2017 BMW X1 vs Honda CR-V

What's the difference?

The X1 sDrive 18d is practical and spacious, yet still engaging to drive. Value for money is great, but the quality and reputation that comes with the BMW brand makes this a special small SUV. 

Without the safety aids offered on the top model, the VTi-L does become more expensive when compared to its competitors, and we encourage Honda to implement at least AEB across its range as soon as it possibly can.

The VTi-L is a decent, handsome, mid-sized family SUV for a smaller family, if they really need seven seats. If you don't need that third row, though, we'd recommend you have a look at the five-seat versions of the CR-V, as you'll find a lot more space and practicality on-board.

An Australian, Calvin Luk, designed this second-gen X1. That’s something interesting you can tell people. It has tougher more angular styling than the first one, but still looks very much a part of the BMW X family, with those feline headlights, the famous kidney grille, those tail-lights and the upright profile, which is more brick than slick, but gives it a solid presence and stance.

The X1’s dimensions are 4439mm long, 1821mm wide, and 1598mm high. The X3 is about the length of your foot (300mm) longer, about 70mm wider, and close to 80mm shorter in height. For comparison, a Mazda CX-5 is 4550mm long.

Audi’s Q2 is much smaller than the X1, we’re talking 250mm shorter. The Q3 is still a bit shorter at 4338mm long, but the Benz GLA SUV is almost the same length at 4424mm end-to-end.

Our X1, clad in its M Sport pack, stood out alongside more docile looking X1s in the shopping centre carpark thanks to that angry looking aero kit and wheels.

Inside, the M-Sport package lifts the regular, fairly basic X1 sDrive18d’s interior to a much higher level. Those seats look amazing with the red and blue stitching, the steering wheel is very similar to the hi-po M2’s tiller, and there’s the fancier headlining, too. 

Do you need the M-sport package or any other interior package? Put it this way, I have a feeling you might be a little underwhelmed by the X1sDrive 18d’s cabin without it.

Longer in the wheelbase and less Roger Ramjet in its extremity styling than the fourth generation, the chunky, bold CR-V offers a strong visual presence on the road.

The seven-seater carries over all of the external measurements from the five-seat line, too.

It’s a similar story on the inside, with strong, neatly resolved lines flowing across the dash and throughout the car. Honda has been guilty of overdoing things on recent generations of its most popular cars, but we’re glad to report the tide of overdesign is finally retreating.

This second-gen X1 is more spacious than the bigger BMW X3. Yes, you read that right. The smaller SUV has more room in it than the larger SUV. That’s because the X1 is based on the 2-Series Active Tourer which was cleverly designed to be a versatile sort of people mover. The X1 got the functionality benefits without the people movery looks of the 2 Series Active Tourer.

Get this: the X1 has more legroom and more headroom front and back than the X3. I won’t quote the actual specs because it’ll send you to sleep.

But what you should know is that even at 191cm tall, I can sit behind my own driving position with about 40mm from my knees to the front seat back. Headroom is outstanding too – even with a sunroof which reduced the ceiling height.

There are four cupholders – two in the back and two up front – and bottle holders in all the doors. Cabin storage is good with a bucket under the armrest for keys and purses and wallets, and a decent-sized glove box.

The X1’s boot is 505 litres (VDA) while the X3’s is 550 litres - that’s not much bigger. To show you just how impressive that is, take the Audi Q3 – it has a cargo capacity of only 460 litres, while the Merc GLA has just 421 litres of boot space.

The VTi-L is the only seven-seater in the CR-V range. It's not built on an extended wheelbase when compared to the five seat versions of the CR-V, which offer a great deal of room in the second row.

On first glance, the accommodations for the third row of seats in the VTi-L look cramped. A simple pull-strap activates the seat back to fold them into position, and occupants need to clamber over a folded down second-row seat to gain access.

Once back there, the two occupants have a fold down cupholder each and roof vents for comfort. But as you can imagine, luggage room drops to virtually zero when those seats are in place.

The one element that saves the VTi-L's seven-seat dignity is the ability to slide the second row of seats forward and back on their runners. They're split in a 60/40 fashion, and the backs can be inclined or reclined as necessary as well.

If all of your passengers in the car are tall, then you will be faced with compromise in terms of knee and legroom in both the second and third rows. But if your occupant mix varies in height and size, then it's possible to find a suitable arrangement where pretty much everyone is comfortable.

