2023 BMW X1 vs Mini Countryman

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 Countryman is expensive when compared with some premium small SUV rivals, and the model is showing its age when it comes to in-car technology and safety specification.

But there is nothing else like it in its segment and people with a love of the Mini brand will likely forgive these points.

It ticks the green box, offering decent, usable PHEV range, and it maintains that all-important Mini fun-to-drive factor. It’s a funky city-centric SUV with a big personality.

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

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).

Five years into its life and the second-generation Countryman still looks good. It was only through seeing a first-gen model a couple of days ago that I realised how fresh the current model still looks.

It’s got that unmistakable Mini look with signature headlights and grille, and the exterior mirrors that pop out at a very specific angle. But given the Countryman is a small SUV, it’s got chunky wheel arches with cladding, roof racks and the dimensions expected of a vehicle in this segment. It’s a more successful execution of a retro-inspired SUV than something like the Fiat 500X.

The exterior colour and flourishes of the Untamed don’t exactly transform the Countryman, but they are visually appealing.

Inside, the Highland Green trim with the contrast stitching is just gorgeous. It’s such a perfect match for this car.

Some people don’t care for Mini’s busy interior design, but it’s certainly unique. The brand-specific switchgear is appealing, especially as most brands ditch the switch in favour of controls housed in digital screens.

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 driver’s seat, you will find a nice upright driving position, helped by reach and height-adjustable steering column and a comfortable seat that adjusts multiple ways.

Even with a smallish rear windscreen, visibility is surprisingly good in the Countryman, thanks to lots of glass and a big front windscreen.

The chunky Nappa leather steering wheel looks and feels high-end, and the controls are easy to understand. I love the use of manual air-con controls and the switches for other vehicle functions sitting just below. 

Being a Mini, the multimedia screen lives in a circular housing towards the top of the centre stack. It’s another way Mini stands apart from its rivals - no other brand has an interior like this.

While I like the overall vibe, the 8.8-inch screen is small by today’s standards, and it shows the Countryman’s age. Also, the system is a little fussy and not the easiest menu to navigate.

The wireless Apple CarPlay is glitchy and drops out frequently. It also cuts out when the vehicle’s proximity sensor detects that the car is too close to an object and shows where the obstruction is on the screen. It takes a while for CarPlay to reset.

Storage wise there’s space for larger bottles in the doors and plenty of nooks to hold personal items.

There’s a surprising amount of space in the rear of the Countryman. For a Mini, it's kind of maxi. Headroom won’t be a problem for taller folks and there’s more rear legroom than some models in the segment above it. 

The second row features lower air vents, two USB-C ports, map pockets and heaps of space in the door cavity to store big bottles and other tall items. There’s also a centre fold down armrest with cupholders.

That rear pew is best described as flat and on the firmer side of comfortable. It split-folds 40/20/40 and has top tethers and ISOFIX on all three seats.

Open the rear hatch and you’ll find a boot that can swallow 405 litres with all seats in place (1275L with the rear seats folded), which is 45 litres less than the Cooper S. That’s due to the plug-in hybrid hardware impacting boot space.

That 405L might not sound massive, but it’s more space than in the petrol-electric hybrid Lexus UX (334L), and it’s not far off the dimensionally larger Volvo XC40 Recharge PHEV (414L).

The seats fold almost flat and there are a few little nooks, luggage straps and a 12-volt outlet.

Mini does limited editions a bit differently to other brands. It usually adds new grades to the model line and then eventually, it disappears. Unlike other carmakers that often add a special-edition model that is limited in number. 

The Untamed will continue on in the Countryman line-up until Mini Australia says it’s done. It’s not based on another grade - it is a unique grade in the Countryman line-up.

The Untamed is available in petrol-powered Cooper S guide from $62,400, before on-road costs, and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SE Hybrid from $69,500. 

This is a little more than the price of the regular Hybrid, the Classic ($64,000) and Yours ($69,000).

That $70,000 price tag isn’t cheap, even among its premium rivals. Some other offerings you could get for similar money include the all-electric Lexus UX300e (from $74,000), an Audi Q3 40 TFSI quattro Sportback (from $66,100), or a Volvo XC40 Recharge PHEV (from $66,990).

