BMW’s hot new hatch
Forget the fact that BMW claims the X2 M35i is an SUV and embrace it for what it truly is – a hot hatch, writes Damien O’Carroll.
BMW X2 M35i
Base price: Powertrain and performance:
The X2 may be BMW’s baby SUV, but it uses the same platform as the Mini. Which means the John Cooper Works Mini as well, so we know it is a pretty decent handler that can take quite a bit of power. Surely a hot version makes sense then?
Wait, do you mean to say that the baby performance SUV is a thing now?
Didn’t you notice the MercedesAMG GLA45 a while back? Although, to be fair, the GLA is barely more than a slightly raised A-class, so that is forgivable.
But the M35i is more SUV-ish than the GLA will ever be (although it still only pays the barest of lip service to the strict definition that the pedants stick to). It is also less of a monster than the AMG, as it is an M Performance car, as opposed to a full-on M car.
All of which actually makes the M35i something of an accidental hot hatch.
No, stop laughing, on paper it looks very much like one of the hottest hatches, the VW Golf R.
All-wheel drive? Check. A stupidly powerful (225kW in the X2’s case, 228kW in the Golf R’s) four-cylinder turbo engine? Check. A compact hatchback shape? Well, yeah, that’s here too.
So essentially the M35i is to the Mini JCW what the Golf R is to the Golf GTI – the hot hatch turned up to 11, with added AWD simply to keep things driveable.
And to drive, the M35i feels far more like that than the SUV it claims to be – which, of course, is a very good thing.
So it feels like a faster AWD Mini JCW then?
Around town it feels like a fast BMW, with very little hint as to which wheels are doing the driving. Off the line there is a slight lag, but then the prodigious power simply pours on and the M35i belts away with no hint of FWD histrionics, regardless of what direction the wheels are pointing.
Out on the open road, however, things tend to become somewhat more FWD-ish – and Mini-like – particularly in the wet where even the excellent AWD system sometimes struggles to keep the brilliantly smooth but blatantly powerful turbo four in check.
It is still weirdly disconcerting sitting in a BMW interior feeling torque steer in the wet, but it is no doubt something we will have to get used to – after all, the next 1 and 2 Series’ are also going FWD for their next incarnations.
Still, despite this, the M35i still feels very much like a BMW in pretty much every other regard. It has a planted, confident feel on the road and the steering is sharp and direct, if a little remote.
The ride is on the firm side of comfortable, which may put off SUV buyers, but will be pretty much what a hot hatch buyer would be expecting.
But it has an M badge on it – is it properly fast?
Oh, very much so, it does have 225kW after all.
But best of all is the M35i’s healthy 450Nm of torque that peaks at 1750rpm, meaning that it has some serious grunt once it is up and running, despite that previously mentioned slight lag from a standing start.
BMW says the M35i will hit 100kmh from a standing start in 4.9 seconds, which doesn’t really tell the full story of its acceleration – take that slight delay at the start out of the acceleration and the M35i is a rocketship. Overtaking is effortlessly easy and addictively fun, as the super-smooth transmission seamlessly drops down a cog or two and the engine lets out a belligerently chunky bellow as you roar past slower traffic.
What exactly is the point of a fast baby SUV again?
There literally isn’t one.
But then, what is the point of a hot hatch anyway? I think we are all happy to admit that the answer to this is ‘‘the hot hatch doesn’t need a point, it is simply fun’’.
And that is the key to understanding the X2 M35i – forget that BMW claims it is an SUV and embrace it as the superbly quick and supremely competent hot hatch that it actually is and suddenly you have all the justification you need for its existence.
It is fast, it is fun, it is superbly well built and comes packed with all the latest technology. Well,
2.0-litre turbo-petrol inline four, 225kW/450Nm, 8-speed automatic, AWD, Combined economy 7.4 litres per 100km.
Vital statistics:
4360mm long, 1526mm high, 2670mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 470 litres, 20-inch alloy wheels with 225/40 tyres.
Excellent engine. Seriously fun in the dry. Quirky looks.
Lag off the line. Gets a bit torque-steery in the wet. Quirky looks.
We like:
$89,900.
We don’t like:
maybe not the latest – it does have a relatively small central screen in comparison to something like the 3 Series running, as it does, a previous generation of BMW’s infotainment system.
Any other cars I should consider?
The obvious one is the Volkswagen Golf R. With slightly more power (228kW) and less torque (400Nm), the VW is just blatantly fun, albeit in a more conservative traditional hatch body shape. The Golf’s biggest advantage, however, is that it is significantly cheaper than the BMW at $68,990, although it is also significantly older.
One pretend baby SUV that is comparable is the previously mentioned 280kW/475Nm Mercedes-AMG GLA45, that is also significantly more expensive at $111,200. Of course, there is also a new A45 hatch on its way with even more power, but perhaps more appropriately is the 225kW/ 450Nm A35 that should land here soon for about the same price as the M35i.
Then there is the likes of the 221kW/400Nm Jaguar E-Pace P300 that is about the same price, but also roughly 2 seconds slower.
But the M35i’s closest direct competitor has to be the 221kW/ 400Nm Audi SQ2 that lands at $81,900 and ticks off the zero to 100 in 4.8 seconds.