BMW X2 vs Jeep Wrangler

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 Overland is (surprisingly) not atrocious on-road and (not surprisingly) very capable off-road. It costs a lot but, geez, it's a barrel of laughs.

If your heart is set on a four-door mid-size 4WD that's a whole lot of fun to drive, but rather impractical for daily life, then it’s difficult to over-look the Overland.

If you’re really gung-ho about hard-core off-roading – rock-crawling etc – then perhaps you should focus on the Rubicon, but for everything else the Overland, even on standard tyres, is more than capable.

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.

The Wrangler's appearance has been tweaked throughout the years without ever sacrificing any of the ol’ Wrangler spirit.

It has stuck to its traditional roots and, as such, retains its old-school chunkiness, which is good, but the Overland is less of a hardcore-looking 4WD and more of a lifestyle-suited off-roader than its Rubicon stablemate. 

Though the Overland version has a certain blocky appeal, I reckon the Rubicon is better for having fully embraced the all-out off-road look and feel, tyres and all. 

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).

What can you say about a vehicle that has a “wash-out interior with drain plugs” listed in its specs?

This is a purpose-built off-roader and the Overland’s five-seat cabin is a basic but functional space, in which it’s easy to immediately feel comfortable. 

All dials, knobs and switches are easy to locate and chunky enough to operate while skipping over corrugations or climbing up steep rock steps.

There's leather everywhere – seats, steering wheel, shifter knob – but durable outdoors-tough surfaces also abound.

What always strikes me about the Wrangler interior is the fact that it’s abundantly clear Jeep designers regularly experience – or at least are familiar with – the type of life that Wranglers are aimed at: fun, dirty, rough-and-tumble adventures in the great outdoors.

There isn’t a lot of storage space inside but there are a few small, deep, and textured receptacles – ideal for keeping your bits and pieces in the same spot while you bounce around off-road – as well as grab handles, including a big sturdy one in front of the front-seat passenger. 

There are also tensioned net pockets on the doors so you can throw stuff in there, but beyond those there aren't a lot of storage options.

There are air vents, two USB-C ports, and a 230V inverter in the centre console.

Rear cargo space is listed at 898 litres; with the rear seat stowed away, there is a claimed 2050 litres of room.

If you’re keen on one of these Jeeps you’ll have to be ready to sell one of your organs – and I don’t mean your church keyboard.

This five-seat vehicle as tested has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $86,950, excluding on-road costs. 

The list of standard features is extensive, as it should be at this price, and includes an 8.4-inch multimedia touchscreen unit, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a nine-speaker Alpine premium audio system (with subwoofer), as well as premium touches like heating for the steering wheel and front seats, black leather trimmed seats (with ‘Overland’ logo), leather-wrapped gear-shifter knob and parking brake handle, 18-inch alloy wheels and more.

Exterior paint includes 'Bright White' (on our test vehicle) and black (both standard), and optional colours such as 'Silver Zynith', 'Sting Grey', 'Firecracker Red', 'Punk’n' (orange), 'Earl' (blue-ish grey), 'Hydro Blue' and 'High Velocity' (yellow).

If you opt for the 'Sky-One-Touch Premium Package' (which includes the 'Sky-One-Touch Power Top', and body colour fender flares) that’s an extra $6450.

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.

This Jeep has a 3.6-litre 'Pentastar' V6 engine – producing 209kW at 6400rpm and 347Nm at 4100rpm – and an eight-speed automatic transmission.

It's an effective engine-and-auto pairing for driving on sealed surfaces and well suited to high- and low-range 4WDing.

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.

Official fuel consumption is listed as 9.7L/100km on a combined cycle. 

Actual fuel consumption on this test, from pump to pump, was 13.6L/100km, largely attributable to the fact I did a lot of low-range four-wheel driving on this test, as always. 

The Wrangler Overland Unlimited has an 81-litre tank so, going by that fuel figure above, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 595km from a full tank.

Note: Drop 30km to 50km from your total calculated fuel-range figure for a better idea of your vehicle’s safe touring range – so that figure above would be 565km.

Also, remember that numerous other factors affect your fuel consumption and so impact your touring range, including how much extra weight you have onboard (passengers, camping gear etc), whether your vehicle is fitted with any aftermarket equipment (bullbar, spare-wheel carrier, etc), whether you are towing (a camper-trailer, caravan, or boat etc), your vehicle's tyre pressures and the conditions.

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. 

The Wrangler Overland is a fun, go-kart style drive and yields a real driver-direct experience you get from few other contemporary vehicles on the blacktop and the dirt.

But while it’s nowhere near as atrocious as you might expect on sealed surfaces its planted, squared-off stance gives it a definite composure on bitumen. It’s certainly no sports car in terms of ride and handling.

