BMW X2 vs Hyundai Santa Fe

What's the difference?

There is little doubt the new X2 represents a vast improvement over the original model. The design alone gives it a lot more presence. 

More interior and boot space also helps widen the SUV’s appeal and the significant tech updates are welcome.

It is on the pricey side and there are a few too many options that should be standard. 

However, the M35i is hard to ignore as a sporty premium crossover, and the iX2 xDrive30 is the sort of electric SUV that should worry Volvo.

They both have their own distinct flavours, so there’s no dud in this line-up. Of course, we will hold final thoughts for the local launch when we can drive all four grades. But until then, it’s a welcome return to form for the X2.

The Santa Fe Hybrid is a better Santa Fe to drive than the V6 petrol or the diesel variant. It’s also a lot more fuel efficient, but the value isn’t as great at this price. Also keep in mind that the Hybrid has a much lower braked towing capacity relative to the diesel and V6 petrol Santa Fes.

The Elite grade will save you money, and you’re not missing out on many luxuries. 

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

The second-gen X2 looks very different to the original from 2018. That first X2 had a squat stance, looked more like a hatchback than an SUV, and the glasshouse appeared as though it had been squished into the body of the car.

The 2024 X2 adopts a similar design philosophy to the X4 and X6 - swoopy, coupe-like roofline and liftback, and bold styling elements at the front and rear.

It has a much more upright, flush front end, freshly designed large kidney grille and an edgy headlight design. There’s flared wheel arches and broad shoulders at the rear, as well as a cool new horizontal tail-light signature.

The X2 has grown in size in a big way. It’s 194mm longer, 21mm wider, and 64mm taller than the outgoing model. That naturally means more space inside, too.

Inside there are big changes. The X2 adopts elements introduced by the excellent iX SUV a couple of years ago. They include the curved display, and a floating arm rest with a control panel. Some of this is also familiar from the X1.

The materials mostly look and feel like they are high quality, and there is an appealing minimalism to the overall design and layout. The chunky sports steering wheel is visually appealing, but it’s a bit too thick in my hand.

There’s only one way to tell the hybrid version of the Santa Fe from the petrol and diesel variants - the wheels. The hybrid's wheels are smaller and have a sort of ‘cog’ design to them. I’m not a fan of the styling, but they’re supposed to be aerodynamic and save fuel.

Overall, I am a fan of the Santa Fe’s looks which were given a major change in 2020 with a completely different grille and interior.

I like the way Hyundai has moved away from giving all its cars the same face, with each model now having its own visual identity.

The Santa Fe’s wide, cat fish-like gaping mouth grille might not be for everybody, but it sure doesn’t look like the front of any other SUV on the market.

The rear of the Santa Fe is far more conservative but looks prestigious enough to stop short of the boredom threshold.

It’s far from boring inside with the dash sculptured into what appear to be rock pools, with geyser-like air vents and a floating centre console.

Again, no sign this is a hybrid in the cabin either, which is the way it should be, or will be when electric vehicles become the norm.

The cabins of the Elite and Highlander are filled with leather and modern tech. It’s a plush place made even plusher on the Highlander with its Nappa leather upholstery.

The Santa Fe is a big, mid-sized SUV at 4.8m end-to-end, but it’s not as large as a Hyundai Palisade. That's huge at five metres long.

Where the previous X2 was a very small crossover with niche appeal, the increase in size for the new model means more people will be interested in it. Possibly even people with a small family.

Those increased dimensions pay dividends inside, with ample headroom up front and more than enough space across the front row, although the raised armrest console is somewhat narrow. 

The seats in both the iX2 xDrive30 and the M35i xDrive are very supportive thanks to ample bolstering, but both were also on the firm side. The iX2’s synthetic leather was slightly more comfortable than the M35i’s sports-focused front seats.

The power-adjustable seats and height- and reach-adjustable steering wheel means it’s not hard to find a decent driving position, but forward vision is impeded by a very thick A-pillar, and the letterbox-like rear windscreen in the X2 means rearward vision is limited. Good thing it has excellent parking cameras and sensors. 

