a seven-speed automatic is available for the X1.

For better stopping power the XC40’s standard brake rotors are larger than those on the X1:

The XC40 stops shorter than the X1:

For better traction, the XC40 has larger standard tires than the X1 (235/55R18 vs. 225/55R18).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the XC40 is .8 inches wider in the front and 1.8 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the X1.

The XC40 B5 Plus handles at .86 G’s, while the X1 xDrive28i pulls only .85 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the XC40’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the X1’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.4 feet).

The XC40 has .5 inches more front legroom, .6 inches more front shoulder room and 1.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the X1.

The XC40 has a larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the X1 with its rear seat folded (57.5 vs. 46.9 cubic feet).

A control in the cargo area automatically lowers the XC40’s optional rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The X1 doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The XC40’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The X1’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the XC40 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.

Consumer Reports rated the XC40’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the X1’s headlights, which were rated “Good.”

The X1’s cornering lamps activate a lamp on the front corner when the turn signal is activated. The XC40’s standard adaptive cornering lights turn the actual headlight unit up to several degrees, depending on steering wheel angle and vehicle speed. This lights a significant distance into corners at any speed.

The XC40’s standard side window demisters help clear frost or condensation from the side windows in the winter. The X1 doesn’t even offer side window demisters, so the driver may have to wipe the windows from the outside to gain side vision.

The XC40 has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the X1. The XC40 also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the X1.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Volvo XC40 has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Wireless charging costs extra on the X1.

The Volvo XC40 outsold the BMW X1 by 34% during 2023.