For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Audi SQ5 Sportback 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 X4 M doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Both the SQ5 Sportback and X4 M have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The SQ5 Sportback 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 X4 M’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 SQ5 Sportback are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The X4 M doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The SQ5 Sportback has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The X4 M doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Audi SQ5 Sportback achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The BMW X4 M has not been tested.
Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The SQ5 Sportback has Car-to-X Services, a system that seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The X4 M doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure.
The Audi SQ5 Sportback offers an optional Top View Camera System and it also offers an optional rear camera washer to make backing always safe, regardless of road dirt or grime, while the BMW X4 M doesn’t offer a camera washer, requiring manual cleaning.
Both the SQ5 Sportback and X4 M have rear cross-traffic warning, but the SQ5 Sportback has Rear Cross-Traffic Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The X4 M’s Cross Traffic Warning doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the SQ5 Sportback and the X4 M have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.
The Audi SQ5 Sportback has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The X4 M has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2025.