Storage is decent in the X2, with room for big bottles in the door cavity, and a few nooks and large open spaces in the console. Although secure storage is limited with the armrest housing a very shallow space. I do like BMW’s phone charger setup. Rather than lying on a pad, it slots into a vertical holder that has a latch to keep it in place when cornering. The only drawback is that you can see the screen which could potentially distract some drivers.

The X2 introduces operating system nine to iDrive, which is housed in the central part of the curved display and operated by touchscreen or the controller on the floating central console. After some familiarisation, the functionality isn’t that much different to the previous version of the operating system. The main menu looks cool and is mostly easy to navigate. The sub-menu icons - of which there are heaps - look a little Microsoft Windows.

The X2 has drive modes that also interact with the interior of the car and change lighting, EV noise and more. They include Personal Mode, Sport Mode and Efficient Mode as standard, but if you opt for (and pay extra for) BMW Digital Premium, the modes extend to Expressive Mode, Relax Mode and Digital Art Mode. Some of these are quite cool, especially some of the EV sounds, but would I use them everyday? Probably not.

The clearest indication of increased space is in the second row. There’s much more legroom than the old X2, and behind my six-foot frame I had enough space with a couple of centimetres between my knees and the front seat backs. Toe room was very limited, however. 

The roof has been scalloped out to ensure more headroom, which is welcome given the extra sloping roofline.

There are a pair of USB-C ports back there, lower air vents, map pockets, decent door storage, and a centre armrest with cup holders.

The boot is sizeable, in both engine grades but you only get a tyre repair kit. There is underfloor storage for the charging cables in the iX2.

At 560 litres with all seats in place and 1470L with the second row stowed, the petrol grades have a bit more space than the iX2 at 525L (all seats in place) and 1400L (second row lowered).

The Santa Fe is among only a handful of mid-sized SUVs offering seven seats. The third-row seats are really designed to be used occasionally. They’re flat and fairly hard and the passengers back there aren’t fully covered by the side curtain airbags.

The second row offers plenty of room. Enough, even for me at 191cm, to sit comfortably behind my driving position.

And if you’d like more space then the Highlander grade allows you can replace that bench seat with two captain’s chairs in the six-seat version.

Clever cabin storage spaces can be found throughout. I particularly like the floating centre console with an area underneath big enough for a small backpack, and the shelf above the glove box in the dash is also good for throwing a wallet or phone.  

Big door pockets, cupholders and a deep centre console storage box are also on board.

For charging devices there are five USB ports (two up front, two in the second row, and one in the third), two 12-volt outlets (front seats and cargo area) and a wireless phone charger.

While there isn’t three-zone climate control. There are directional air vents in all three rows and the Elite and Highlander grades also come with pull-up sun shades for the rear windows.

As for the boot, most of the time you’ll probably have the third-row seats folded flat, and that’ll give you a cargo capacity of 571 litres.

Or, if you are using the third row there’s 130 litres of space left for you to use.

Hybrids cost more than their petrol and diesel equivalents, but how much more depends on whatever the car manufacturer decides you should pay. 

Hyundai is charging $6500 extra for the Santa Fe hybrid over the petrol version and $3000 more than the diesel. 

Also, for now, you can only get the Hybrid on the Elite and Highlander grades, the two most expensive levels in the Santa Fe line-up.

This means you’ll pay a list price of $63,000 for the Santa Fe Elite Hybrid and $69,550 for the Highlander Hybrid.

The standard features for the Elite Hybrid and Highlander hybrid are exactly the same as their petrol and diesel equivalents, except for the wheels. The hybrids have smaller 19-inch wheels (they’re 20-inch alloys on the regular Santa Fe) that Hyundai says are designed to be more aerodynamic.

So, along with those futuristic wheels, also coming standard on the Elite Hybrid are LED headlights and tail-lights, a gesture tailgate, privacy glass, proximity key with push-button start, a 10.25-inch media display, 12.3-inch instrument cluster, 10-speaker Harman Kardon stereo, leather upholstery, heated front seats with a power driver’s seat, dual-zone climate control, a wireless charger, sat nav, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The Highlander Hybrid has all of that, but adds Nappa leather upholstery, a power front passenger seat, ventilated front seats and heated window seats in the second row, a head-up display and a panoramic sunroof.

