BMW X4 VS Hyundai Palisade
BMW X4
Likes
- Slick exterior
- Punchy engine
- Excellent steering
Dislikes
- Cabin size
- Restricted visibility
- Boot design
Hyundai Palisade
Likes
- Roomy
- Comfortable
- Family friendly
Dislikes
- Price-tag
- Laggy acceleration
- Some annoying driver-assist tech
Summary
BMW X4
Look, personally I found it amusingly weird when German car companies started sloping the roofs on sedans and calling them “coupes”, despite the fact that they had four doors. Their ability to imagine segments, and find buyers in them, that have no reason to exist is almost something to admire.
But turning SUVs, like the already very capable X3, into coupes? Frankly, it’s like turning an ass into an elbow. Lower the roof to reduce headroom and shrink the boot? Why? Because it will look so sexy people won’t be able to resist it. That’s BMW’s approach with the X4 and, somehow, it seems to work.
And, to be fair, sporty SUVs are not a BMW thing: the Range Rover Evoque, Audi Q5 Sportback, and Mercedes-AMG’s range of GLC Coupé models have all taken off, each contributing toward an unlikely trend that doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
Read more on BMW
We’re having a steer of the 3.0 version to see what it’s like to have the somewhat bulky body of a mid-size SUV while shortchanging yourself on cabin space thanks to the lowered roof.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Premium Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 7.9L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Hyundai Palisade
The Calligraphy is in the upper ranks of the Hyundai Palisade line-up.
It’s a big classy-looking SUV inside and out, it’s packed full of features, it has eight seats, and it’s even all-wheel drive, but with a price tag that’s more than $80,000. Is it worth your consideration?
Read on.
Read more about
- Problem? What problem? Why Hyundai isn't worried about its sales despite getting beaten by Kia and Ford in 2023
- Can Hyundai take down Toyota in the off-road war? It will be LandCruiser Prado versus Santa Fe XRT in the battle of the bush-bashers in 2024
- 2024 Hyundai Staria Hybrid confirmed: Domestic market pre-orders open for new petrol-electric hybrid version of Kia Carnival rival. But will it come to Australia?
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.2L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Diesel |
| Fuel Efficiency | 7.3L/100km |
| Seating | 8 seats |
Verdict
BMW X47.5/10
Okay, so the BMW X4 xDrive30i is neither an ass nor an elbow, to be fair, it's more of a bulky shoulder muscle, or two.
I can't say I'll ever love the X4, the idea of it is a bit too weird for me, but I can't help admiring the way it looks and the way it drives.
It's a bit like a sedan on steroids - or an SUV on a diet, depending on your perspective - but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s fun to drive, comfortable and retains just enough coolness, and just enough practicality, to make it worthwhile.
Hyundai Palisade7.4/10
The Palisade Calligraphy is a nice SUV to drive on road. It’s composed and refined, and as an eight-seater, it makes a sensible daily driver, especially for those of us with more than a couple of children.
My teenagers loved this Palisade because there were charge points for everyone – namely them – and that second row, according to them, is very comfortable.
It has a few niggles, but, while it’s not perfect, the Palisade Calligraphy does so many things so well that you are willing to forgive it its few quirks and AWD gives it a handy advantage over any of its 2WD rivals.
Design
BMW X49/10
So here's the thing. Obviously I have a personal beef with the existence of vehicles like this, but my eyes cannot deny the facts - the X4 looks fantastic. It's muscular, imposing and smooth all at once. Unlike the X6, a bigger and less visually successful attempt to play the same styling tricks with an X5, it doesn't have a ridiculous rear view that looks like it shoulders and buttocks have been fused (although it's hard to miss just how small the rear window is).
Even more impressively, there's no denying it looks better than the X3 that gave birth to it, so I can easily see why someone in a BMW showroom could be drawn to it. At least until they sit inside.
If the exterior style and eye-catching Sophisto Grey metallic paint don’t make an immediate impression then your eyes will surely widen at the interior, resplendent with bold Tacora Red seats, Aluminium Rhombicle trim finisher and the kind of sleek, classy styling that BMW excels in.
Both the adjustable ambient lighting on the doors (we were partial to lilac) and door projectors that shot out what looked like robot wings onto the ground every time we hopped out of the X4 at night walked a fine line between futuristic cool and “parked out the front of a nightclub entrance” chintz, but over time the scales tipped more to the former.
The big differentiator between the X4 and X3, of course, is the sloped coupé roof, a design feature that may make the X4 look a little cooler, but at the expense of cabin space, but more of that in a moment.
