BMW X2 (2017-2023) review

Let's get the one honkingly obvious thing out of the way first. We're in the X2 20d xDrive. If we were in a 320d xDrive Touring we'd be having more fun, and the sticker price for those is the same.

The X2's ride is firmer than the estate's. It feels a bit heavy in a succession of tight bends and gives you precious little of the steering feedback or sense of playfulness you'd find in that 3 Series Touring – or indeed an Evoque. That said, for a crossover, the X2 is really very agreeable.

What are the engines like?

For a start most of the small diesel crossovers have raucous engines, but this one shows how it ought to be done, beavering away in decent quietness both when mooching in town and when you give it an open-road overtake to do. Performance isn't at all bad.

The 25e is a solid hybrid offering too, pairing BMW’s rorty little three-cylinder petrol turbo with an e-motor for a combined whack of 217bhp and 284lb ft of torque. It of course defaults to e-mode whenever you’re starting out, can recharge in around three or four hours, and hands over to the combustion engine rather smoothly.

And the M35i?

That punches a full 300bhp and feels fast and fighty, but won’t reward any feedback or playfulness.

As usual, BMW has got the eight-speed auto 'box just right too. That's what you get on the xDrive cars (though the hybrid’s gearlever is oddly old-fashioned). The FWD ones, called sDrive, get a new seven-speed DCT.

What's the ride like?

The suspension is on the firmish side. Our test car ran the slightly lowered and stiffened M Sport suspension. Its motions are progressive rather than jarring. Many tall cars have over-stiff anti-roll bars, causing lateral rocking over one-sided bumps in a straight line. Not the X2, which stays pretty serene. We did however, find a fair bit of road and wind noise around the A-pillars.

It uses the spring travel well. That translates into able cornering. Body lean is well-controlled – despite what we just said about the anti-roll bars. Everything happens as you'd expect – the X2’s decently responsive, easy to be accurate with.

Driver-assist options include radar cruise and low-speed traffic jam assist – lane following and stop-go. As usual, keep a wary eye on what it's up to.