BMW X1 vs Nissan X-TRAIL

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.

For its silver anniversary, the X-Trail in e-Power guise remains better than ever. And the flagship Ti-L makes a convincing, value-packed, well-equipped and enjoyable to drive luxury medium SUV alternative for the family. Its only glaring fault is the omission of a full-sized spare wheel.

But other than that, given the Nissan’s warranty, reputation and the fact that it's still so functional, economical, gutsy and easy to live with, the e-Power remains one of our favourite mid-size SUVs. Our choice would be the Ti, though, chiefly because of its comfier 19-inch wheels.

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).

For its 2026 facelift, the T33 X-Trail Series II gains a fussy new grille design, different LED lighting elements, reprofiled bumpers front and rear, new colours and restyled alloy wheels.

But, essentially, it looks very similar to the previous model that was released locally back in 2022. Meaning this is a good-looking machine.

Proportionally, as with all previous iterations, today’s X-Trail blurs the fine line between SUV and crossover-wagon in silhouette – much more so than the latest Subaru Outback (that’s classed in the category above) manages.

Dimensionally, it’s bang in the middle of its class: 4690mm long, 2065mm wide (mirrors out) and 1725mm tall with a 2705mm wheelbase. Note, the e-Power rides lower, with 187mm instead of 205mm of ground clearance.

Stepping inside, the X-Trail’s interior presentation is conservative and perhaps dated to some eyes, with its separate central touchscreen and instrumentation displays. But, precisely because of this, it is neither compromised nor frustrating to understand or operate, like the worst of the inexplicably minimalistic single-screen applications beloved by most Chinese brands today. Physical buttons abound. This Nissan is for everyday people and the cabin design reflects this.

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.

Large and rectangular, the X-Trail is sized and packaged to be used. Nowhere is this more obvious than using the wide doors, with the rear pair opening at almost a 90-degree angle to facilitate entry/egress.

Climb inside, and – as with all three previous-gen versions – there is an abundance of space for heads, legs and shoulders. Occupants sit up fairly high, with easy views afforded by a big windscreen and deep side windows.

Except that Nissan now uses much-better looking and feeling plastics than back then. Nobody is going to mistake the Ti-L for a Lexus, but quality and finish is beyond reproach. No squeaks or rattles to report here.

Aided by a fine driving position, the dash is pleasant to look at and simple to use. A new steering wheel, up-spec digital graphics and updated camera views help keep things relatively fresh.

Yet it is the basics that make this interface so sound. Clear and obvious switchgear for the very effective climate controls (and other vehicle functions) that feel good to the touch, logical menus within the responsive touchscreen, an enjoyably strong audio experience, wireless Apple CarPlay that never dropped out and a sense of no-nonsense solidity. Nissan’s been making cars for almost a century and it’s in the little things that show up big time here.

Likewise, 700km-plus in the front seats over a variety of road conditions reveal appreciable comfort and support. Factor in plentiful storage and sufficient all-round vision, and the X-Trail’s interior is difficult to criticise unless you’re nit-picking. A fiddly gear lever and a one-pedal braking button that’s a bit of a stretch for the driver are about it.

The back-seat area is as fine as we’ve experienced in any mid-sized SUV rival, with the Nissan dutifully ticking all the required spec boxes: USB ports, rear-facing air vents, cupholders within a 40/20/40-folding, sliding and reclining backrests and – in this Ti-L – separate climate control access. And don’t forget how usefully huge those rear doors are.

Further back, the X-Trail’s wagon-esque shape comes into play with a long, wide and flat load area, measuring in at 575 litres VDA (10L fewer than the petrol versions), extending to 1298L in two-seater mode.

But there are two points of contention.

Firstly, given the length of the load area, there are no remote-release handles for the backrests, so the user must use the side doors to lower them. This is an annoyance.

Secondly, and this is more serious, is the lack of spare wheel, period, in the e-Power models like ours. The space is taken up by some of the hybrid tech, resulting in a tyre repair kit instead. Regular readers will know our disdain for such compromises, as these cannot patch up larger punctures, ruin the tyre in smaller ones and are costly to replace. It’s such a rubbish solution.

Our advice is to seek an aftermarket space-saver wheel and jack kit, which do not cost much more than replacing just one ruined tyre and spent repair kit. When will this foolishness end? If Toyota can manage a spare in their RAV4 hybrid, others can as well.

A sour note to finish on an otherwise noteworthy interior experience.