You'll need to put your smallest kid behind your tallest front seat occupant, and you may need to offset the second row in order to be comfortable in that third row. But despite the apparent lack of length in the CR-V, the seven-seat function does work.

However, there is compromise when it comes to luggage space. All seats can be folded flat, and there's an extra deck that can be moved into different slots to create the semblance of a flat floor. However, there are gaps all the way through between each seat row, and that floor level is quite high, which can make loading objects a little bit tricky, and it does steal away from cargo space.

The seven-seater loses about 50 litres of luggage space to its five-seat brethren when the third row is folded flat (472 litres to 522 litres), and 117 litres when all seats are down (967 litres to 1084 litres).

There is a full-sized spare under the boot floor, which needs some fiddling about to access. Kudos, though, for having something that's not a space saver or a can of goop.

Second-row seaters enjoy a pair of USB ports, cupholders in a fold-down centre armrest, as well as cupholders in the door. There is also a pair of ISOFIX baby seat mounts on the outside seats.

The biggest black mark against the second row of seats is the standard fitment of a full-length sunroof to the VTi-L. The different headlining that's required to fit the sunroof steals away a staggering 84mm of vertical head room for second row passengers (912mm), when compared to a base CR-V five-seater (996mm).

Combined with a bench that already sits quite high, even moderately tall passengers will find themselves hitting the roof, finding it positively uncomfortable even on a short journey. Our 15-year-old passenger is tall for his age, and found it uncomfortable to sit in the CR-V's rear for any length of time.

Front seat passengers are well catered for, though (despite losing 20mm of headroom thanks to that sunroof), with large divided door pockets that can stow bottles. A unique sliding tray covers a large, L-shaped box, and you can actually slide the cover back, Star Trek door style, to reveal a deeper space for wallets and phones.

There's a small tray underneath the gear shift which is ostensibly for phones, but most modern phones have outsized this small space. One oversight is that none of the trays have a removable rubber backing. Quite often cars have a small mat on the bottom of the storage containers that can be removed to wash.

Only the driver side seat is powered, while the passenger seat is manual in operation.

The gear shift is essentially mounted in the centre console itself, which does create more space through the middle of the two front seats, and the seats themselves are upholstered in a leather-like material, and are well bolstered and comfortable. Only the driver side seat is powered, while the passenger seat is manual in operation.

When it comes to other practicalities, like the multimedia system, unfortunately Honda has dropped the ball. While the 8.0-inch touchscreen looks good with sharp graphics, its functionality is simply not as good as many other, if not any other, device on the market.

Its key buttons are too small, and take too long to activate, and it's incredibly difficult to do simple things like find a source for multimedia. It's just not intuitive, and makes for a frustrating user experience.

The buttons on the steering wheel do help make it easier to use, while the dash dials have been replaced with a small digital screen, which is incredibly easy to use. It’s customisable in its look, and features a digital speedo as its central facet, which is very convenient.

The Honda also offers a range of locking aids that are linked back to its keyless entry system that include an instant lock when you walk away from the car, the ability to roll down the windows by depressing the unlock button as you approach the car - which is a great feature - as well as a powered tailgate.

Now, all these features are ultra convenient, but they definitely depend on user preference. Fortunately, it's easy to set up the car through the multimedia system to your liking.

There is a range of seven-seat options in the market around this price point, including Nissan's X-Trail. For for its $38,990 ask, the CR-V VTi-L comes pretty well equipped with automatic lights and wipers, 8.0-inch capacitive touchscreen multimedia system with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated front seats, power driver's seat and semi-leather upholstery throughout.

A powered tailgate, LED DRLs and regular halogen lights, a fairly comprehensive stereo system, as well as keyless entry and push button start, plus an electronic handbrake, are also included. It rides on 18-inch alloys, and has roof rails as standard, as well.

It does miss out, though, on new-generation driver aids like AEB and adaptive cruise control.

The X1 sDrive 18d has a diesel engine (that’s what the d stands for), it’s a 110kW/330Nm 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder and this car is FWD only (that’s what the s stands for – the AWD version is called the xDrive).

An excellent eight-speed auto transmission shifts the gears for you.

The entire CR-V range uses the same 140kW/240Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine that’s found in the Civic. The VTi-L is a front-wheel-driver, and offers the ever more popular CVT auto as its only option.

