mReview: BMW iX2 – It Is What iX Is

The BMW iX2 eDrive20 M Sport is an electric coupe-SUV that does a good job inside-out at being stylish and premium, while delivering a sporty drive.

The BMW iX2 is meant to be the stylish, coupe-SUV stablemate to the iX1 SUV. From the front three-quarter angles, I think that it is indeed a handsome car that has an outsized presence. But the rear sloping roofline - which works very well on the X6 - seems a bit awkward and abrupt to me on this smaller model. 

But yet again, you probably shouldn't pay heed to the stylistic opinions of a basic Singaporean man whose wardrobe almost entirely consists of the finest selections from Uniqlo.

The iX2 welcomes the approaching driver with an intricate lightshow from the headlights, and unlocks itself, beckoning you to enter. When you do step into the car, you sink into a supportive electric driver's memory seat with great side bolstering. 

Look around and you'll notice nice soft-touch materials all around the car - even if this is a model that belongs to the more affordable end of the BMW range, the iX2 feels extremely solid and well put together, oozing that feeling of quality.

Nice materials, good build quality and great infotainment.

Apart from front electric seats, one will also notice a wireless charging tray (which is equipped with a clip to keep your phone secure when driving hard!), as well as a continuous curved display that features both the instrument display and a 10.7-inch touchscreen infotainment system running the latest BMW OS 9, which is markedly more native-feeling than the infotainment systems of other Chinese EV brands with premium aspirations. 

In fact, the integrated navigation system that comes with the infotainment even warned me about upcoming roadworks, showing that either BMW has put in quite some effort to plug in live traffic data and updates, or that they had a clairvoyant working in their programming department.

iX2's backseat is less roomy than iX1's due to the coupe-ish body shape.

Of course, the car also comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with rear air-con vents, plus fancy ambient lighting as well. Legroom in the rear is just about adequate, whereas headroom feels acceptable, though slightly limited. Boot space, however, comes at a very useable 583 litres, and that is noteworthy considering the car's coupe-SUV design.

On the move, the car feels light on its feet, with the quoted century sprint timing of 10.5 seconds feeling rather overstated. It could be just that the immediacy of the electric motor's power delivery gives one the impression of relentless acceleration from standstill, but it does feel extremely coincidental that the iX2's petrol counterpart also has the exact same 0-100km/h timing.

iX2 feels sporty enough on the move, but its Boost paddle-mode is a mystery. 

There also exists a paddle on the steering wheel labelled "Boost", and activating it gives you a 10-second countdown window to utilise a bit of extra oomph to jump off the line or overtake - though honestly, I couldn't tell what difference it made. 

Not that I needed to use Boost mode anyway, because the car has enough instantaneous electric torque to feel extremely sprightly and peppy to dart around traffic. This keen character is further bolstered by a taut, but not hard, ride that is well-damped, and doesn't feel too crashy.

At speed, the car lives up to BMW's reputation of having great handling, feeling very neutral and sure-footed through the bends. However, it does feel a bit light at highway speeds, despite its nearly 1.9-tonne kerb weight. 

On the subject of weight, the steering's power assistance feels a bit odd and inconsistent to me - sometimes abruptly weighting up at carpark speeds before lightening back up again.

Overall, the BMW iX2 eDrive20 M Sport is truly a solidly built electric coupe-SUV that looks and feels premium, and promises a great drive. Even if I'm a bit too old-fashioned to fully appreciate the rear fastback design elements, I do think that this is a striking and handsome car, especially in that luscious red paintwork.

Read More: mReview: BMW X2 – Simple Is Best

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