The BMW X2 has gone on sale in the UK as the company’s ongoing attempt to squeeze an SUV-style vehicle into every possible niche continues.
The BMW X2 is based on the X1 and shares the same wheelbase, but is a smidgen shorter (2cm, to be precise) and more than 7cm lower. Like its bigger SUV-cum-coupé-thing brothers, the X4 and X6, it has a stretched, coupé-style roofline and narrower windows than its more practical X1 sibling.
Probably the most distinctive feature about the newest member of the BMW X family is that the brand’s famous kidney grille design is wider at its base than at its top. BMW designers claim this gives the new car a broader, more distinctive and sportier appearance. LED headlights are standard on sport and M Sport specifications.
Around the back, strong horizontal lines visually exaggerate the X2’s width, with these lines continuing into the high-set rear lights. The LED rear lights are set in the L shape familiar from BMW coupés.
Interior based on X1
Inside, the instrument panel is much the same as that found on the X1, but naturally with extra pseudo-sportiness. Contrasting stitching is standard on all models, while the M Sport model comes with cloth and Alcantara upholstery and the M Sport X adds leather upholstery.
Like its traditional rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz, BMW is gradually coming around to the idea of having touchscreens controls in cars, after years of railing against them. As well as the latest iteration of its iDrive rotary controller, the X2 comes with standard touchscreen controls and optional voice control as part of a technology package.
Standard specification includes a 6.5-inch touchscreen and satnav, with the option of a full-colour head-up display, also included in the technology pack.
The LED lighting in the trim surfaces of the instrument panel and door panels forms a continuous band that extends all the way around the cabin to the rear. A mood lighting package is optional, allowing X2 owners to choose to be lit in orange, lilac, mint, bronze, blue or white.
Naturally, being a BMW, you have to pay extra for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, despite the fact that dozens of other car companies manage to offer this software for absolutely no charge whatsoever.
Only one engine at launch, more to come later
At launch, the only a 2.0-litre diesel engine with all-wheel drive will be available. It generates maximum output of 190hp and 400Nm of torque enabling a zero to 62mph time of 7.7 seconds. Official fuel consumption is 61.4mpg (depending on chosen wheels), while CO2 emissions are 121g/km (again, depending on wheels).
Further powertrains will be added to the X2 line-up later in the year, in the shape of a petrol two-wheel drive model, and a lower-output diesel in either two-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
The car’s driving responses can be adapted between comfort, economy and sport modes. The set-up available for sport mode gives the car more dynamic steering and powertrain responses.
If the optional adjustable dampers are specified, the car’s suspension can be adjusted to individual requirements in either comfort or sport modes. As with most BMW vehicles, sports suspension fitted as standard on the BMW X2 M Sport and M Sport X models, which means tauter spring and damper tuning, as well as a 10mm lower ride height.
The BMW X2 is now on sale at BMW dealers, with prices starting at £33,980 on-road for the xDrive 20d SE model.
