Personally I would say the Volvo on the basis of seat comfort and practicality. Volvo seem to make the best seats in the business given the support they provide in the right places. Also the BMW X1 is at least an extra £2,000 and you get a lot less kit as standard, everything is optional, especially against a car that you might be test driving which may have extras in typical BMW fashion. So I’d make sure if you’re going to have the BMW to check and make sure you’re happy with what you’re going to receive. Whereas the XC40 comes with things like a 360 camera and excellent pixel LED headlights on the Pro Plus models as standard, both things are pricey extras on any X1.