BMW X1 VS Haval H9
BMW X1
Likes
- Spacious
- Great cabin storage
- Easy to drive
Dislikes
- Pricey
- Servicing on the expensive side
- Small fuel tank
Haval H9
Likes
- Ride and gearbox both great
- Space galore
- Unbeatable value proposition
Dislikes
- Some electrical gremlins
- Huge lag when taking off
- A longer warranty with public capped-price servicing would help
Summary
BMW X1
BMW’s X1 has changed. In a good way. Especially if you’re thinking about buying one as a family car.
Yep, last year the third-generation X1 arrived and after 13 years and three different attempts on a design, BMW has nailed it. And by ‘it’ I mean built a super practical and spacious small SUV that’s great to drive.
See, as a dad of two kids, when it comes to cars and my family ‘it’ means something totally different to what ‘it’ meant 10 years ago.
And that’s what this review is about: does the BMW X1, and specifically this xDrive20i M Sport variant we’ve tested here, make a good family car?
If you're thinking of buying it for your family then you need to read this and also consider the likes of Audi’s Q3 and the Mercedes-Benz GLB.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Premium Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 7.2L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Haval H9
From almost the moment carmakers began popping up in China, we've talked of the soon-to-arrive boom in Chinese new-car sales in Australia.
They're coming, we said. And no, they're not much chop right now, but they'll get better and better and better, until they're one day giving the best from Japan and Korea a run for their money.
That was years ago now, and the truth is, they never really got good enough to seriously rattle any cages here in Oz. They inched closer, sure, but there was still a heap of daylight between them and the competition.
But we've just spent a week piloting the updated Haval H9 large SUV, and we can report that the gap hasn't just shrunk, it's near-enough vanished, the daylight reduced to a sliver in lots of important areas.
So is this the beginning of the Chinese revolution?
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Premium Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 12.1L/100km |
| Seating | 7 seats |
Verdict
BMW X17.8/10
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.
Haval H97.1/10
The Haval H9 Ultra is proof that Chinese cars are at last living up to the hype. The value proposition is unbelievable, and a five-year warranty helps calm any ownership concerns. Is it bang-on against the competition? Not quite. Not yet. But you can be sure that other vehicles in the segment can feel the H9's hot breath on the back of their necks.
Would you consider a Haval, or do you still doubt the Chinese? Tell us in the comments below.
Design
BMW X1
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).
Haval H97/10
It's a big and slab-sided beast, the H9, and it's unlikely to win too many beauty contests. But then, few in this category do, or attempt to, and it looks tough and purposeful, which is probably more important.
Front on, it looks positively massive, with its giant and silver-slatted grille, huge headlights and a jumbo foglight perched like alien eyes in the furthest corners of the front end.
From the side, lashings of silver (a touch too blingy for our tastes) break up an otherwise fairly bland profile, with the rubber-gripped sidesteps a nice touch. From the back, a large and largely unremarkable rear end is home to a massive, side-hinged boot opening, with the pull handle mounted to the far left.
It's not perfect in places, though, with some panels that don't quite match up, and more gaps between others than we'd like, but you have to look closely to notice.
Inside, the fit and finish is pretty good, with a giant faux-wood centre console home to a one-touch gear lever, an electric handbrake (a luxury still missing in some Japanese models) and most of the four-wheel-drive functions. The "eco" leather on the seats and the soft-touch dash are both nice under the touch, as is the steering wheel, and the second and third rows are pleasantly furnished, too.
Practicality
BMW X1
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.
Haval H98/10
Very practical, thanks for asking. It's a behemoth (4856m long, 1926mm wide and 1900mm high), so space is really no problem in the cabin.
Up front, there are the prerequisite brace of cupholders, mounted in a centre console so wide you could play football on it, and the seats are big and comfortable (and they'll give you a massage to boot). There is room in the front doors for bottles, and the infotainment, while a little slow and clunky, is easy to understand and operate.
Climb into the second row and there's heaps of space (both leg and headroom) for passengers, and you can, without doubt, fit three kids across the back. There is a storage net on the rear of each of the front seats, room for bottles in the doors and two more cupholders in the pulldown divider.
There's no shortage of niceties for backseat riders, too, with air vents and temperature controls and heated rear seats. And there are two ISOFIX points, one in each window seat.
Things aren't so luxurious for third-row passengers, with thin-and-hard seats mounted in cramped surrounds. But there are third-row vents and a cupholder for seats six and seven.
The side-hinged boot opens to reveal a laughably small storage space with the third row in place, but things improve considerably when you flatten (electronically, no less) the rear seats, with a gigantic storage area that will have your phone ringing hot every time one of your friends is moving house.
Price and features
BMW X1
In the space of driving this SUV and writing this review the list price of the X1 xDrive20i M Sport has risen from $68,900 to $73,400.
That price hike was part of an increase across the model range and all grades now cost more, even the entry-level sDrive18i which is now 13K less than the xDrive20i M Sport.
But you’re paying for the more powerful, athletic and only all-wheel drive one in the X1 range.
You’re also getting loads of standard features in the xDrive20i M Sport.
There’s the 10.25-inch instrument display with three different styles for your speedo and other gauges, while flowing into that is the 10.7-inch media screen with sat nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and digital radio.
There are LED headlights, plus proximity unlocking, a head-up display, dual-zone climate control, a power tailgate, sports seats (the front ones are heated and power adjustable) and adaptive cruise control.