Before we get started, here's a myth-busting fun fact.

That original 2001 T30 X-Trail in base ST manual grade cost over $60,000 (all prices are before on road costs) in today’s money. As all SUVs did back then, because Australia needed to protect our car-manufacturing industry with tariffs on imports like the Nissan. But, sadly, not any more.

Great news for today’s consumers though, since currently the most-expensive X-Trail – the Ti-L e-Power tested here from $58,215, before on-road costs – costs less than its cheapest predecessor of a quarter of a century ago adjusted for inflation.

And, naturally, today’s T33 generation comes with massively more features.

The Series II facelift brings improved 360-degree monitor functionality, including a new spooky-sounding ‘Skeleton Hood’ view of the road directly ahead, as well as the standardisation of the larger 12.3-inch touchscreen.

Additionally, service intervals have been extended, bolstering an already impressive available aftersales care package, while Nissan’s 'Connected Car' services app, offering remote-access, vehicle maintenance updates and alerts among other benefits, has been introduced. But it’s only free for the first three years. There’s also a decent wedge of advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) tech on all grades. More on those later on.

As before, there are four X-Trail grades for 2026, using largely the same nomenclature since 2001, and they’re probably easiest to tell apart externally by their (restyled) alloy wheels: ST, ST-L, Ti and Ti-L.

All come standard with Nissan’s PR25DD 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that, incredibly, has roots going all the way back to the 2001 original. In car parlance that’s known as 'proven' technology.

Now, the two cheapest X-Trails, the ST and ST-L from just over $38,140 and $42,540 respectively, come in either 2WD (front-wheel drive) or unique seven-seat AWD option, for $3000 extra, while the Ti and Ti-L petrol AWDs revert to being a five-seater-only configuration.

Actually, so are all of the EREV hybrid versions, which start from $48,915 for the ST-L e-Power, offering two electric motors – one on each axle ­– for AWD, raising prices by up to $4000, depending on specification.

But, as you’ll find out if you keep reading, we think going e-Power is worthwhile, as this behaves more like an electric vehicle (EV) than most hybrids, without needing to plug it in.

The Ti-L e-Power you see here scores most of the usual luxury trappings, like Nappa leather, Bose audio, tri-zone climate control, a panoramic sunroof, electric/heated front seats, absolutely brilliant adaptive LED headlights, a head-up display, automatic entry/locking, a powered tailgate and 20-inch alloys.

Even though it’s the most expensive X-Trail today, it remains fiercely competitive against most of its hybrid-only opponents from Japan and South Korea, like RAV4, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and Subaru Forester.

China’s hybrid AWD and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) AWD alternative mid-sized SUVs are cheaper than all of the above, though all are yet to be proven in the longer term.

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 X-Trail e-Power system is not a traditional hybrid set-up.

Instead of having an electric motor(s) and small battery assist an internal combustion engine (ICE) that does the driving (as per a Toyota hybrid), this one’s the other-way round: an ICE solely charging a larger battery that feeds an electric motor(s) that powers the driven wheels. No plugging in required. This is the essence of an EREV. The Holden Volt famously relied on such a system nearly 15 years ago.

In the X-Trail e-Power’s case, a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine making 106kW of power and 250Nm of torque is mated to a 2.1kWh battery, inverter and an electric motor on each axle (front: 150kW/330Nm - rear: 100kW/195Nm), for a combined 157kW and 525Nm, distributed to all four wheels.

That’s a lot more than the 135kW and 244Nm that the regular 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and CVT set-up can muster.

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.

Requiring 95 RON premium unleaded petrol, the e-Power drinks from the more-expensive bowser. It also comes with a capless filler, saving clean hands from handling dirty caps. How European of this Japanese SUV!

Nissan reckons the e-Power averages 6.1 litres per 100 kilometres, which translates to 139 grams/km of carbon dioxide emissions. The Urban rating is just 6.4L/100km and Extra Urban returns 6.0L/100km.

In contrast, the petrol CVT AWD’s corresponding numbers are 7.8L, 10L and 6.5L, respectively.

Out in the real world, over 700km of at-times very demanding driving, we managed a tad under 6.9L/100km – which is what the trip computer also calculated – while, driven more frugally – it dropped to under 5.5L/100km.

That’s impressive stuff, meaning you can expect around 800km between refills even if you don’t care about fuel economy, and over 1000km if you do.

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. 

So, what's the X-Trail e-Power like?