The Elite and Highlander are both seven seaters, but you can ask for six seats in the Highlander and have that second row bench seat replaced with two captain’s chairs.

Each of the four grades come with a different powertrain, and the xDrive20i kicks it all off with its 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol unit, making 150kW of power and 300Nm of torque. It drives all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and can hit 100km/h in 7.4 seconds.

The xDrive M35i ups the fun factor with a gruntier 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol unit, driving all four wheels via the same transmission as the 20i, all while delivering power and torque of 233kW/400Nm This ensures a 0-100km/h dash of 5.4 seconds.

The iX2 eDrive20 is powered by a 150kW/247Nm electric motor on its front axle, and the iX2 xDrive 30 uses two motors - one on the front and one on the rear axle for all-wheel-drive traction. The total system output is 230kW and 494Nm and the xDrive30 gets to 100km/h in just 5.6 seconds.

The Santa Fe Hybrid is not a plug-in hybrid like the Mitsubishi Outlander or Kia Sorento. That means you don’t need to connect the battery to a power outlet to charge it. Instead, the battery charges on the go as you drive it, and through regenerative braking.

Under the bonnet is a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine and an electric motor. They have a combined output of 169kW/350Nm.

That’s pretty good grunt. Just as a comparison, the V6 makes 200kW/331Nm, while the diesel engine produces 148kW/440Nm.

If you’re planning on towing, then the diesel and petrol are clearly the better choices with their 2500kg braked towing capacity, compared to the hybrid’s 1650kg.

The Hybrid Santa Fe is also all-wheel drive and a six-speed automatic transmission shifts gears smoothly.

A fuel-use figure for the xDrive20i is yet to be confirmed, but the front-wheel-drive sDrive20i offered in Europe with a three-cylinder engine sips as little as six litres per 100 kilometres on the combined cycle. Expect the Australian version to be a little higher than that given it’s AWD and has a more potent engine.

The M35i consumes 7.7L/100km. 

The high-voltage 64.8kWh lithium-ion battery in the iX2 ensures a driving range on the WLTP cycle of between up to 477 kilometres in the eDrive20 and between 417 and 449km for the xDrive30. 

The latter has an energy efficiency range of 16.3 to 17.7kWh/100km, and BMW says you should be able to top up the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in 29 minutes at a fast charging station.

That driving range is not bad compared with the Lexus UX300e and Peugeot e-2008, but not quite as impressive as the Volvo C40 twin-motor. 

I missed out on checking the energy efficiency figure of the iX2 xDrive30 following our drive, but after an 88km drive loop, the iX2’s range had dropped by 91km, which is just a 3km difference.

This is what it’s all about isn’t it? How much fuel does the Santa Fe Hybrid use? 

Hyundai says this hybrid will use 6.0L/100km after a combination of open roads and urban driving. That is excellent, but if this was a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that figure could be as low as 4.0L/100km.

Still, the Santa Fe hybrid is much more fuel efficient than the V6 variant which uses 10.5L/100km.

I took a look at the drive history of the Santa Fe Hybrid I tested at the end of the Australian launch.

According to the trip computer the car had travelled 967.2km and had used an average of 7.3L/100km.

About 500 of those kilometres were done by me with peak hour city traffic, country roads and motorways all in there. That’s great fuel efficiency, but a Santa Fe PHEV would do better.

As I said earlier, there’s no need to plug the Santa Fe into an external power supply to charge its lithium-ion battery, it’ll charge itself automatically through normal driving.

The M135i xDriveis undeniably quick off the mark. The lovely 2.0L turbo engine is well matched to the seven-speed dual-clutch and it’s responsive and willing from a standing start and when overtaking.

The engine sounds lovely too, although we suspect it’s amplified in the cabin, and steering is as sharp as it should be in a warmed-up performance SUV. We darted through some very twisty roads outside Lisbon and had quite a lot of fun in the process, so the M Performance badge is justified. 

I drove the previous-generation X2 M35i a few years back and was disappointed with the ride quality. It was quite jiggly on uneven road surfaces and way too firm.

While the new version still has a firm tune to aid dynamic driving, it is much more compliant than the old car and overall ride comfort has improved.