The Untamed adds visual flourishes inside and out including two-tone 18-inch alloy wheels, the exclusive 'Momentum Grey' paintwork, lower air intake, side skirts and rear apron all in the body colour, Mini badges using the signature grey, black roof rails, headlight housing and mirror caps, and an 'Untamed' inscription on the rear three-quarter window and side sills.

Inside, the Untamed adds 'Highland Green' trim with blue and green contrast stitching (although carbon black trim is also offered), Untamed mountain logo on the seats and bottom of the steering wheel, and other visual tweaks.

Other features that are standard in the Cooper SE Hybrid Untamed include keyless entry and start, power heated exterior mirrors, heated front seats, panoramic sunroof, dual-zone automatic climate control, automatic tailgate, a 5.5-inch digital instrument cluster, 12-speaker Harman Kardon audio system, a wireless charger and an 8.8-inch touchscreen multimedia with sat-nav, voice recognition, wireless Apple CarPlay and digital radio.

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 Countryman SE Hybrid is the brand’s sole plug-in hybrid model. 

The drivetrain combines a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine with a 7.6kWh lithium-ion battery and an electric motor on the rear axle.

According to Mini, the combined power and torque output is 165kW and 385Nm.

It uses a six-speed automatic transmission and drives all four wheels via Mini’s 'All4' all-wheel drive set-up.

It has a 0-100km/h dash time of 6.8 seconds.

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 plug-in hybrid Mini has an official combined fuel use figure of 2.4 litres per 100 kilometres, and emits 54g/km of CO2.

It has a 36-litre fuel tank and requires premium ULP. The electric only driving range is 51km on the WLTP test cycle.

Our brief drive through the Bavarian countryside was not conducive with monitoring fuel use, but we did notice the regenerative braking adding charge back into the battery as we drove.

The Countryman PHEV has a CCS Type 2 plug and can be fully recharged in about two-and-a-half hours at 3.7kW.

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. 

It’s been a while since I’ve driven a Countryman so it was nice to reacquaint myself with it in PHEV guise.

As is the case with many hybrid and EV models, the Countryman takes off nicely from a standing start using electric power. Because of this, there is no lag from the engine because it hasn’t kicked in.

Once it does, it’s an incredibly smooth transition from electric to petrol propulsion - unlike some other PHEVs out there.

Mini says it will do 0-100km/h in 6.8 seconds (quicker than the sporty Cooper S by 0.7s), which is hot hatch quick, but it hits triple digits without much fuss at all, thanks in part to the AWD traction and excellent smooth-shifting six-speed auto.

If you want even more urge, switch to 'Sport' mode, but 'Mid' (normal) mode offers more than enough poke. There’s also 'Green' and 'eDrive' modes if you want a calmer drive experience that avoids the petrol engine altogether.

Given the Countryman’s size and heft, it’s never going to bother its smaller Hatch sibling when it comes to handling and dynamic performance. But, it’s much more sprightly in tight  corners and on winding country roads than I remember. You can have a great deal of fun in this car. 

Given we were driving on flawless German autobahns and Bavarian country roads, I won’t go into too much detail on the ride quality. In this environment, there was little to fault, but that is almost certainly going to be different driving on Australian pockmarked back roads and highways.

The Mini Countryman has not been rated by ANCAP for crash safety.

It comes with standard safety gear like six airbags, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, an emergency call button and a run-flat tyre indicator.

Countryman PHEV also comes with front and rear parking sensors, a rear parking camera, a speed limiter and a pedestrian sound activation when in electric mode.

There’s no active lane keeping aid or blind spot monitor, and it lacks the front centre airbags of more modern competitors, but that’s down to its age.

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 Mini warranty is still just three years and unlimited kilometres, down on the five-year/unlimited km term of most rivals.

Unlike most other makes, Mini (and parent company BMW) have ‘condition-based servicing’, which is when the vehicle’s computer will inform you when the car needs a service.

All Minis are available with a five-year/80,000km capped price servicing plan, the basic level starting at $1640 for standard models, rising to $1700 for JCW variants.