2019 BMW X2 M35i: Not Just an Appearance Package

Topline: An M Sport package will soon be available for the BMW X2 35i, which lets your subcompact crossover dress up like a performance car and play the part, too.

What's New: 2019 model year BMW X2s can specify a new M Sport package, the lowest-tier sporting package available for BMW models. Unlike some M Sport packages, the X2's amounts to more than just some M-branded lip gloss.

Elements of the X2 M35i's exterior are finished in Cerium Grey, including the grille surround, cooling ducts, mirror caps, rear spoiler, and four-inch exhaust tips at the end of a multimodal exhaust. Matching 20-inch alloy wheels are also available, though the 19-inch standard wheels may be your ticket if there's such thing as too much Cerium Grey.

Its modest grey exterior details belie an explosive interior, with M motifs everywhere and a leather steering wheel. M Sport front seats are optional and can be had in either an Alcantara mix of black and blue, or in leather, with a choice or perforated black or Magma red, as pictured below.

But let's stall no longer when it comes to the powertrain. Each X2 M35i hides a 2.0-liter turbo-four making 306 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. That power is dispensed to all four wheels through BMW's eight-speed Steptronic transmission and xDrive all-wheel-drive. Yes, there's a launch mode; it scoots this machine from zero-to-60 in 4.9 seconds. BMW doesn't discuss top speed, but we wouldn't be surprised to hear 155 miles per hour, like most quick BMWs.

BMW doesn't want you to think that its subcompact, fun-ready crossover is silly, so it swapped the X2 M35i's suspension for something a tad more serious: an optional two-mode adaptive suspension system that lowers the vehicle and cooperates with an M Sport limited-slip differential on the front axle to reduce understeer. Braking is handled by sizable 18-inch front rotors and 17-inch rears.

What You Need to Know: With over 300 horsepower and all-wheel-drive in a subcompact vehicle, the X2 M35i is almost exactly what many young aficionados want. As an M Sport model, there is plenty of room for higher-performance variants, but BMW does not expect demand to warrant development of an X2 M or similar vehicle.

"The level of performance for the new X2 M35i is very high, especially from a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine," a BMW spokesperson told The Drive. "At this time, it would be unlikely that a more exclusive and expensive variant would have the required business model to support its development."

The X2 starts in the mid-thirties, and BMW hasn't declared what the X2 M35i will cost—we suspect low forties. BMW specified that the X2 M35i will enter production in November, and that arrival in U.S. dealerships is expected to begin in December. Those in the market for fun subcompact crossovers will be spoilt for choice, as they can pick between this or the Volvo XC40 with its new drift mode.