Land Rover Defender X-Dynamic SE D350 2025 Review

You’ll easily spend more than $150,000 to buy and park the 2025 Land Rover Defender X-Dynamic SE D350 in your driveway if you go down the options list rabbit hole. While the Model Year 2025 D350 SE starts at $109,880 (the price will increase to $114,500 when the MY26 comes on stream), with options our test vehicle is $144,891 (plus on-road costs).

By and large, the added cost comes via a few significant packs. The Premium Upgrade Interior Pack ramps up the luxury and affords the full Windsor leather interior, electrically adjustable steering column as well as 14-way heated and cooled memory front seats.

Additional in-cabin selections include the panoramic glass roof and Ebony Windsor leather seats with Ebony interior. Then there’s the Extended Black Exterior Pack, Cold Climate Pack, which includes heated steering wheel, heated windscreen, heated washer jets and headlight power wash as well as the ClearSight interior rear-vision mirror.

Beefing-up its off-road prowess is the Capability Plus Pack, which offers Terrain Response 2, All Terrain Progress Control and Configurable Terrain Response. It also gains the Off-Road Pack, which incorporates Electronic Active Differential, all-terrain tyres, domestic plug socket, black roof trains, wade sensing, privacy glass and body-coloured spare wheel cover.

The test vehicle also gains locally fitted accessories, too, with the bull bar, front under shield, deployable roof ladder, gloss black side mounted gear carrier, integrated air compressor, wheel arch kit, rubber mats, front and rear mudflaps as well as towing hitch and tongue.

So, just a few extras, then...

Yet, despite all the optional box ticks, you do receive a surprising amount of kit as standard.

You don’t have to pay extra to get the dual-range transmission, adjustable air suspension, auto-dimming driver’s side mirror, LED lights with auto high beam assist, adaptive cruise control, electric power-fold side mirrors, push-button start, Meridian sound system and 12-way powered driver’s seat.

Outside there are 20-inch Satin Grey alloys (with an identical spare mounted on the tailgate) fitted with all-terrain tyres, gloss black mirror caps and black painted roof.

The cabin is treated to heated and cooled front seats, dual-zone climate control, configurable lighting, front passenger seat position memory, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, digital instrument cluster and large 13.1-inch centre touch-screen as standard. The rear seat is a useful 40/20/40 split, which you may well need when loaded up, as we’ll get to further below.

All the expected tech is present, too, with Bluetooth phone and audio pairing, smartphone mirroring with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, DAB+ digital radio and an online pack with a data plan (free for a year) with the Pivi Pro connectivity. There’s also a wireless charging pad.

Keeping you safe in the Defender are lane-keeping assist, rear cross traffic alert and braking, driver condition monitor, 360-degree parking aid, traffic sign recognition, adaptive speed limiter, tyre-pressure monitoring, trailer stability assist and active cruise control.

In 2020, ANCAP awarded a five-star rating to the Land Rover Defender (which expires December 2026). ANCAP gave the Defender an 85 per cent score for Adult Occupant Protection, 88 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 71 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection and 76 per cent for Safety Assist features.

The Defender uses a 3.0-litre 258kW/700Nm inline six-cylinder twin-turbo diesel engine with mild hybrid technology.

The warranty period is five years/unlimited kilometres with five years of roadside assist. Pre-paid servicing costs $3500 for five services, valid across five years/102,000km.

The 2025 Land Rover Defender X-Dynamic SE D350 isn’t priced out of its category, with other genuinely capable off-road wagons pitched at a similar cost with similar features.

The powertrain is well sorted, with a quiet, powerful and smooth engine that isn’t laggy and that delivers an assertive push in the back when needed.

The Defender grips well, with its all-terrain tyres more like highway-terrain spec in grip and lack of noise. With its long wheelbase and all-independent air suspension, the Defender’s ride quality is very good, absorbing most bumps without fuss. This is the sort of vehicle that you could clock 1000km in a day without drama.

The passenger space is huge, with plenty of room for five adults to sit comfortably.

The driver controls and infotainment system are not mystifying to use, with a pleasing use of physical buttons and dials for climate control and audio volume.

The boot space of the 2025 Land Rover Defender X-Dynamic SE D350, at 786 litres with all seats up, is quite small – even though the spare wheel is mounted on the tailgate.

The 12.84m turning circle is a stretch for city use, and the Defender is also a bit wide for the inner city.

The fuel consumption we achieved on test was not quite at the claimed 8.1L/100km combined figure – instead we returned 9.7L/100km, mostly with highway driving.

While not vague, the steering is a little too light and lacking in sharpness.

The speed warning chime can become annoying and must be switched off every time you start the vehicle. While that’s something you would get used to, the fact the speed-sign recognition isn’t always accurate is an issue if you decide not to disable to warning chime.

The 2025 Land Rover Defender X-Dynamic SE D350 is well distanced from its Defender predecessors, now much more a luxury SUV than rough and tumble off-roader.

While it still is very competent off-road, it also proves to be a solid open-road tourer, with plenty of power, comfort and space to eat up the kilometres.

The only things that would improve it is a bigger boot, better turning circle and if the speed warning could be permanently switched off.

2025 Land Rover Defender X-Dynamic SE D350 at a glance:
Price: $144,891 as tested (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder twin-turbo diesel
Output: 258kW/700Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 214g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2020)

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