At the 2023 Daytona 24 Hours, BMW hosted the world premiere of the M3 CS. While there were no debuts at this year’s event, we did notice the presence of a couple of interesting cars. Case in point, the second-generation X2, donned in the M Performance guise and a striking Vegas Red paint, known outside the United States as Fire Red. The luxury brand decided to go all out and fitted the crossover-coupe with the largest available wheels—a 21-inch set (Style 874M).
This isn’t the most expensive 2024 BMW X2 money can buy. Aside from lacking an Individual paint option, it also misses out on the optional M Compound brakes with their distinctive gray calipers. In case you haven’t noticed, BMW has been adorning M badges on the kidney grilles of its M Performance cars for a while, and this X2 M35i proudly follows suit. Another notable change is the adoption of a quad exhaust system — a hallmark feature of true M cars that is now trickling down to M Lite models.
We can all agree that the new X2 looks nothing like its predecessor, and that’s a positive change. The old F39 model had awkward proportions, whereas the U10 lives up to its Sports Activity Coupe (SAC) status by replicating the swoopy lines of the larger X4 and X6. It’s also significantly larger than the model it replaced, and we’ve heard that the reason behind this growth spurt is BMW’s intention to discontinue the X4 after the current generation.
Apparently, there won’t be another X4 with combustion engines, meaning the X2 will indirectly take its place. However, a fully electric iX4 on the Neue Klasse platform is expected to hit the market after 2026. It’ll be a sleeker derivative of the next-gen iX3 confirmed for a 2025 release when it will begin to roll off the assembly line at the Debrecen plant in Hungary.
In the meantime, BMW will kick off customer deliveries of the X2 in March, and for the first time, there will be an electric iX2. Should you want plug-in hybrid power, only the conventionally shaped X1 will combine a combustion engine with an electric motor.
