BMW X1 vs Range Rover Sport

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.

Range Rover proudly calls it its “most dynamic” model ever, and based on our first experience that’s most definitely true. Its ability to be genuinely exciting to drive on a race track is nothing short of remarkable for a brand whose history is all about off-road prowess.

On the road it shines just as brightly, with its potent engine and state-of-the-art suspension system working in unison to make for a stunningly dynamic large and luxurious SUV. And then, if you need to cut across a field or scramble up a slippery hill, it will do that too.

Range Rover’s claims of ‘breadth of capability’ is apt but arguably an understatement. I’d stop short of calling the Sport SV the obvious class-leader in the high-end, high-performance SUV market because it’s up against some seriously impressive rivals, but the Range Rover offers a broader range of ability than any of its competitors.

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).

Range Rover is a brand synonymous with big, imposing and off-road capable SUVs, not dynamic and sporty vehicles. But in recent years the Evoque and Velar have added a new layer of style and a sleekness to the brand’s reputation.

The latest generation Sport is still a big and imposing two-tonne SUV, but it’s also definitely sportier to look at and the SV changes only add to that.

It only takes a moment looking at it and it’s clear this is an SUV that means business. The 23-inch wheels fill out the guards, the air-suspension can lower the body to the ground and the aerodynamic package, including the front splitter, make for a purposeful look.

The carbon-fibre bonnet can be finished with the centre section exposed, showing off the weave of the fibres, which is a nice touch, although fake vents on the bonnet and front fenders are a bit disappointing.

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.

There are two stand-out features in the cabin, beyond the standard high-level of luxury you expect from a Range Rover Sport. 

The first is the SV-specific steering wheel with illuminated paddles, which feels solid in your hands. But the second is by far the most interesting, the so-called Body and Soul Seats (BASS), which Range Rover has developed in conjunction with Coventry University.

Available with either genuine leather or ‘ultra fabric’ and a 3D-print knit trim, the seats look great on the outside but it’s what’s inside them that’s special.

There are four audio transducers integrated into the seat back which can vibrate to the beat of whatever audio track you’re listening to. The system uses AI to detect the lower frequencies and then work out which beats to transmit.

This is technology used by musicians, Coldplay’s Chris Martin reportedly wears transducers integrated into a vest when he performs, but Range Rover is confident it will add to the ownership experience.

It’s certainly an interesting technology and a demonstration across different music genres highlights the way the system adapts to individual songs, but it’s hard not to feel like this is more of a gimmick than something an owner will use every day. 

If you don’t like listening to music with it, the Body and Soul Seats also work with a ‘Wellness’ setting that features six audio pieces (designed by Coventry University musicians) - calm, soothe, serene, cool, tonic and invigorate.

It’s probably what you need to help settle your heart rate after you unleash the full performance potential of the Sport SV.

In the back seat there’s none of this technology but they do feature heating and ventilation as well as power recline functions. There’s also four-zone climate control, so every occupant can be comfortable.

To be blunt, the Range Rover Sport SV is one of those vehicles that if you have to ask, you can’t afford. Particularly in this case, as the model has launched in a single specification level, the Sport SV Edition One, which is priced from $360,800, plus on-road costs.

That puts it into the same financial category as the likes of the Aston Martin DBX ($356,512), Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT Coupe ($364,700) and Lamborghini Urus ($409,744) - especially when we discuss some of the pricier options.

For that price the Sport SV Edition One comes with exclusive branding on the front splitter, centre console, treadplates and puddle lamps as well as a raft of standard features likely to carry-over to the 2025 model year version.

These include carbon-fibre badges, forged 23-inch alloy wheels, digital LED headlights, a carbon-fibre bonnet, 16-way electronically adjustable front seats, Meridian 'Signature' sound system, 13.1-inch multimedia touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and newly developed ‘Body and Soul Seats’ (more on those later).

But if you’re feeling really sporty, you can upgrade your Sport SV with lightweight carbon fibre wheels and carbon ceramic brakes.

These will cost you a staggering $16,130 and $13,500, respectively, but the wheels measure 23-inches and are the largest fitted to a production car (and are also Australian-made by Carbon Revolution in Geelong).

Unfortunately, for now at least, this is all a moot point because Range Rover Australia has already invited and sold all examples of the Sport SV Edition One, so you'll need to be patient and wait until at least 2025 to have the option to buy one.

