Kia Seltos vs BMW X1

What's the difference?

Kia’s updated Seltos is more expensive than the previous version but it's better as well.

The entry grade no longer has hubcaps and gets alloy wheels, all grades have directional air vents in the second row, the jerky dual-clutch auto is gone and an excellent regular eight-speed auto has arrived, plus there’s more safety tech and modern displays screens.

What hasn’t changed is the Seltos’s size. It’s a big, small SUV, that’s easy to park in tight spaces but roomy inside even for tall, awkward humans like me. 

The sweet spot in the range is the Sport+ with the 1.6-litre engine, if only it had the LED headlights that only come on the GT-Line.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.

This new BMW X1 feels like it's been built by a team of parents because it’s one of the most practical and easy to use small SUVs my family and I have ever lived with and, trust me, they’ve seen a lot of test cars come through the Berry garage.

We loved the roomy interior with high ceilings, the clever storage everywhere from the giant door pockets to the floating centre armrest up front and big boot for our pram.

Entry and exit is easy through the tall and wide doors, something my back was thankful for every time I had to put our baby into her car seat.

Driving is easy, with great visibility and the engine that comes in the xDrive20i M Sport makes this X1 sporty and fun to pilot, too.  

The only drawback is the price, it's a bit expensive but at the same time you are getting a high-quality feeling SUV.

This updated Seltos has had a few styling tweaks, too. The grille is taller and  there’s a new headlight design which on the GT-Line is stunning with its LED running lights.

The rear of the Seltos has been restyled as well, with a new tail-light design and again on the GT-Line there’s an LED strip which runs between them.

The Seltos is pretty big for a small SUV. At 4.4m long it’s bigger than a Hyundai Kona and a Honda HR-V and about the same size as a Nissan Qashqai and Corolla Cross.

What’s good about that is you’re getting more space inside with a package that’s still smallish on the outside.

If you think the Seltos’ look is familiar, then I agree. The Honda HR-V and Haval Jolion have very similar tail-light designs and the profile follows many of the same styling cues of the Toyota Corolla Cross.

To my eyes, though, I think the Seltos is the more refined looking of its peers with a more modern and interesting interior.

Speaking of which, keep in mind that the top-of-the-range GT-Line’s cabin is far more fancy than the interior of the entry grade S. The GT-line’s large double digital displays are impressive and the buttons around the shifter for seat heating and ventilation are replaced with blank plastic panels in the S. 

Hard plastic armrests were another of my gripes about the previous entry grade Seltos, too.

Still all cabins have a premium look even if the feel isn’t luxurious throughout on all grades. 

This current generation of X1 arrived in late 2022 and finally looked more like part of the BMW SUV family with tall and boxy styling rather than the sleek, but raised hatchback it seemed to be before.

My test car had 'M Portimao Blue' metallic paint - a flattering hue that showed off the X1’s lines as you can see in the images.

I like the X1’s oversized grille which suits the angry looking front bumper that comes with the M Sport inclusions, but balanced by pretty headlights.

Inside, the X1 xDrive20i M Sport is modern and minimalist in design. I like the floating centre armrest in between the driver and front passenger and the way it creates a feeling of more space and adds more storage.

The double screens are nice, but we’re seeing this same design and tech now in budget cars such as the Chery Omoda 5 and Haval H6. BMW needs to be even slicker and more stylish if it wants to maintain its edge.  

If you like your SUVs sporty looking then check out the BMW X2, X4 and X6. These are coupe style SUVs (but with four doors).

Some small SUVs are seriously small, which might be fine for some, but if you’re hoping to also have enough space for passengers in the back seats, and a boot which can carry plenty of luggage then the Seltos is a good choice.

Even at 191cm tall I had more than enough room to sit behind my driving position with good headroom back there, too.

Cabin storage is also good with door pockets front and rear, and a deep centre console box. As for cupholders there are two up front on all grades, while the Sport+ and GT-Line get two more in the second row fold-down armrest.