Hyundai Palisade
This is a nice looking SUV in a generic, non-offensive way.
The Calligraphy is in the top ranks of the Palisade range, so, in terms of design you'd expect it to be a bit easy on the eye and it is, especially the exterior, from the big grille all the way back.
Our test vehicle’s colour looks a lot like black to me. Hyundai calls it 'Robust Emerald' and I started to not strongly dislike it after a few days.
The interior has a real premium look and feel to it with Nappa leather accents and expanses of soft-touch surfaces adding to that prevailing overall impression.
This is a cleanly designed space – it's really quite easy on the eyes – and it's comfortable to be in. Bonus: the build quality is great, it all feels so well put together.
This Palisade is also a prime example of a car maker effectively blending high-tech displays and controls into a cabin in a low-key way – nothing really seems out of place here and everything is easy to locate and operate.
Practicality
BMW X47/10
For a car that is very much a mid-sized SUV on the outside, the interior can feel a bit too snug, like you’re driving a compact car that’s tried on a suit a few sizes too big (for reference, I’m 175cm tall - above-average height drivers may find the snugness soon turns to claustrophobia).
While comfortable - it is BMW we’re talking about, after all - there’s not an overly abundant amount of headroom available, a feeling that becomes more pronounced should you shut the big moon roof.
My two children felt slightly too close to “you’re annoying me” distance from one another, which is to say this isn’t really the kind of car you should be getting if you plan on regularly ferrying about passengers in the rear who are bigger than a child. But I really don't think many people with kids would choose the X4 over the X3.
Boot space also takes a hit when compared to the X3 (550 litres versus 525-litres in the X4 - I was surprised the difference wasn't larger - although that expands to 1430-litres with the rear seats folded down.
The boot opening is also mouth-shaped, which makes packing in wide-load items more of an issue.
Cupholders are plentiful - two in the front, two in the rear, and bottle holders in each door - and there’s a decent-sized storage cubby in between the front two seats.
The sloped roof, and big fat A pillars, also result in the X4 being a bit more pinched at the rear, which is not especially great for visibility, with the vehicle’s blind spots taking some getting used to.
Hyundai Palisade
Once you've spent any time in the Palisade Calligraphy cabin, you get to realise just how comfortable it is.
The driver and front-passenger seats are very comfortable and very supportive, and these are both power adjustable. The driver’s seat is 12-way power-adjustable so you can precisely dial in your position.
There are so many handy features to the interior that if you can find something that's missing, I want to hear about it.
There are plenty of storage spaces and cupholders* and lots of charge points, including a USBs up the front and two USB-Cs for each row’s passengers.
* Hyundai reckons there are 17 cupholders throughout the Palisade interior but I didn’t count them so we’re taking the company's word for it.
The second row is quite spacious and on the right side of comfortable and the passengers have access to sufficient controls including climate control.
The outboard seats are heated and there are controls for the fan on the back of the centre console. There are USB-C points on the inside edges of the front seats for the second-row passengers, a couple of cupholders either side as well as sun shades on each second-row window.
That’s helpful if you're trying to get your little ones to sleep, or at least prevent the sun from blasting them in the eyes.
In terms of child restraint points in the second row, you have three top tether points and two ISOFIX anchors and in the third row you have two top tethers and one ISOFIX location.
The third row is the domain of children, or two adults if you don't like them. There's not a lot of room. I racked the second row forward just a bit to give me some much-needed knee room.
There are a couple of cupholders either side in the third row and passengers there do have access to air vents. This is sufficiently comfortable for children, but it's a no-go zone for adults.
With all three rows in use, there is a claimed 311 litres of cargo space in the boot area, which doesn’t mean a lot until you can see what fits in there, for better or worse.
Now, normally in a Family review, you might expect to see groceries and maybe a pram in the rear cargo area as an illustrative measure of what you can or cannot fit in there. Well, that’s not my style.
This is an AWD vehicle, and I drive on dirt roads as part of any AWD test, so I wanted some items from my vehicle-recovery kit onboard, including a set of four MaxTrax (vehicle-recovery boards, if you don’t know already), an air compressor (to re-inflate a punctured or intentionally deflated tyre), a first-aid kit, and a tyre-puncture repair kit.
All of these things fit easily into the rear cargo area with the third row up and theoretically in use.
That listed cargo space increases to 704 litres with the third row stowed away.
Then, with the second and third rows down you’re at 2447 litres.
Kerb weight is 2070kg and GVM is 2755kg, so you have a little bit of wiggle room in terms of how much you can pack onboard. A full-size spare sits under the body at the rear.