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.

Sadly the wonderfully evocative supercharged V8 engine from the previous generation Range Rover Sport SVR is gone.

But, thankfully, in its place is a more powerful engine that’s exclusive to the Sport SV in the Jaguar Land Rover family.

It’s a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine with mild-hybrid assistance, which is actually built by BMW and based on the same powertrain as you’ll find in the M5, albeit with some specific Range Rover elements for more off-road capability.

It’s also more powerful than the old supercharged V8, making an impressive 467kW of power and 750Nm of torque, which is a 44kW and 50Nm improvement over the old engine.

It’s paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission, again with a specific SV calibration for improved performance. 

And, of course, being a Land Rover, it’s also got a four-wheel drive system with full off-road systems as well as an active locking differential.

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.

Despite all the extra power, thanks to the mild-hybrid system it’s more fuel efficient and produces less emissions than the old 5.0-litre V8.

Still, it’s all relative, and as you’d expect from a twin-turbo V8 SUV it’s still thirsty and uses 11.7-12.5-litres per 100km, based on European specifications.

The mild hybrid system uses a crank-integrated starter generator instead of a conventional alternator, providing a boost of up to 20kW and 175Nm of electrical power when needed, with the energy captured during braking and stored in a 48-volt lithium-ion battery.

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. 

Before driving the Sport SV you need to understand its highly complex suspension system that allows it to be so dynamically capable. Range Rover calls it a '6D Dynamic' system, because it can control the car left and right, up and down and corner to corner. 

To achieve this the system uses a combination of hydraulic interlinked dampers, height-adjustable air springs and pitch control, which makes it a semi-active suspension set-up similar to the set-up Formula 1 race cars used to boast. 

This allows the Sport SV to sit between 10-25mm lower than the other Sport models and with its clever suspension can actually sit flatter in the corner with less pitch and roll - which is the traditional enemy of high-riding SUVs when it comes to handling.

But the suspension is only part of the story, with the intelligent all-wheel drive, rear-wheel steering, torque vectoring and the active locking rear diff all combining to produce an SUV with incredibly impressive dynamic capability.

Put simply, there’s never been a Range Rover that deserved to be driven on a racetrack. The Sport SV changes that, and thankfully the company let us loose on the challenging Portimao circuit in Portugal to put the SV through its paces.

Range Rover management was quick to stress it doesn’t expect the Sport SV to be a race track regular for its owners, but driving it on track did highlight the extreme potential it offers. 

With such a powerful engine it should come as no surprise that the Sport SV hauled down the straight, hitting 233km/h at the end of the long front straight, but with speed still rising which suggests its 290km/h claimed top speed is accurate.

Even from those speeds and with 2560kg of SUV to slow down, with the carbon ceramic brakes it was no trouble whatsoever. Instead the braking was strong and consistent across multiple laps. 

The steering is the particular highlight, with the rear-wheel steering helping to turn the Sport SV sharper and more quickly than a big SUV like this should. 

But while it impressed on the circuit, we also experienced it on some great winding rural roads across Portugal and this is where it shone even more brightly.

This is an SUV that you’ll genuinely enjoy driving with its ability to carve through corners and blast down anything resembling straight road.

But to ensure it lives up to the Land Rover badge on the front, we also drove it off-road. Nothing too serious at first, just muddy ruts, across some water and over some rocks.

But then we were guided through a course that showed off its articulation potential, which is far greater than the average owner will ever need. 

However, to achieve this Range Rover removed the carbon-fibre front splitter, so it’s not the most off-road friendly model the brand offers.

The Sport SV comes generously equipped with safety gear, as you’d expect at this price point. There’s all the usual passive safety, including airbag coverage for all occupants, and plenty of active safety including adaptive cruise control with steering assist, remote park assist and 3D surround cameras - which are used for off-roading as well as parking.

As with the rest of the Range Rover Sport range, it has been awarded a maximum five-star rating from safety agency, ANCAP.

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. 

If you’re worrying about servicing costs, you’re probably shopping at the wrong end of the market, but as with the range-topping Range Rover model the price of the car is expected to include servicing for the first five years and roadside assistance for the same period.

It’s also covered by a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty.

As with all Range Rovers the car will tell you when it needs a service depending on driving conditions. For example, if you hit the track or go off-roading it will likely need a visit quicker than if you're just commuting to and from work.