Boot capacity depends on if you’ve requested a full-sized spare wheel or the space-saver spare. With the space-saver you’ll have more room at 469 litres, while the full-sized wheel under the boot floor will leave you with 433 litres. That’s still decent for the class.

The new Seltos has directional air vents for back seat passengers which is a win (motoring journalists had been complaining about the lack of them for years) and there are also two USB ports (Type-C) for the second row along with another two for those in the front, plus a 12V outlet.

My family found the X1 xDrive20i to be one of the most practical small SUVs we’ve lived with thanks to its spacious interior, clever cabin storage and plenty of convenient features.

I need to point out the door pockets - they’re the biggest I’ve ever seen. They’re more door buckets than pockets and super helpful over the week not just for bottles but for everything else that I needed to dump out of my own pockets and into them.

The floating centre armrest up front looks like an ironing board and has a tonne of storage underneath.

The wireless charging is handy but the holster is a bit un-user friendly in terms of access, but it held the phone tight and stopped it becoming a projectile when driving, which is what you want.

There are power outlets galore, too, proximity unlocking, and a gesture tailgate.

Legroom in the back is excellent and there’s so much headroom throughout. 

The X1’s 540-litre boot capacity is excellent for the class and meant we could fit our baby’s big pram and the seven-year old’s scooter and still have room for the grocery shopping.

In the space of driving this SUV and writing this review the list price of the X1 xDrive20i M Sport has risen from $68,900 to $73,400. 

That price hike was part of an increase across the model range and all grades now cost more, even the entry-level sDrive18i which is now 13K less than the xDrive20i M Sport.

But you’re paying for the more powerful, athletic and only all-wheel drive one in the X1 range. 

You’re also getting loads of standard features in the xDrive20i M Sport. 

There’s the 10.25-inch instrument display with three different styles for your speedo and other gauges, while flowing into that is the 10.7-inch media screen with sat nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and digital radio. 

There are LED headlights, plus proximity unlocking, a head-up display, dual-zone climate control, a power tailgate, sports seats (the front ones are heated and power adjustable) and adaptive cruise control.

As the name suggests the xDrive20i M Sport is fitted with BMW M Sport goodies as standard. These include adaptive M Suspension, M leather steering wheel, M roof rails, M headliner and M interior trim. 

My test car also had $8900 worth of options fitted including the sunroof, Harman Kardon stereo, the ‘Vernasca Black’ leather seats and 20-inch M light alloy multi-spoke wheels.

Is it good value? Well, you do get a lot of nice things here but at a $13,000 premium over the entry grade, plus the $3500 price jump in the past few weeks, I’d say the value isn’t great.

If you’re trying to keep the cost down, the sDrive18i is the budget pick. 

The Seltos range has two engines to choose from: a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine making 110kW/180Nm and a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine producing even more grunt at 146kW/265Nm.

The 2.0-litre engine comes with a CVT which is a type of automatic transmission and the 1.6-litre engine has an eight-speed auto.

CVT stands for Continuously Variable Transmission and some people (me included) find the droning they cause the engine to make to be annoying. They also come with a feeling of less acceleration. 

The good news is the eight-speed auto that comes with the 1.6-litre is a great transmission with smooth shifts and a sporty nature that matches the punchy engine. 

This eight-speed auto is welcome because it also replaces the jerky dual-clutch transmission that had been paired with the 1.6-litre engine in the previous Seltos.   

All-wheel drive is only available with the 1.6-litre engine while front-wheel drive comes solely with the 2.0-litre.

So, if you’re after great acceleration and better traction then the 1.6-litre is the way to go. If you’re not after a sporty driving experience then the 2.0-litre engine will suit you, and it costs less.

The X1 xDrive20i M Sport has a more powerful engine than the grades below it in the range - it’s a 2.0-litre, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder making 150kW and 300Nm.

A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission does the shifting for you.   

This is also the only all-wheel drive X1 currently in the range.

The smaller engine actually uses more fuel, but not a great deal more. Kia says the 1.6-litre engine with all-wheel drive uses 7.4L/100km after a combination of open and urban roads. The 2.0-litre engine according to Kia will use half a litre less at 6.9L/100km.  

