When I first saw the BMW X2 parked on a European street a couple of months ago, I approached from the rear on a sidewalk, so I didn’t see the BMW logo. What I did see was a side profile I didn’t recognize from any other car. Was it a Peugeot? One of those new Chinese cars?
By the time I passed it, of course I saw the BMW grille up front, and I was impressed: Hey, something new from BMW.
The front was in the style of the large and ultra-expensive BMW XM which came out a couple of years ago. It is a more aggressive Sci-Fi look. It looks interesting for now, but I am not sure how well it will age. But for now, it looks fresh and different.
In other words, the exterior design is a plus. For people who are into this type of design, this will make them feel good.
Other positives
The BMW interior has the classic positives of a BMW: Tasteful materials and great build quality.
The latest version of BMW’s screens has high resolution and colors that pop. It’s a feast for the eyes. Same goes for the center console and how it integrates with the transmission functions. It’s all beautiful.
Important negatives
The X2 is in many ways a less practical version of the X1, in terms of the top hat. The X2 is lower and has a raked rear-end that makes the interior volume smaller. I also had to be careful to not hit my head getting into the car: This “SUV” has a low top hat so that it looks “sporty”, i.e., not like an SUV, but rather more like a hatchback on stilts.
There is a reason other than price that you don’t see many BMWs in general in rental car lots: Ease of use, or lack thereof. One of the most important measurements of how I evaluate a car is when I pick it up late at night at an airport, when it’s dark outside and I want to get to my destination quickly so that I can finally go to sleep after a long set of flights.
If you are not already used to the BMW user interface, it will take you a while to fiddle around with the controls before you dare to get on your way. The climate controls are unnecessarily difficult to figure out. What happened to good old-fashioned knobs and buttons?
In vehicles from mass-market brands such as Ford and Hyundai, that you will find in rental car fleets, setting up Android Auto and Apple CarPlay tends to be very easy nowadays: Just plug it in and you’re pretty much ready to go.
Not so in this BMW X2. The setup involves unintuitive steps, and some of those steps are repeated every time you start the car again. Maybe I’m somehow doing something wrong, but I found it to be a constant source of friction. You kind of want to get this right before starting to drive the car, and if you are out running errands all day long…
Engine and transmission
On the positive side, the X2 has more than adequate power, and the exhaust sound is superb. On the negative side, the start-stop system is hugely annoying, especially combined with the transmission which has a rough nature when it recovers from a stop. This also becomes annoying.
On the positive side, the transmission behaves perfectly fine when you flog the car, driving it aggressively. Then, the combination of the outstanding sound and the transmission shifts become a pleasure. But ask yourself: How often do you flog the car versus drive it normally between your errands and equivalent? Dare I say that “normal” driving is more than 99% of what you do? If so, the BMW X2 focuses on something you will do only rarely.
Price: Debatable
The X2 I drove cost a little over $52,000 before taxes and discounts. Is that bad or good? It can be argued either way, but a clue to my personal interpretation is found in what I have to say below.
Reference objects: What I drove before and after
A car review is always colored by what the reviewer drove immediately before and immediately after. In this case, I drove two reference objects that were roughly the same size vehicle -- far from exact -- but are not considered direct competitors with the BMW X2.
Before the X2, I drove a base 2021 Kia Seltos, front-wheel-drive only. It is a roomier car than the BMW X2 and has none of the BMW’s interior luxuries. The price was half of the BMW’s. Yet, in “daily errand driving” it was smoother. The credit for this goes to the transmission, which is where almost all the difference resides. The Seltos also has a prominent button to defeat the start-stop system, which makes the whole experience smoother. The Kia’s infotainment-centric user interface was also vastly easier to use. Clearly, the audience for these two cars is different despite their somewhat similar footprint, but in my opinion the Kia Seltos offers a more practical and easier to use experience, despite its basic interior and lower power.
After the X2, I drove a Ford Bronco Sport with the 1.5 liter engine. The Bronco is an upright vehicle with some off-road capabilities. It is a delight to drive because of its flawless ergonomics and ease of use. Everything you want to do with the car is so easy and natural. The contrast vis-a-vis the BMW X2 is stark. The Ford is barely $38,000 before discounts and taxes.
Final word: An acquired taste
Driving the BMW X2 is a commitment: You have to invest time in the user interface, and you have to really appreciate how the X2 drives when you flog it in the twisties. You have to decide if that is for you. Regardless, the car looks great inside and out. It’s BMW build quality.
Here is what Consumer Reports had to say:
BMW provided the car for review.