BMW iX2 Review (2024-present)

What is the BMW iX2?

The BMW iX2 is the all-electric version of the BMW X2, the compact crossover SUV with a swoopier-than-usual roofline for sleeker, coupe-like styling. This generation of the X2 is the second one there’s been, and while the first X2 had a mildly augmented shape compared with the boxier BMW X1 SUV it was based on, the latest X2 takes on much more dramatic lines that put much more distance between it and the latest X1: indeed, the door mirrors are the only external parts shared by the two cars. The styling will be divisive, that’s for sure, but for every person that loathes it, there’ll be another that loves it.

Like the iX1 on which it’s based, the iX2 comes with two powertrain options, a front-wheel-drive option with 201bhp and an all-wheel-drive version with 309bhp. A single M Sport trim level is offered on the iX2, meaning impactful styling and plenty of standard equipment, and that includes a very effective adaptive suspension system.

BMW sold around 23,000 examples of the first-generation X2 between 2018 and 2023, around half the number of X1s that were sold in a similar timeframe. BMW doesn’t expect the iX2 to be an enormous seller, then, but it could well tempt plenty of buyers with its cool image, gorgeously-trimmed cabin and high-tech features. The X2 is also a much bigger car than the one it replaces (it’s almost 20cm longer than the mk1), so potential buyers might also be hoping for enhanced practicality.

Rivals include other swoopily-styled prestige SUVs such as the Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback, Volvo C40, and Tesla Model Y, while bigger, more mainstream cars such as the Volkswagen ID.5, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Skoda Enyaq Coupe could also be considered rivals. There’s also the electric version of the latest MINI Countryman, which is very stylish and shares much of the iX2’s technology.

How practical is it?

The whole reason you buy the iX2 over the iX1 is because you value style over practicality, and you’re prepared to sacrifice a bit of the latter for a bit more of the former. Viewed through that lens, the practicality of the car is acceptable, but do be aware that those sacrifices most definitely need to be made.

Things are absolutely fine in the front seats, where there’s lots of space, and lots of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel to help you get comfortable. There’s the high-up driving position that SUV drivers love, and as you’d expect in a BMW, everything feels wonderfully plush. The glossy twin infotainment screens (more on those later) look fabulous, and every surface you encounter feels appealing and high-grade. Few car companies make interiors as well as BMW does, and the iX2’s maintains the firm’s high standard.

Move to the rear seats, and you’ll immediately notice where the sacrifices need to be made. Rear legroom is fine, but the swooping roofline means there’s a lot less headroom than you get in an iX1. Passengers of six feet tall will find their hairdo pressing into the headlining uncomfortably, while anyone much taller than that will struggle to fit at all. This is a car for when your kids are toddlers, rather than when they’re teenagers.

Technically, there are three rear seats, but you’ll only ever want to use two of them at a time, because the cabin is too narrow to comfortably accommodate three sets of shoulders. What’s more, the middle pew is hard and narrow, and the raised cushion means that headroom becomes even tighter.

There’s another consequence of the sloping roofline, and that’s woeful rear visibility. The rear window is tiny, steeply angled, and flanked by thick bits of bodywork, and all this conspires to hamper your view irretrievably. This makes the standard parking sensors and reversing camera a necessity, rather than a luxury.

Move to the boot, and the iX1 does surprisingly well. It’s actually 54mm longer than the iX1, and all of that is positioned in the rear overhang, so the boot is bigger. The 525 litres of boot space you get is a significant improvement over the iX1’s 490 litres, although it’s slightly behind the 560 litres you get in the combustion-engined X2.

The space is well shaped and the hatchback bootlid (which is powered as standard) means good access, although there is a pronounced lip at the entrance that heavy items will have to be lifted over. There’s also a false floor, under which lies a deep storage space that’s easily big enough for your charging cables. The rear seats fold down in a versatile 40-20-40 split, and the lay nice and flat to leave a level, unstepped load area.

What’s it like drive?

Like its iX1 stablemate, the iX2 is available in two forms. The entry-level iX2 eDrive20 has a single electric motor fitted on the front axle that gives 201bhp, while the iX2 xDrive30 adds another motor to the rear axle, and that bumps the power output up to 309bhp, as well as giving you dual-motor four-wheel drive.

We’ve not yet tried the iX2 eDrive20, but we’ve tried the same powertrain in the iX1, where it has exactly the same power output and exactly the same 0-62mph sprint time of 8.6 seconds, so we can’t image that the experience is much different. And in the iX1, it’s great. It’s not outlandishly quick, but it feels faster than its stopwatch figure suggests - as many electric cars do - so it’ll be plenty quick enough for most drivers. The acceleration potential doesn’t tail off too much at speed, either, so it’s a car that's comfortable with a wide variety of driving situations.

Where the eDrive20 is brisk and responsive, however, the xDrive30 is downright rapid. Any meaningful prod of the accelerator pedal results in a strong surge of forward motion, and if you have a cheeky tug of the paddle behind the left-hand spoke of the steering wheel that’s marked ‘Boost’, then you’re served up the full might of the powertrain for a 10-second period, and the acceleration becomes even stronger. Stat-fans will want to know that the 0-62mph dash is covered off in 5.6 seconds. Do bear in mind, though, that the extra performance over the entry-level car costs you quite a bit of cash in terms of purchase price, and a little bit of range, too.