Both engines only need 'standard' 91 RON petrol, too - that’s the cheap one.

Where is the hybrid variant? Good question. The answer is, there isn’t one. And neither is one coming, I’ve asked. That’s disappointing considering the Corolla Cross comes with a hybrid version of each grade in its line-up.

It’s for this reason the Seltos range scores a lower mark for fuel efficiency.

BMW says that after a combination of open and urban roads the X1 xDrive20i M Sport will use 7.4L/100km.

In my own testing my driving was mainly city and suburban, which uses quite a lot of fuel. We did dashes to birthday parties, the grocery shopping, school drop offs and all of it in busy traffic.  

I recorded 8.9L/100km, but that’s not overly thirsty considering I was carrying two car seats with children, and all the gear that goes with them. 

A small 45 litre tank means the xDrive 20i M Sport has a range of about 608km, which is on the shorter side.

The Kia Seltos has two personalities. The laid back Seltos with a 2.0-litre engine and the enthusiastic sporty Seltos with the 1.6-litre engine.

Regardless of which Seltos you pick, the ride is comfortable, the handling is good, and the steering is excellent. 

Kia says it's worked to make the Seltos’s cabin more insulated from road noise, but having driven it on country roads for hours I think it could do with more sound dampening.

If you’re considering the Sport+ grade and are not sure if the $3500 premium for the 1.6-litre engine is worth it, my answer would be absolutely, if you can afford it.

That 1.6-litre turbo petrol is a great engine and the new eight-speed transmission is excellent. Even as a daily driver I think anybody would enjoy driving this version of the Seltos more, and for those who like sporty driving then it’s definitely the powerplant for you.

Only a week before testing the X1 xDrive20i M Sport I’d been reviewing a BMW 330e and going from the 3 Series to the SUV was like changing my seating position from being in a bathtub to sitting on a bar stool. 

Actually, the X1’s seat is far more comfortable than a stool and the refined quality is what you’d expect from BMW.

But compared to the low slung 330e the visibility and the upright driving angle of the X1 is very different.

It’s something you want in an SUV that puts practicality before performance.

As much as I liked the sporty sedan, as a dad I preferred being able to see better when parking in the X1, and this made life a lot easier.

Easy is a good word to describe what the X1 xDrive20i M Sport is like to drive - from that visibility to the light steering, comfortable ride and that great engine with all-wheel drive.

That 2.0-litre four-cylinder has more than enough grunt to run up the steep hills in my neighbourhood without struggling, the transmission is smooth and the all-wheel drive system adds a bit more reassurance in the wet weather.

All of this makes for an easy, enjoyable drive. 

The X1xDrive20i M Sport like all X1s scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2022.

A score of 88 per cent was given to child protection and the ANCAP report found that a 10-year old and six-year old in the second row had adequate to good protection in a front offset collision and a side impact. 

For child seats there are two ISOFIX points and three top tether anchor mounts across the second row.

As you would expect from a model that’s hasn’t even been around a year yet, the X1 xDrive20i M Sport has the very latest in advanced safety tech.

There’s AEB which is operational from 5.0km/h to 210km/h and also works at road junctions. There’s lane keeping assistance, blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert. 

There are curtain airbags for front and rear passengers, a centre airbag for the driver and co-pilot along with frontal airbags plus side chest and side pelvis airbags.

The Seltos is covered by Kia’s seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. 

Servicing differs between the two engines.

A Seltos with a 1.6-litre engine needs to be serviced every 12 months or 10,000km and over seven years the average service cost comes to $497 per year.

A Seltos with the 2.0-litre engine needs to be serviced every 12 months or 15,000km and over seven years the average service costs comes to $434 per year.

Capped price servicing is good, but the prices can get higher than $600 for some visits.

The X1 xDrive20i M Sport is covered by BMW’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

A five-year/80,000km service plan through BMW will cost $2150. You’ll be looking to pay an average of $430 per service every 12 months.