THE LOOKER

Sharing DNA with the X1 and Mini Countryman, BMW’S daringly styled X2 enters the premium midsize-crossover fray

IT’S definitely a comfy-chair-and-popcorn moment. One of those when you can sense a battle royale looming; a titanic struggle for supremacy that will involve all the protagonists’ prodigious skills. It can be in the championship-boxing ring, on the test-cricket field or, in this case, the showroom floor. Wherever it is, you know you’re in for an entertaining humdinger.

That’s what the premium midsize-crossover segment is shaping up to be with this latest offering from BMW joining Mercerdes-benz’s GLA, the Jaguar E-pace (see pg 34), Volvo’s XC40 and the upcoming Audi Q3. They will all occupy a price bracket between R500 000 and about R800 000; this local rangetopping X2 xdrive20d M Sport X will come in at R723 854.

As its name suggests, BMW’S latest offering slots in between the X1 and X3. Based on the same UKL2 platform that underpins both the X1 and Mini Countryman, the X2 is a little smaller than the X1, although both have identical wheelbases. At 4 373 mm from bumper to bumper, the X2 is 81 mm shorter and rides 71 mm lower.

It’s a better-looking vehicle, too, with a roofline that is 70 mm lower than the X1 and those swept-back headlamps with creased eyelids and high sills with slim-line windows. In fact, much of the original concept that made its debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January last year has been kept; something that designer Hussein Al-attar is particularly pleased about and opens up a new door for braver BMW design. You’ll no doubt have noticed the blue-andwhite BMW roundel embedded in the brand’s signature Hofmeister kink at the C-pillar. It’s a retro nod to classic BMW coupés but it feels a bit artificial to connect something like a 3.0 CSL to the X2.

At launch in Europe, there will be six derivatives, but we’ll be getting only the FWD sdrive20i (2,0-litre turbopetrol; 141 kw/280 N.m) and the car we drove at the launch, the all-wheel-drive xdrive20d. It features BMW’S familiar 2,0-litre turbodiesel that’s good for 140 kw and 400 N.m. The sdrive20i gets a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, while the xdrive20d comes with the more robust eight-speed torqueconverter auto.

The models are available in two well-specced levels of trim – M Sport and M Sport X – with the latter at a R29 700 premium over the M Sport. Externally, they have different front/rear bumpers and side-sill trims that give the M Sport more of a hatchback feel, while the M Sport X with its bigger cladding has more of that crossover look (both come with 19-inch wheels as standard). Inside, the M Sport gets Dakota leather, while the M Sport X gets an Alcantara/cloth combo.

The cockpit is mostly X1 in terms of design and trim elements, although the seats sport an all-new design that feel more comfortable and supportive than the X1’s. They are covered in what BMW calls a micro hexagon fabric anthracite/alcantara combination with M piping and contrast stitching.

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