Price and features
BMW X47/10
Cost-wise, the X4 is roughly in the same ballpark as the other cars in this strange sub-segment, but when you add in optional extras - metallic paint, panorama glass sunroof and BMW Laserlight headlights among them - the base price of $95,900 plus on-road costs sneaks up to $101,800, which is is no small figure.
It’s also a considerable $8000 more than the SUV-shaped X3, meaning you’re essentially getting the same car, but with less cabin and boot space, for more money. To be fair, this is just part of a long tradition of the style-conscious buyer being willing to pay more for less, one that the invention of the coupe pretty much invented.
That kind of money also makes exclusions like adaptive cruise control, heated seats and wireless charging a bit of a head-scratcher.
Still, there’s plenty to love, including an M Sport kit that comes standard with the X4 (a suspension/brake package and various styling embellishments), butter-soft Tacora Red Vernasca leather seats (Sport adjustable for the driver and front passenger), 20-inch M light alloy double-spoked wheels, a head-up display, adaptive LED headlights, and an automatic tailgate.
There’s also a generous high-resolution 12.3-inch control display and digital 12.3-inch instrument display, the former operated by touch or via the rotary iDrive Touch Controller.
Cable-free Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also available, but BMW allows you the option to use its iDrive system instead, just in case you're some kind of mad Munich fanboy - or you hate Apple.
Hyundai Palisade
The Calligraphy is available as a 3.8-litre petrol front-wheel drive with an eight-speed automatic transmission and eight seats, or with the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine, eight-speed auto and AWD, as in our test vehicle, priced from $82,175 (excluding on-road costs).
Standard features include a 10-inch head-up display, heated steering wheel, Nappa leather-appointed seats, 12-way power-adjustable driver’s seat (with preferred position memory), ventilated first- and second-row seats, heated second-row seats, dual sunroof with tilt function, remote park assist (forward and reverse), a digital rear-view mirror and 20-inch alloy wheels with a full size spare wheel.
Under the bonnet
BMW X48/10
Now, prepare to be confused. In the past, the 3.0 in the xDrive3.0i nomenclature might have led you to believe you'd bought a BMW with a 3.0-litre straight six engine. But in this case, you have not, the 3.0 just means you have a more exciting version of the 2.0; a TwinPower turbo 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder engine, making 179kW and 353Nm that the xDrive system delivers to all four wheels.
The claimed zero to 100km/h time of 4.9 seconds feels completely realistic as this engine has plenty of poke. Put it in the Sport setting and you'll get some serious shove. Indeed, the switch between Comfort and Sport is very noticeable and changes the character of the car entirely.
The transmission is an eight-speed conventional torque converter automatic gearbox that’s both smooth and responsive.
Hyundai Palisade
Our test vehicle has a 2.2-litre four-cylinder, common-rail, turbo-diesel engine sending 147kW (at 3800rpm) and 440Nm (at 1750-2750rpm) to all four wheel via an eight-speed automatic transmission.
This Palisade has an AWD system called 'HTrac' (Hyundai Traction) and it operates on a similar principle to most other AWD systems in city-going SUVs, and that is it directs power to the appropriate wheels to optimise traction.
This vehicle also has multiple drive modes – 'Comfort', 'Sport', 'Eco' and 'Smart' – for on road and 'Sand', 'Mud' and 'Snow' for when you go off-road.
These off-road drive modes are absolutely no substitute for 4WD, but they are fine for when conditions get slippery, for example, if there’s a little bit of rain on the bitumen or the dirt track becomes slightly muddy.
Efficiency
BMW X47/10
The X4’s 65-litre tank needs to be 95-octane at a minimum, and BMW’s claimed combined fuel consumption is 7.9 litres per 100km. The temptation to use its rorty little engine is going to push you higher, though - you chose the one with the 3.0 badge on it after all - and we averaged 10.9 litres per 100km in our week together, which was mainly city driving, to be fair.
Hyundai Palisade
Fuel consumption is listed as 7.3L/100km on a combined cycle. On this test, I recorded 9.0L/100km.
The Palisade has a 71-litre fuel tank. So, going by that on-test figure, you could expect a driving range of almost 800km from a full tank.
But remember you’ll be carrying more people and gear onboard so fuel economy will be affected accordingly.
Driving
BMW X48/10
The impressive trick that BMW continually pulls off with its SUVs is giving them the same sensual, muscular steering as its sedans, and an impressively similar ride and handling balance.
The steering is the highlight here, but it's also noticeable how planted to the road it feels.
The X4 speaks to its looks, in fact, by feeling sportier and more alive to drive than you'd expect an X3 to be.
