Thursday, May 17, 2018

One surprising sport-ute: BMW's all-new X2

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website  www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html
 
Sacramento, California – BMW gives us something to think about with its all-new-for-2018 X2 sport-utility vehicle.

It presents possibilities for folks who might have figured that a BMW SUV is priced well beyond the limitations of their household budgets.

Not so with this X2, which comes nicely equipped for a starting price of less than $40,000. And yes, that includes BMW's admirable technology, engineering and fit-and-finish excellence.

Tempting?  I should say so.


The tested 2018 BMW X2 xDrive28i is reasonably sized and sweetly sculpted with smooth lines across the top.  It looks good head-on and in profile riding on 19-inch wheels.
The ride is decidedly coupe-like, with the BMW capable of making quick, agile cuts at high speed ... with little or no sway.  My guess is that most buyers will feel like they're piloting a midsize sedan.

And in this case, it's a peppy ride.  The turbocharged, 2-liter, four-cylinder engine is pleasingly responsive, with 228 horesepower and 258 foot-pounds of torque.  It makes the zero-to-60 miles per hour trip in 6.3 seconds.

The transmission is an eight-speed automatic and sport and manual-shift modes aiding the all-wheel-drive system. Four-wheel, anti-lock disc brakes are reassuringly grippy.

Fuel mileage ratings are a pretty fair 21 miles per gallon in the city and 31 mpg on the highway.

The tester was packed with luxury and technology features one expects from BMW.  Given all it had, I would have estimated the price at $60,000.  That would have been a big swing and a miss -- the true value of the vehicle on the sticker's bottom line was $50,920.

That long list of perks included heated front seats, a head-up display, a panoramic moonroof, LED headlights/fog lights, run-flat tires, a power tailgate, ambient lighting and parking-distance control.

Bottom line: The X2 exceeded my expectations on virtually all levels.

Been thinking about getting a Land Rover, Infiniti or Lexus SUV?  You might want to think about an X2 as well.


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