BMW X2 xDrive20d M Sport 2018 : extra-sporty
The BMW X2 is the new, extra-sporty, added-desirability, ever-so-trendy sibling to the X1 ‘sports activity vehicle’ – and it has just arrived on UK roads in right-hand drive form.
You’ll likely notice the X2 the first time you see one because while it’s slightly more compact than the X1, whose wheelbase it shares, it also has the styling to create a bit of visual impact. Most versions of the car, unlike the M Sport-trim example we tested, have two-tone paintjobs, and there are optional alloy wheel sizes ranging all the way up to 20in.
All X2s get an extra BMW roundel on the C-pillar, too. BMW certainly wants to get your attention with this car and is pitching it as a “bold, rebellious, alternative choice”. The X2’s engine range is a slightly truncated one at launch, with only 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol and diesel motors available for the time being, with power outputs ranging from 148 to 189bhp.
Your options on driven wheels are defined by your preference on engine, as are those on transmissions. All 20i petrols are front-wheel-drive and come with a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic gearbox; all 20d diesels have four-wheel drive and eight-speed autos; and there’s an 18d model coming in manual or auto form as a front-driver or in manual-only form as an xDrive.
The X2 has a lower roofline than the X1 and runs with firmer suspension settings in order to make for its handling more agile than that of the X1 – a car which, by crossover standards, is already pretty agile. The M Sport trim of the X2 test car for our first UK drive, meanwhile, made the suspension shorter and firmer still.
Variable Damper Control (VDC) adaptive dampers are an option, while run-flat tyres come as standard on M Sport and M Sport X derivatives but can be avoided if you stick to SE or Sport.
That's not to say the X2 isn’t handsome. It's likeable enough, and it even draws the eye. Perhaps it was the particular specification of our test car, robbing it of the two-tone body treatment, that made the difference.
The biggest problem is that there’s the X1, which doesn’t look an awful lot different to this, and likewise the 2 Series Active Tourer and Gran Tourer, neither of which are a million miles away. The odd nice coupé, too. There can be no doubt that the size and shape of Munich’s average showroom model is changing rapidly, and clearly, we’ve all got to make the effort to keep up.
If the sight of the X2 makes you wonder exactly how different this car is in terms of dimensions from the X1, we’ll summarise: the X2 is 20mm shorter and 69mm lower to the ground (this rising to as much as 79mm with the M Sport or VDC suspension).
The X2’s driving position is pretty common-or-garden standard hatchback; it's a little bit higher than some but typically adjustable. It locates you in front of well-laid-out and adjustable controls, in a cabin that looks and feels a grade more upmarket than the crossover hatchback norm. It’s not quite in the league of one or two of the compact premium SUVs that are available for similar cash in terms of comfort or material richness, but, with contrast stitching on the dashboard and high-gloss trim aplenty on the centre console, it’s very pleasant.
Your view out is good, but it’s hardly a selling point, since you find yourself at a very similar height above the road as a lot of ordinary hatchbacks, looking through a glasshouse that isn’t particularly deep.
In the back, there’s respectable space for the heads, knees, elbow and feet of adult passengers, but no more than in the Pulsar or Vauxhall Astra. At least the X2's boot offers a useful improvement on that of a run-of-the-mill hatchback, at 470 litres.
There’s evidently a lot resting, then, on the dynamism of the X2’s driving experience. It's a good job that it’s present and correct, in that case. There are significantly more powerful engines to come as the model range is fleshed out, but even in middle-sitting-diesel 187bhp 20d form, the X2 is nicely pacey and responsive.
BMW’s 2.0-litre diesel revs with relative freedom over the last 1500rpm of its tacho travel, as BMW diesels tend to do, and the eight-speed automatic gearbox downstream of it channels the torque smartly and with slick, judicious shift timing.
The X2 has Sport, Comfort and Eco Pro driving modes, which manage the calibration of the engine, gearbox, stability control, power steering and, if fitted, adaptive dampers. There’s no Custom or Individual mode, without the likes of which many modern cars often frustrate by never quite being set up just-so. Thankfully, BMW does allow you to adopt the Sport mode’s more aggressive settings for the engine and drivetrain without having those of the suspension and steering, and that means you can configure the X2 quite well for use on UK roads.
Whatever mode you’ve selected, the X2 has the body control, grip level and steering response to appeal to the keener driver. It handles with an immediacy that isn’t far off hot hatch level, and it has commendable cornering balance, too, occasionally feeling like it’s being pushed neutral by its rear axle as well as being pulled up front in tighter corners.
With Sport mode set in its widest-reaching state, the X2’s steering weight can be a bit overbearing and its ride a shade unyielding over bumps. But when you dial out the chassis settings of that mode, the car’s composure and easy manageability both improve. The suspension remains firm-feeling even when thus set, mind you, and won’t suit drivers moving into a crossover for a greater sense of isolation from the road surface.
Anyone who needs the practicality, capability, comfort or convenience supplied by BMW’s other X-branded cars, or indeed of many of the other crossovers and compact SUVs available for less than the X2’s price, isn’t likely to convince himself that he’s found what he’s looking for here.
At the end of the reckoning process, the hard-headed among us would have to concede that this car is exactly what it looks like: just a hatchback. The emperor’s new sports activity coupé, you might say.
But can BMW really be blamed for giving us a hatchback that we’re likely to want? Whether that’s because it’s got an X on the bootlid, or four-wheel drive, or a curvy roofline, or an upmarket interior, or a strong diesel engine, or handling you can enjoy from time to time – or for every one of those reasons? Perhaps not.
Even if it’s simply because you like the BMW badges on the pillars, if you like the X2, you’re just gonna like it.
BMW X2 xDrive20d M Sport
On sale Now Engine 4cyls in line, 1995cc, turbodiesel Power 187bhp at 4000rpm; Torque 295lb ft at 1750rpm; Gearbox 8-spd automatic; Kerb weight 1675kg; 0-62mph 7.7sec; Top speed 137mph; Economy 58.9mpg (NEDC combined); CO2/tax band 126g/km; Rivals Jaguar E-Pace 2.0 D180 R-Dynamic AWD Auto, Audi Q3 2.0 TDI 184 Quattro Black Edition
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