BMW X1 vs Mazda CX-80

What's the difference?

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.

The Mazda CX-80 Touring G40e will do everything you ask of it and outside of pricey ongoing costs, there’s not much to annoy. It’s too large for my small family of three and if it’s kid stowage that you’re looking for, a people mover might offer better practicality and comfort than what this does. Would it be a model that you jump through hoops to get? Maybe not, but it still has a place as family hauler and is easy to drive.

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).

I've said it before but Mazda SUVs all look like scaled versions of each other to me and the CX-80 looks ridiculously similar to every other larger SUV model in the Mazda stable with the long pronounced nose that features sharp LED lighting and its general robust size.

The rear is where it differs with the proportions becoming a little bulbous but it’s practically shaped and overall is a nice-looking family SUV at the kerb side.

Head inside and the interior is pleasant with its high-quality trims and heavy-handed styling that matches the exterior dimensions with big panelling and air-vents up front to balance out the long width of this dashboard.

However, the whole car tends to lack personality for a model that’s a part of Mazda’s ‘premium SUV’ range. It's nice but doesn't add anything new.

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.

Seven-seat SUVs tend to really be a 5+2 combo, where the rear two seats are for kid- or emergency-use only. You'll be pleased to find that all passengers enjoy a decent amount of space in each row in the CX-80. The third row is still a little cosy for an adult but my 6ft2 brother managed to get back there without too many grumbles. However, we all giggled as he sort of fell in due to the lack of handholds (sorry, Mack).

Otherwise, the 170mm ground clearance and wide door apertures make it an easy SUV to get in and out of. The doors are heavy and sometimes miss their 'hold' position if you open them too quickly, making them swing back. My eight-year-old got whacked a few times because of it!

Amenities and storage are best in the first and second rows with front occupants enjoying those heated seats, two USB-C ports, a 12-volt socket and wireless charging pad. You also get dual-zone climate control, and powered seats with adjustable lumbar support. The seats are well-padded but fairly narrow and short in the base, making it easy to fatigue on longer journeys.

Storage includes a large glovebox that can hold a manual and a fair bit more, a shallow but handy middle console because of its dual-opening lid and a total of four drink holders. There's a sunglasses holder but not much else for smaller loose items.

In the second row you get two map pockets, a small storage bin in each door and a total of six drink holders. There's also individual reading lights, two USB-C ports, climate control, directional air vents, a fold-down armrest and retractable sunblinds (always a winning feature in my house).

The third row gets four drink holders, two USB-C ports and two directional air vents.

Feedback from my passengers (kids and adults alike) hasn't been great for the air-conditioning system with all complaining how long it took for the rear two rows to cool down. The low and awkward positioning of the air vents also prevents direct air flow to passengers. The third row is impacted by this as the passenger's legs cover them.

The rest of the technology is solid with the multimedia system offering a rotary dial operation. The system hasn't seen any recent updates, so if you're familiar with the Mazda system, you'll get along just fine.

The built-in satellite navigation is simple enough to use and the wireless Apple CarPlay is easy to connect to. There's also wireless Android Auto. Call connections remained consistent but feedback was that there seemed to be a fair bit of background noise on my end during calls.

Rounding out the interior is the boot space which offers a level loading space, retractable cargo blind and underfloor storage which houses the tyre repair kit. There's also a 12-volt socket and 220-volt/150W AC socket housed on a side panel.

With all three rows up, you get 258L of capacity and that figure jumps up to 566L when the third row is stowed. The CX-8 offered more boot space but the CX-80 is still respectable for the annual family road trip. Plus you get a powered tailgate function in the Touring model, which is always appreciated.

Mazda offers a choice of five CX-80 grades and for almost all of them, you get the option of a new mild hybrid petrol or diesel, or a plug-in hybrid powertrain.

The Touring G40e model on test for this review is second-from-the-bottom and has a petrol mild-hybrid powertrain. It is priced from $61,950 before on-road costs and the Artisan Red Metallic paintwork our test model has adds $995 to the price tag.

