2019 BMW X2 vs 2020 BMW M135i

What's the difference?

As is often the case, BMW has come late to a really good party. One imagines there was some chatter about making a quick X1 but that would have been an answer to a question few people thought to ask. It's not a racy-looking machine and perhaps its more prosaic aims as a compact SUV ruled it out. Or the hangover from the weird first generation.

The X2's Paris Motor Show debut a couple of years ago signalled BMW's second entrant in the compact SUV segment, but this one looked fast standing still. Most of it made it to production - including the C-pillar BMW badges, sadly - but there was no promise of a fast one.

Weirdly, the Australian market hasn't really taken to the X2 as enthusiastically as I thought it might and I wondered if it was because there was no headline act - Mercedes has the guilty pleasure of mine, the AMG GLA45, and Audi the completely bonkers RS Q3. But the headline act has arrived in the form the of the X2 M35i - perhaps this will suddenly get us a bit more interested.

When the iPhone first appeared just over a decade ago, I can remember thinking a phone without buttons would be a giant pain in the neck. Until I used one, and now the idea of a keypad phone sounds akin to starting a car with a crank handle.

The new 1 Series is likely to offer most buyers a similar revelation, with its move from the BMW-traditional rear-drive layout to more conventional front and all-wheel drive. That is assuming you gave a damn in the first place, as I suspect it’s only hardcore BMW traditionalists that care about a rear-drive premium hatchback in 2020.

And that’s not who is buying the 1 Series, with the Bavarian brand’s cheapest model intended to appeal to younger buyers who are more likely to care about connectivity, practicality and personalisation options than the excitement of losing grip from the rear. It certainly hasn’t stopped plenty of people from buying 1 Series-rivalling A-Class and A3s from Mercedes-Benz and Audi over the years.