The XC40’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The X3 doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC40 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The BMW X3 doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Both the XC40 and X3 have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC40 Ultra has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The X3’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the XC40 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The X3 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The XC40 has standard Post-impact braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The X3 doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
Both the XC40 and X3 have rear cross-traffic warning, but the XC40 has Braking Intervention (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The X3’s Cross Traffic Warning doesn’t automatically brake.
The XC40’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The X3 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the XC40 and the X3 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volvo XC40 is safer than the BMW X3:
|
|
XC40 |
X3 |
| OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
|
Driver |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Neck Injury Risk |
30% |
32.2% |
| Neck Stress |
209 lbs. |
262 lbs. |
| Neck Compression |
25 lbs. |
30 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
361/380 lbs. |
546/448 lbs. |
|
|
Passenger |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
| Chest Compression |
.5 inches |
.8 inches |
| Neck Injury Risk |
31% |
40.2% |
| Neck Stress |
156 lbs. |
168 lbs. |
| Neck Compression |
66 lbs. |
71 lbs. |
| Leg Forces (l/r) |
397/411 lbs. |
495/536 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Volvo XC40 is safer than the BMW X3:
|
|
XC40 |
X3 |
|
|
Rear Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Hip Force |
755 lbs. |
866 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| Spine Acceleration |
33 G’s |
37 G’s |
| Hip Force |
411 lbs. |
472 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the XC40 is 1.4% less likely to roll over than the X3.