For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Volkswagen Tiguan 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.
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 Tiguan 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 Tiguan has a standard Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, which automatically applies 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.
The Volkswagen Tiguan’s rear backup camera has a standard washer for maintaining a clear view under various conditions. In contrast, the BMW X3 does not offer a rear camera washer, meaning its effectiveness relies on manual cleaning by the user when necessary.
Both the Tiguan and X3 have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Tiguan has Rear Traffic Alert (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The X3’s Cross Traffic Warning doesn’t automatically brake.
Both the Tiguan and the X3 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, front seat center airbag, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, 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.