The iX2 is also quick off the mark and in xDrive30 guise is only 0.2sec slower to 100km/h than the M35i. 

That lively, smooth EV acceleration is present here, adding a sense of fun to the iX2.

It too has sharp steering, and the cabin is hushed. Not just because it’s an EV either. We were on coastal roads on a windy day and there was only a hint of wind noise in the cabin.

In some instances taking corners that had typical European walls or houses right up against the road, the iX2 would slow before I had a chance to tap the brakes. But it was hard to tell if that was a vehicle safety function, or the regenerative braking.

The ride in the iX2 was a bit of a mixed bag. It coped with some of the pockmarked roads exceptionally well, soaking up the imperfections. But then on other roads it was a little choppy.

It also bounces a little when you go over speed bumps, but that’s not exclusively an iX2 trait. I’ve felt it on many an EV, given the placement of the very heavy battery packs under the floor.

On the driving tech front, the X2 has a well executed head-up display projected directly onto the windscreen. It includes the speedo of course, nav guidance, a crystal clear display and more info. 

You’re not just getting better fuel economy in the hybrid version of the Santa Fe, you’re getting a better SUV to drive. 

That’s what I found when I tested the Santa Fe Hybrid at its Australian launch. The ride is more comfortable and the steering feels more responsive and lighter than the V6 petrol or diesel Santa Fe, both of which I’ve driven extensively.

The better ride I think comes down to the stabilising effect of extra weight situated low from the batteries (they’re located under the driver). Hyundai told me the front suspension had been revised to deal with the added weight, too.

So, I feel the ride is now more comfortable, less jittery with a smidge more planted feeling to the handling.

The lighter and better steering feel may have something to do with having a smaller engine in the nose of the Santa Fe. The 1.6-litre four-cylinder weighs less than the 2.2-litre diesel engine and the V6 petrol. That lighter font end now has a more ‘pointable’ feeling.

That said, the electric motor would add more weight to the Santa Fe hybrid’s nose, too.

Another difference to the way the hybrid drives is the take-off acceleration. It’s quite sudden and forceful for a family SUV in this class and that’s due to the 350Nm of torque, available from 1000rpm.

That’s great for moving away out of a car space and quickly blending into traffic, or accelerating away from traffic lights.

Visibility as with the regular Santa Fe is excellent and parking is easy, too, given this isn’t a large SUV.  

The regular Santa Fe scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating when it was tested in 2018. You don’t need me to tell you the world was a different place back then, as it was in terms of automotive safety requirements.

New advanced safety tech has been added to this SUV over the years and this Santa Fe hybrid comes equipped with all of it, too. 

There’s AEB which works at intersections, too, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane keeping assistance, rear occupant alert, auto high beam headlights and adaptive cruise control.

The forward AEB will bring the vehicle to a complete stop for cyclists and pedestrians at speeds between 10km/h and 65km/h or 75km/h for vehicles.

Above the speeds the vehicle will slow as much as possible in an attempt to avoid a collision.

The Highlander adds even more tech in the form of a surround view camera, blind spot monitor, and rear AEB. 

This top grade also boasts remote parking that allows the you to drive the Santa Fe in or out of tight parking spots using the key fob as a remote control. It sounds incredible but it’s real. I’ve demonstrated this feature in the video above.

On a super serious note be aware that even though this is a three-row SUV, the curtain airbags don’t completely cover the third row windows.

The Santa Fe isn’t the only SUV with this airbag inadequacy - the Kia Sorento has the same problem.

The X2 range is covered by BMW’s five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty - something the German giant only increased from three years back in 2022. This is now the minimum standard.

The battery warranty for the iX2 is eight years or 160,000 kilometres. 

BMW does not have scheduled servicing terms, instead, servicing is condition-based and the car’s computer will alert the driver when to book in for a service.

A five-year servicing package will cost you $3171 for the petrol X2s, while the iX2 is $2186 for six years.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has the same warranty as the rest of the range at five years/unlimited km. The battery is covered by an eight-year/160,000km warranty, which is pretty standard for hybrids.

Servicing is required every 10,000km/12months, however, the costs were yet to be finalised at the time of publishing.