There’s a key difference between the iX1 and the iX2 that we should mention. The former comes in three trim levels: the entry-level Sport trim that comes with a regular passive suspension, and the xLine and M Sport trim, both of which come with an adaptive suspension as standard. The iX2, meanwhile, is only available in M Sport trim, meaning that the adaptive suspension is present and correct on all versions.

And that’s a good thing. Select one of the comfier modes, and it does a very decent job of isolating you from the worst bumps and ripples that the UK’s road network can throw at it. There’s a slightly firm edge to the ride, so the iX2 isn’t as cosseting as some, but it’ll be comfortable enough to keep most drivers thoroughly happy. Select one of the sportier modes, and things become a bit more unsettled, especially over mid-corner bumps, but does tie down the car’s body movements slightly better. Whatever mode you select, the car is a confident and wieldy-feeling car on any sort of road, with strong grip and crisp, accurate responses. It’s not the most engaging car that BMW has ever built - it’s a bit heavy for that, and the remote-feeling steering isn’t hugely involving - but there’s no doubting how capable it is.

Refinement is generally pretty good, with very little noise from the drivetrain and good suppression of wind noise, although there is a bit of road noise to be heard at moderate-to-high speeds. However, the most overbearing sound you hear comes through the speakers in the form of BMW’s Iconic Sounds function. This is a variety of different whooshes, wails, and other sound effects that the car plays according to the driving mode selected and how the car is being driven. It’s designed to make the driving experience more exciting or more relaxing depending on the mode, but we found that it quickly becomes annoying. Thankfully, it can be turned off.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

The iX2 gets the same infotainment system found in many of BMW’s latest products. It’s a twin-screen arrangement, whereby the 10.7-inch central touchscreen and 10.25-inch digital instrument panel are housed in a single unit that curves pleasingly around the driver. It has all the bits and pieces you want to keep you entertained and informed, including DAB, Bluetooth, wifi, navigation, and wireless operation of both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The system also supports various connected apps, and can be upgraded remotely over time via over-the-air updates.

It looks absolutely fab, with glossy screens, sharp graphics and slick screen transitions, while the central touchscreen is very sensitive to prods and swipes. There are bits we don’t like about the operating system, however. Unlike in some other BMWs, there’s no iDrive rotary dial and cluster of shortcut buttons that can be used to navigate the on-screen menus instead of using the touchscreen functionality, which is inherently more distracting to use on the move. And, as is the fashion these days, controlling the ventilation system is done with the screen rather than with physical buttons and knobs, which again is more distracting. Granted, the temperature controls are permanently visible at the bottom of the screen, along with a few other shortcut icons, but more complicated tasks - such as adjusting the fan speed or the direction of the airflow - involve delving into the climate submenu.

Elsewhere, the level of standard equipment you get in the iX2 is very good, partly due to the fact it’s only available in high-end M Sport specification. On top of the sporty styling, adaptive suspension and all the infotainment gadgetry, you get a suite of driver aids, heated sports seats, imitation leather and suede upholstery, LED lighting all round, 19-inch alloy wheels, a powered tailgate, parking sensors, a reversing camera, and dual-zone climate control. It’s perhaps slightly annoying that you have to add expensive option packs to get a wireless phone charging compartment in the centre console, or active cruise control, but other than that, you won’t be wanting for much.

BMW iX2 running costs

Neither version of the iX2 is particularly cheap to buy, with even the entry-level car costing more than £51,000 and the more powerful version commanding around £6,000 more.

Both come with the same 64.8kWh battery pack and, according to official WLTP figures, this should be good for an average return of up to 283 miles in the eDrive20, or 267 miles in the xDrive30.

Both versions have the capacity to rapid-charge at a rate of up to 130kW. Find a powerful enough DC public rapid charger, and you can take on 10-80% of your battery capacity in 29 minutes, or grab a quick 75-mile top-up in 10 minutes.

When it comes to AC charging, BMW quotes a figure of 6.5 hours to go from empty to full on an 11kW connection. However, very few homes in the UK have the three-phase electrics necessary to charge at that speed. A maximum charging speed of 7.4kW is much more common, so on most home wallbox chargers, you’ll be looking at a charge time of 10 or 11 hours.

Charged at the national average cost of domestic electricity at 28p per kWh, that home charge should cost you somewhere in the region of £18. This can be cut in half if you can take advantage of cheaper overnight charging tariffs, or easily doubled at a public rapid charger.

At present you don’t pay VED road tax on electric cars, so that’ll be a useful saving each year, and if you’re a company car driver, then monthly Benefit-in-kind tax bills will be very low as you only pay tax on a measly 2% of the value of an electric car. Insurance premiums won’t be all that cheap, though, as the eDrive20 sits in group 31 and the xDrive30 in group 38.

BMW iX2 reliability

A look at the latest instalment of the What Car? Reliability Survey would suggest that the iX2 should return fair-to-middling reliability. The previous version of the X2 (of which there wasn’t an all-electric iX2 version) placed 13th out of 34 cars considered in the Family SUV category. However, as the new car and old car share very little, you probably can’t learn too much from that.

In the manufacturer standings of the same study, BMW placed 12th out of the 32 carmakers considered. This put it ahead of the industry average, and well ahead of prestige rivals like Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar, although it placed behind Volvo in 9th, and Lexus, which topped the chart outright.

The iX2 comes with a three-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, and eight-year, 100,000-mile cover for the battery.