It’s quite soft on-road, soaking up most imperfections with ease, but it also takes quite a lot of effort and concentration to keep this Jeep in line on the open road because it tends to float around on the blacktop if not constantly reined in. 

Also, its steering has a lightness about it that can sometimes be a bit disconcerting. 

The V6 is a gutsy unit, capable of punching the Overland along at a fair clip, all while the eight-speed auto handles clever and nicely controlled shifts.

Because it’s so blocky, straight up and down, with big wing mirrors and the like, the Overland is rather noisy on sealed surfaces.

But it remains one of the few modern vehicles that deserves to be driven with the windows down, because it offers that kind of visceral driving experience – as the LC70 Series, or Suzuki Jimny do.

So, how does the Overland perform off-road? Bloody glad you asked.

Spoiler alert: The Overland is not as good an off-roader as the Rubicon because it does not have that variant’s BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain tyres, 'Rock-Trac' active on-demand 4x4 system (with 4:1 transfer case*, and 77.2:1 crawl ratio), front and rear locking differentials, or the Rubicon’s very handy electronic front sway bar disconnect. (* The Overland has 2.72:1.)

But, having said that, the Overland is still an extremely capable off-roader.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting any strife because it retains all the traditional goodness of the Wrangler with very few compromises. It’s a genuine 4WD with a dual-range transfer case, a ladder chassis, solid axles and well-proven 4WD heritage.

In terms of size, the Overland is 4882mm long (with a 3008mm wheelbase), 1894mm wide, 1838mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 1900kg.

Steering has a nice weight to it at lower speeds, giving the driver a great sense of sustained control through even the most severe obstacles, but the Overland’s turning circle is a listed 12.44m, so this off-roader can sometimes feel like a mini-bus to steer through tight turns.

However, this is a purpose-built off-roader with a wide wheel track and low centre of gravity, so it feels planted no matter how rough and bumpy the terrain gets.

On the gravel track to our off-road testing site, there are numerous steering-wheel-jolting corrugations but overall the Overland – with a coil spring at each corner – soaked them up.

Our 4WD loop included the aforementioned gravel tracks, light to medium corrugations, undulating mud tracks and mud holes, and some very challenging low-range 4WD sections (in particular, a steep rocky hill), and a few other set-pieces to see if the Overland was able to do everything safely and comfortably. 

As a true 4WD worth its weight in gold, the Wrangler is immediately more at home taking on low-speed 4WDing than it is negotiating suburban traffic.

Again, the V6 engine comes into its own, delivering smooth, even torque when needed, but not ever over-working to achieve that.

Considered driving is necessary as is slow and steady throttle, but that's easily achieved in the Wrangler as its go pedal is none too sensitive to a bouncing boot.

It’s refreshing to note that switching to 4WD High or 4WD Low range is still done via a stubby stick to the left of the auto shifter, rather than the push of a button, or the turn of a dial. 

Low-range gearing is very good and the Overland has a well-calibrated off-road traction control that seamlessly launches into action when required, and wasted wheelspin is kept to an absolute minimum.

This Wrangler has 242mm ground clearance and a standard wading depth of 760mm, and was never troubled on climbing steep rock steps, traversing deep ruts or punching through mudholes.

It’s supremely sure-footed during low-range work but visibility can be an issue: over-bonnet visibility has improved slightly over previous generations but the driver’s view to the front and side is still a bit squeezed, making it at times difficult to visually pick correct wheel-placement, especially when driving steep terrain at sharp angles.

It can go hardcore, no worries, but it simply requires a bit more thought and you know what? That’s fine with me because it makes the off-roading experience an even more engaging one. 

The Overland has approach, departure and breakover angles of 35.8, 31.2 and 20.4 degrees, respectively.

With live axles front and rear, the Overland has plenty of wheel travel to keep moving and under control through truly off-grid country.

The only real compromises in the Overland’s 4x4 set-up are its standard Bridgestone Dueler (255/70R18) highway tyres and, even on those, the Overland walked up and over our toughest off-road challenges.

Though the Overland is not historically regarded as a towing platform, it’s handy for you to know that it has listed towing capacities of 750kg (unbraked trailer) and 2495kg (braked).

The Wrangler Overland Unlimited has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2019.

Standard safety gear onboard includes four airbags (driver and front-seat passenger only), AEB, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision warning, rear-view camera, and front and rear parking sensors.

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 Overland Unlimited is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty.

Servicing is set at 12 month or 12,000km intervals at a total cost of $1995 over five years, with servicing capped at a maximum $399 per appointment.

Lifetime roadside assist is available to Overland owners when they service through Jeep.