The Touring is more affordable than some of its rivals, including the Toyota Kluger GXL at $70,440 MSRP and Hyundai Santa Fe Elite at $62,500 MSRP. However, these two models are full hybrids and the Santa Fe has a slightly longer features list for only a little bit more money which makes it better value overall.

The great thing about Mazda is once you move up from the entry grade, you often benefit from a host of great standard features that would usually come as part of a package or cost extra with other brands. For example the Touring gets leather upholstery, heated and powered front seats and a wireless charging pad, which isn't too bad for a grade that sits towards the start of the range.

There are some solid practical features like the keyless entry and start, rain-sensing wipers, dusk-sensing headlights, powered tailgate, three-zone climate control, retractable sunblinds (second row) and 360-degree view camera system.

Tech feels well-rounded with a 10.25-inch multimedia system, six USB-C ports, two 12-volt sockets, a 220-volt/150W AC socket, satellite navigation and wireless/wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

In terms of value within the CX-80 range, the Touring G40e is the pick of the litter.

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 CX-80 Touring G40e model has an eight-speed auto transmission and all-wheel drive via a 3.3L turbo-petrol in-line six-cylinder engine coupled with a 48-volt mild hybrid system that produces up to 209kW of power and 450Nm of torque.

It’s not ridiculously powerful but pick up is great and there's more than enough to move the CX-80's big body around and support a 2500kg braked towing capacity.

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 Touring G40e model has a 74-litre fuel tank and an official combined fuel cycle usage of 8.4L/100km, which gives you a theoretical driving range of up to 880km.

The mild-hybrid system works well enough that I didn’t hit double digits for fuel usage despite not being shy on using the power while hauling cargo and people on a mix of open road and urban trips.

My real-world use popped out at 9.3L/100km and while the diesel variant has much more efficient outputs and range, this result is pretty good for such a massive SUV.

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 Touring G40e model is pleasant, if a little boring, to bum around in. Boring may be too strong a word but there's not much that gets you excited about the driving experience. The Touring performs and has decent power through most situations but it lacks a certain edge. It's not particularly sporty, nor does it sound mean when you put your foot down.

It's nice and does what you expect it to do.

The ride comfort is good with cushioned suspension with enough road feedback but people in the back will jostle a bit over the worst of the bumps.

Road noise can creep in at higher speeds and third rowers will struggle to be a part of the conversation but overall the cabin is refined for longer journeys.  

Visibility is mostly good because of the big windows but the wider pillars mean I check my blind spots very carefully, as the side mirrors seem a tad too small for the bulk of the car.

The CX-80 has a small turning circle of 11.6m and most of the time it never feels like it lumbers, but when you’re manoeuvring it in a tight car park the steering can feel heavy and a three-point turn starts to feel clumsy.

A saving grace is the excellent quality of the 360-degree camera system which takes out some of the puff from parking it. The CX-80 fills a space and it’s one you'd be careful to park so you don't get crowded.

At the time of this review the new Mazda CX-80 hasn’t been tested with ANCAP and is thus unrated but it has 10 airbags which is great for a big family SUV and includes side-chest airbags for the second row and curtain airbags that extend to the third row.

The Touring G40e model features a robust list of standard safety features including auto emergency braking (AEB), safe exit assist, front and rear cross-traffic alerts, blind-spot monitoring, driver attention alert and monitoring, forward collision warning, lane keeping aid/departure, front and rear parking sensors, a 360-degree camera system, traffic sign recognition, intelligent seatbelt warning and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

The adaptive cruise control is one of the most user-friendly I’ve sampled recently and other than a sensitive lane keeping aid, all systems follow that user-friendly vibe.

There are a total of five top-tether points and two ISOFIX child seat mounts. The width of the middle seat means you should be good to fit three child seats side by side if they're not too large.

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. 

The CX-80 is let down a bit by its ongoing costs.

Mazda offers the CX-80 with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty which is fairly standard. A number of its rivals are offered with up to seven-year terms these days.

You get a five-year servicing program with services averaging $694, which makes it on the more expensive side, but servicing intervals are reasonable at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.