BMW set to clean up with SUV that’s clever, cool and can even save the day
Maggie Barry Henry was in the boot. His little eyes looked up at me as we arrived at my daughter’s house on our mercy mission.
To be clear, Henry is not a child nor a pet but a vacuum cleaner and I had slung him in my BMW X2 M Sport after a harassed phone call from my daughter because her own machine had broken and she was hosting her first party.
Now, while we talk about how many sets of golf clubs you can get in a boot to gauge its size, this was a real-life situation. I can therefore confirm that Henry himself fitted in easily but the tube and the vacuum head would have been more di f f icult were it not for the fact the middle seat in the rear went down as easy as pie and I pushed the tube through. Job done – day saved.
The new X2 joins an already popular BMW SUV line-up, except it’s not an SUV but an SAV, according to BMW – that’s a Sports Activity Vehicle.
It is lower than the BMW 1 series, although it is on the same platform and lower still with the M Sport suspension on board. It also comes with a coupe rear – a feature that is becoming more common in SUVs as the industry seek to make them less boxy and more sexy. My version sat on 20in alloys, which come with the M Sport Plus package (£1300) and includes sun protection glass and Harman Kardon sound system. It also had a rear sspoi ler with a neat l ittle BMW roundelroun on the rearrea pillar. InsInside, the black Micra HexagonHexa finish comescome with BMW blue stitching.stitc The white carboncarb fibre-type look on ththe dash and doors is highlightedh in a similarsim shade of blue. AndA the ambient lightingligh offers a choice of ssix colours. ThisTh was the sDrive 20i,20i which means it is a front- wheel- drive car with a 2.0-litre twin-turbocharged petrol engine – in this case delivering 192hp – and I could not fault it.
Like many of BMW’s products, it is beautifully engineered and the engine delivers magnificently. Jump in and you get instant response, great handling and the kind of performance that will keep you in the outside lane of the motorway. Because of its low stance, it is also great when you need to be more agile around corners or in town. There are three drive modes – Comfor t , which is the default, Eco Pro, which allows you to harvest energy for extra miles and, of course, Sport. In some cars, you can switch between similar modes and not notice any difference but not in this car. Put it into Sport and it almost leaps forward.
The X2 has a touch control display and Connected+ allows you to hook your smartphone up to the car.
My version also came with a lovely panoramic roof for any little Henrys in the car wanting a view.