It’ll tow up to 1500kg of braked trailer, too.

BMW says the X1 sDrive18d needs just 4.7L/100km of diesel under combined driving conditions, we stuck mainly to the city and saw 10.6L/100km. But keep in mind, that’s probably the upper end of worst case scenario for fuel usage – heavy peak-hour, CBD traffic, suburban hills and me at the wheel.

What’s the point of a diesel engine? It uses less fuel, and produces high torque. In other words you’ll get further than petrol on the same-sized tank, and the engine can haul bigger loads without sweating as much.

Diesel does have some enviro-nastiness attached to it. NOx emissions and diesel particulates are significant pollutants. Just saying, don’t consider yourself an environmental warrior by picking a diesel – that’s what hybrids and EVs are for.

Against a claimed combined cycle fuel economy figure of 7.3 litres per 100km, we achieved 8.6L/100km over 440km of mixed terrain testing in the VTi-L.

It’ll take 91RON standard unleaded without fuss, and its 57-litre tank is good for a theoretical range of 780km.

Okay, apart from the badge the other reason you should be buying a BMW is the driving dynamics – this is BMW’s schtick and while the X1 is no M3 it’s more fun and engaging to drive than more affordable SUVs in this same size class.

The ride is refined – it’s composed and comfortable. The handling is impressive, too. Corners which cause many other cars to generate tyre squeal, saw the X1 sDrive 18d grip while remaining flat and silent.

The diesel engine is relatively noisy, but you’ll only notice it with the door open or the window down – so the cabin is insulated well.

Steering is smooth and accurate, although an 11.4m turning circle is on the larger side.

Now, do you need AWD? No, but I’d recommend it if you can afford it. Here’s why. My test hill is steep, and the X1 sDrive 18d’s front wheels struggled to maintain grip under heavy acceleration when pulling away from a standstill. An AWD doesn’t have the same problem because the rear wheels, which have a lot of weight on them, help push without losing grip, while the fronts pull.

So, AWD isn’t vital but it can be a helpful safety addition.

Equipped with a small capacity 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine and a CVT auto, the CR-V is capable, if not outstanding, around town and on the open road. The engine only has 240Nm – not much for a turbocharged engine – and has to push around 1642kg.

CVTs continue to improve, in that the annoying droning effect of earlier versions has pretty much been eliminated, especially around town. But when pushed, the combination of the small four-cylinder engine slurring its gear changes isn't exactly pleasant.

The Honda rides well, with good roll control, decent if not overwhelming steering feel, and progressive braking under light foot conditions around the city. The front end, though, can wander a bit if you are not paying attention to your steering inputs.

It's quite direct from centre, which can mean keeping an eye on the helm, especially on longer trips. But, overall, the CR-V's ride comfort and handling prowess is on par with the best in the category.

The engine responds well to light throttle application to keep up with the flow of traffic, but it does need a prod to get up to freeway speeds. But once there, it holds speed easily.

One of the CR-V’s big bugbears, though, is noise. There's a lot of road roar noise coming from underneath the car, and there's also a fair bit of wind rustle coming through across the windscreen and the large exterior mirrors. Add to that a rumble from the stock tyre set, and it's a surprisingly noisy car, even in light of competitors in the space.

The CR-V has a maximum five-star score from ANCAP, and offers full-length curtain airbags to all three rows, as well as parking sensors front and rear.

Unfortunately, Honda has not been able to fit the majority of its CR-V line-up with basic safety aids like AEB, blind spot monitoring, and lane departure, which it bundles together in a system called 'Honda Sensing'.

The VTi-L does feature a useful aid; the rear view camera lights up when you indicate to the left.

But the VTi-L does feature a useful aid; the rear view camera lights up when you indicate to the left, and lines on the multimedia screen indicate how far the car over your left shoulder is behind you.

It might able you to spot a car in the left blind spot that you may have missed, but oddly, it doesn't happen when you indicate to the right. What’s the point of having one side shown and not the other?

The X1 is covered by BMW’s three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. Servicing is 'condition based', meaning the car will actually let you know when it needs maintenance, but you can also opt for a five-year $1140 capped price servicing plan.

With a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, a reasonable 12 month/10,000km service interval and the first ten services capped at $295 (each), the CR-V won’t cost you an arm and a leg to run.