Well, as it turns out, it marries really well with the Ti-L flagship, because it is a smooth, refined and sophisticated powertrain experience.

It's an EV first, and even though the petrol engine fires up and charges the battery regularly, pausing the electric dream for a few moments, it isn't noisy or buzzy, blending in with the general road, tyre and wind noise at speed. The ICE’s intervention is seamless, though it does rev away at a pre-set constant speed. That varies according to load and conditions, at between 2400rpm and 4800rpm.

That’s the theory. In practice, the X-Trail e-Power’s performance is one of its greatest attributes.

As with all good EVs, this one’s silky smooth and quiet as it zips away from standstill, whooshing forward with a determined, even lively, attitude. Turn the (cumbersome) driver selector to 'Sport' mode and the throttle response reacts accordingly, for rapid point-to-point performance. Give the 1900kg Nissan it’s head on a long empty road, and this thing can be downright fast. Hauling around 83kW per tonne, we recorded a 0-100km/h sprint time of seven seconds flat.

And here’s the thing. When the battery starts running low, there’s no shortfall in performance as you find in many PHEVs that feel neutered at this point, since the peaky little engine is feeding electricity back into the battery that drives the motors. It’s all so effortless.

Speaking of recharging, a single-pedal function provides a noticeable amount of braking off-throttle, collecting that otherwise wasted energy back into the system. It won’t bring the car to a full stop, though, and is not adjustable as per many rivals’ paddle-shifter-actuated systems. Maybe a suggestion for the next-gen model.

Underneath is a Renault/Nissan/Mitsubishi Alliance platform, complete with struts up front and a multi-link rear suspension set-up, imbuing the X-Trail with a solid, dynamic European flavour. The steering is light yet nicely weighted, for a sense of connection and balance.

It isn’t quite as agile through fast corners as, say, a Mazda equivalent might be, as the e-Power is a bit too top-heavy to be considered sporty and athletic, but there’s control and grip for days. No doubt the Ti-L’s 20-inch Michelin Primacy tyres help here. And, at highway speeds in teeming rain, the AWD grip feels reassuring.

Speaking of big wheels, the ride is surprisingly okay. Firm but never unyielding or crashy over bumps, the electrified Nissan is comfortable enough. The Ti e-Power’s smaller 19-inch rubber reveals a more supple and isolated ride experience, and without any dynamic degradation, so that’s what we’d choose. And they’d be less prone to occasional tyre drone to boot.

Finally, there’s the X-Trail’s overall suitability to Australian roads from an ADAS point of view. Working away in the background, the Ti-L’s driver-assist tech does not bombard you with unsolicited buzzes or sudden jolts of the wheel. Once, the auto emergency braking (AEB) did gently activate at speed through a heavily-trafficked curve, and the lane-departure light regularly blinks discreetly away, but never to a bothersome, distracting degree. And meanwhile, some Chinese companies question the need for Australian road tuning. Fail.

Overall, then, the latest X-Trail e-Power remains enjoyable and even enriching vehicle to live with, being both a mainstream family car and grand touring SUV. In this context, the sub-$60K pricing seems like a bargain. This Nissan deserves to sell better.

Based on the related but smaller Qashqai SUV’s results, the previous X-Trail managed a maximum five-star ANCAP crash-test rating back in 2021, and Nissan expects the 2026 model to do the same.

All grades feature Nissan’s 'Pro-Pilot' driver-assistance systems, including AEB front and rear with pedestrian and cyclist detection, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep systems, adaptive cruise control, a driver fatigue monitor, auto high beam, traffic sign recognition and seven airbags. Note the latter includes curtain airbags that reach all outboard occupants.

The previous X-Trail’s AEB kicks in from 5.0-130km/h, pedestrian and cyclist AEB from 5.0-80km/h and the lane support systems operate between 60-250km/h.

Also fitted are ISOFIX child-seat latches to the outboard rear seats, along with a trio of top tether anchorage points.

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. 

At the time of publishing, Nissan offers a 10-year, 300,000km conditional warranty if you choose to service your car at an authorised Nissan dealer. That's up from the brand’s regular five-year, unlimited kilometres and it leads the industry now.

Nissan has also extended X-Trail service intervals from 10,000km to 15,000km annually, while offering capped-price servicing as well as roadside assistance for the first five years.

The first five annual services cost $399 each, then are $565, $392, $562, $470 and $725 for years six to 10, respectively.

Finally, as of January this year, there were 177 Nissan dealer outlets throughout Australia.