As the name suggests the xDrive20i M Sport is fitted with BMW M Sport goodies as standard. These include adaptive M Suspension, M leather steering wheel, M roof rails, M headliner and M interior trim.
My test car also had $8900 worth of options fitted including the sunroof, Harman Kardon stereo, the ‘Vernasca Black’ leather seats and 20-inch M light alloy multi-spoke wheels.
Is it good value? Well, you do get a lot of nice things here but at a $13,000 premium over the entry grade, plus the $3500 price jump in the past few weeks, I’d say the value isn’t great.
If you’re trying to keep the cost down, the sDrive18i is the budget pick.
Haval H99/10
Let's be honest, Haval hasn't been around anywhere near long enough in Australia to sell on anything even resembling badge loyalty. So if it is any hope of increasing its 50-odd sales a month (March 2018), it knows it has to sweeten the pot on price.
And it doesn't get much sweeter than the $44,990 sticker glued to the H9 Ultra. That's about $10k cheaper than the cheapest Prado (and a staggering $40k cheaper than the most-expensive version), and the Ultra is absolutely swimming with kit for the money.
Outside, the alloy wheels are 18 inches, there are LED daytime running lights, front and rear fog lamps, dusk-sensing headlights with a follow-me-home function and standard roof rails.
Inside, the faux-leather seats are heated in the first two rows (and ventilated in the front), and there's even a massage function for the driver and passenger. The windows are powered, as is the fold-flat function for the third row, and there's a sunroof, leather-wrapped steering wheel and aluminium pedals, too.
On the tech front, an 8.0-inch touchscreen (but no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto) is paired with a 10-speaker stereo, and there is standard navigation, keyless entry and push-button start.
Finally, there's a heap of safety and off-roading kit, but we'll come back to that under our other sub-headings.
Under the bonnet
BMW X1
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.
Haval H96/10
It's like a diesel in disguise, this 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, making 180kW at 5500rpm and 350Nm at 1800rpm. It's paired with an eight-speed automatic gearbox, and drives all four wheels. That means a sprint to 100km/h of "just over 10 seconds” - about two seconds faster than the car it replaces.
Haval's All-Terrain Control System is also standard, meaning you can choose between six drive settings, including Sport, Mud or 4WD Low.
Efficiency
BMW X1
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.
Haval H96/10
Haval reckons you'll get 10.9 litres per 100 kilometres on the combined cycle, with emissions a claimed 254g/km. The H9's 80-litre tank will only accept premium 95RON fuel, which is a shame.
Driving
BMW X1
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.
Haval H97/10
We did a lot of kilometres in the Haval (perhaps subconsciously we were waiting for it to fall over), and over all sorts of road conditions, and it never skipped a beat.
The obvious standout is the ride, which is now very good, and disposes of CBD bumps and corrugations without fuss. At no stage does it feel dynamic or overly connected to the road, but it creates a comfortable disconnect that makes you feel you're floating above the ground. Not good for a performance car, sure, but it suits the character of the big Haval just fine.
The steering has a wafty vagueness, though, and it doesn't inspire confidence on anything twisty, with plenty of corrections when you're tackling something challenging.
The rolling delivery of power is surprisingly strong and smooth when you plant your foot. But there are downsides to a small turbocharged engine shoving the size of a block of flats around. For one, the engine has this staggering delay when you first plant your foot from a standstill - as though you're playing chess with the engine and it is figuring out its next move - before finally surging into life. It makes overtaking moves a heart-stopping challenge at times.
The petrol engine (which does a remarkable job of masquerading as a diesel) can feel a little rough and rugged when you really plant your foot, too, and you'll find all the useable power lurking at the low-end of the rev range. It is bloody comfortable, though. The vision is very good out of all windows, including the rear windscreen. And the gearbox is terrific, seamlessly and smoothly swapping cogs.
But... there were some electrical gremlins. For one, the proximity unlocking is the weirdest we've encountered - sometimes it works, other times its more complicated, and you need a textbook to figure out how it talks to the boot. The alarm went off twice despite me unlocking the doors, too. It might be some user error that I don't understand, but worth mentioning either way.
Safety
BMW X1
The X1xDrive20i M Sport like all X1s scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2022.
A score of 88 per cent was given to child protection and the ANCAP report found that a 10-year old and six-year old in the second row had adequate to good protection in a front offset collision and a side impact.
For child seats there are two ISOFIX points and three top tether anchor mounts across the second row.
As you would expect from a model that’s hasn’t even been around a year yet, the X1 xDrive20i M Sport has the very latest in advanced safety tech.
There’s AEB which is operational from 5.0km/h to 210km/h and also works at road junctions. There’s lane keeping assistance, blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert.
There are curtain airbags for front and rear passengers, a centre airbag for the driver and co-pilot along with frontal airbags plus side chest and side pelvis airbags.
Haval H97/10
The safety story starts with dual front and front-side airbags, as well as curtain bags that stretch across all three rows. You'll also find a revising camera, as well as front and rear parking sensors.
Happily, Haval has also embraced the newer technologies, so you'll get lane-departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert and blind-spot monitoring. Off-road, hill descent control is standard, and Haval claims a safe fording depth of 700mm.
The H9 received a four-star ANCAP crash rating when the outgoing model was tested in 2015.
Ownership
BMW X1
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.
Haval H97/10
Expect a five-year/100,000km warranty, with service intervals pegged at six months and 10,000km. Service costs are available at Haval dealerships, so be sure to check them out before you sign on the dotted line.