This is less an SUV for soccer mums and dads, and more a bastard love-child that’s into loud leather and bright neon - a CEO who dressed punk rock-lite on weekends, if you will.
If those weekends are bereft of child taxiing and loading up the boot with several tons of kid stuff, then you’ll have a blast in the X4.
Hyundai Palisade
This is an easy driving wagon. It's nice and comfortable, it's refined, it's always composed and it's always controlled and it's just an all around nice drive from the engine and the auto, which are a really good pairing.
As mentioned earlier, kerb weight is listed as 2070kg and this Palisade has an 11.8m turning circle, so it’s not an insubstantial vehicle to steer around.
It’s not very dynamic, not very lively, but it has a nice consistent feel to it all – and being composed and consistent is important with something that's intended as a people mover, as a family vehicle because that's what you want.
Ride and handling are well sorted out and, though there’s a touch of firmness to the suspension, ride quality is smooth in general terms.
There are the paddle shifters on the steering wheel if you want a little bit more input into shifting up and down in the automatic transmission, but it’s rather clever so you can just let it do its job as it does that nicely.
There are four on-road drive modes – Comfort, Eco, Sport and Smart. Smart tweaks vehicle characteristics such as engine output, transmission settings and braking to suit your driving style, and depending on which of the other modes you select, it will adjust those characteristics and/or more to suit the terrain or the conditions you’re driving in.
And while this Palisade is impressive in terms of performance and driving characteristics, there are a few niggles.
Acceleration is a bit laggy and it takes a heavy right boot to get the Palisade moving at pace.
Some of the driver-assist tech is often abrupt and intrusive. The traffic-sign recognition (or speed limit assist) is clunky. It detects and reacts to signs that don't apply at that time of day, say school zone signs, or it picks up on signs that don't apply to that section of road.
So, it's forever chopping and changing between speeds you should be at and speeds you shouldn't. You can adjust those settings or switch them off in the Hyundai app via the touchscreen multimedia system, but those settings return as defaults when you next start the vehicle.
Now for some dirty talk. The Palisade Calligraphy is an all-wheel drive SUV wagon that does sufficiently well on terrain that would be moderately challenging for a 2WD vehicle.
Our light-duty test track is sandy and there are some very shallow wheel ruts – nothing serious – and this Palisade handled all of the minor challenges well.
Ride quality over some of the lumpier sections was good. It's a bit on the firm side as you'd expect because this is a SUV designed for the suburbs not the Simpson, but it is perfectly reasonable on a very easy dirt track in dry conditions.
And that’s the good thing about an AWD over a 2WD vehicle; you have that extra degree of traction, especially if you get into a traction-compromised situation such as a slippery wet bitumen road or a slightly muddy, but otherwise well-maintained, gravel route.
This Palisade has three terrain driving modes – Sand, Mud, and Snow – which each adjust throttle response, engine output, and the automatic transmission, among other things, to ensure you keep moving safely with controlled momentum.
If you’re planning to use your daily driver / family mover as a towing platform it’s handy to note that the Pailsade’s towing capacity is 750kg (unbraked) and 2200kg (braked).
Safety
BMW X48/10
A 2018 test gave the X4 a five-star ANCAP safety rating, and an easily located button on the dash brings up the vehicle’s safety suite if you’re the kind of driver who likes to make a few adjustments.
A 360-degree camera offers multiple viewpoints and is a godsend when parking the X4, since the cabin makes the car feel smaller than it actually is on the outside, and the range of safety features on offer are more than adequate.
Those include autonomous emergency braking, dynamic braking lights, dynamic stability and traction control, rear-cross traffic alert, speed limit information and hill descent control.
Hyundai Palisade
The Palisade has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, from testing in 2022.
As standard the Calligraphy has seven airbags, as well as a stack of driver-assist technology including AEB, adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree camera, lane keeping assist and more.
Ownership
BMW X46/10
Despite all the brouhaha about other car manufacturers offering more generous warranty periods - seven years for Kia, for example - BMW has not shifted its stance, still offering its standard three-year unlimited-kilometre warranty. Frankly, it's just not good enough.
BMW also offer a Service Inclusive package for $2010 that covers owners for five years, or 80,000km.
Hyundai Palisade
Every Palisade is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and roadside assistance is complimentary for the first 12 months, renewed annually (for the life of the vehicle) if you have your Palisade serviced at an authorised Hyundai dealer.
Service intervals are set at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs soonest, and pre-paid plans are available over three, four or five years.
The latter costs $2445, which equates to $489 per service. Not cheap but not outrageous.