[MelbourneFinn]

Good evening,

I’m considering an X2 M35i as a second car, not much experience of the model even though I’ve been driving BMWs for a long time, from E60 525 and 550 to F13 and F06 M6 and G30 540i and my current 550i - also a few older 3er and 5ers, but always with min 6 cylinders.

I’m looking at a reasonably low mileage cars from 2019 to 2022, keen to hear thoughts from owners who may have been driving these for some time. What’s fantastic, what’s a real miss? Anything that is super annoying? Are there any real week spots that more or less inevitably will break and cost a lot to fix/replace? Thoughts about how these drive? I understand the B48 engine is pretty reliable, almost on the same level as the B58 - is that correct based on experiences? Any regrets of buying?

Appreciate any thoughts and/or guidance.

[rounderman]

Where to begin? As you can tell I drive a 2019 X2 M35 (US version). I love it. For me it has the right mix of performance and practicality. Plus, as an older dude it easier on back than my 2013 335 since it is higher off the ground. It doesn’t hurt to be able to see out of it better than a sedan. To put things in perspective I have driven mostly what we call “high line” cars. The afore mentioned BMW 3 Acuras over the years a legend GS coupe and 2 TSXs. A few Saabs (2 900s and a 9-3 ARC) moist of which have been sticks until the X2. I have 22,000 miles on the car, Covid had me working out of the house and then I retired. Nothing has broken except the battery for the SOS system which was replaced under warranty. I did brakes at about 18,000 miles right before my extended maintenance plan ended and I had a very helpful SA. Also did tires which is a reflection on my driving style and the run flats. I have been told the brakes are expensive to replace.

Fantastic side is acceleration and handling for me. I have been to 1 half day m track day since getting the car, I also auto crossed my 9-3 a couple of times so I am definitely not an experienced race or track driver. For me the car goes fast, quick off the line (if you search the threads you will see some discussion of pedal tuners and lag but I drive pretty much exclusively in sport mode). I originally leased the car and when the lease ended, I did not hesitate to buy it out. Even today there is nothing on the market I like better including the new X1 and the supposed X1 M35 coming soon. I dislike the run flats and my biggest regret was not doing a spare tire. Again if you search the threads lots of talk and successful cobbling together of a compact spare tire. I have also used bimmercode to make some mods to the car (nothing engine wise) which in the newer cars are so locked down you can’t do that.

If you are worried about power don’t, I think it is faster than my 335 manual was. (also had a firebird in my youth with the 350 V8 so I do have some experience with fast)

Bottom line love the car.

[rice_rocket88]

I think rounderman and I have commented on similar posts...

Definite downsides are:
1) no spare tire (it wasn't even an option) But yes I bought one
2) runflats - yeah it's rough...
3) throttle/pedal response
4) sound deadening?
5) no blindspot or any other great "safety nannies"
6) FWD bias

So compared to all the E60's and F10's that you drove that were the "higher class" cars. There's a lot less insulation, therefore a lot more noise.

However, with the m35i and it's exhaust it sounds wonderful to me.

Newish Idrive 6? Means you get some new stuff, but missing a lot of the new new stuff.

Fast off the line.. yep it's peppy.. sure it might run out of steam towards 80mph, but unless that's you thing it doesn't matter. It'll feel faster than all your n54 and n55 cars. Gas mileage is around 24mpg to me with driving it as hard as I want. I think on my N54's I was around 21/22.. not a huge sacrifice, but it is a tiny bit better.

Yes the height is perfect for my old man back too. Seats are comfy, but not like the 22 ways the E60 could adjust. Hugs tighter.

And.. it's a small small car compared to all the rest (very short) which is nice to me.

No regrets!

[Kkritz163]

I bought my '19 M35i fresh off of a lease in July of 2022 with 20K miles. I would agree with all of the points in both of the above posts.
Cons:
1) Throttle response while in comfort drive mode is bothersome and potentially dangerous if you need to accelerate quickly. Purportedly can be improved with pedal tuners as mentioned above but I have somewhat gotten used to it over the past year.
2) Poor blind spot visibility and no options available for blind spot sensors.
3) Road noise is more noticeable than my previous '09 328i (w/ runflats also)
4) Brakes wear very quickly. Had to change front pads at 27K.

Pros:
1) Very quick off the line
2) M35 exhaust sounds wonderful, lots of pops and gurgles while driving around town
3) Seats are very comfortable
4) Apple carplay is a huge bonus for me, even considering the '19 M35 still uses iDrive 6
5) Handles very well in the snow. Although I do switch over to Pirelli Sottozeros during the winter months in Michigan.

Overall I have been very happy with my purchase of the X2. A lot of people on the forums seem to have an issue with the run flat tires but aside from their outrageous cost per tire I do not have any issues with them. I also thought I would notice and lament the FWD bias a lot more than I do but it hasn't bothered me much so far. Sitting at just over 35K miles now and have not come across any issues or concerns mechanically aside from brake replacement so I would say very reliable at low to medium mileage.

[MelbourneFinn]

Originally Posted by rounderman

Where to begin? As you can tell I drive a 2019 X2 M35 (US version). I love it. For me it has the right mix of performance and practicality. Plus, as an older dude it easier on back than my 2013 335 since it is higher off the ground. It doesn’t hurt to be able to see out of it better than a sedan. To put things in perspective I have driven mostly what we call “high line” cars. The afore mentioned BMW 3 Acuras over the years a legend GS coupe and 2 TSXs. A few Saabs (2 900s and a 9-3 ARC) moist of which have been sticks until the X2. I have 22,000 miles on the car, Covid had me working out of the house and then I retired. Nothing has broken except the battery for the SOS system which was replaced under warranty. I did brakes at about 18,000 miles right before my extended maintenance plan ended and I had a very helpful SA. Also did tires which is a reflection on my driving style and the run flats. I have been told the brakes are expensive to replace.

Fantastic side is acceleration and handling for me. I have been to 1 half day m track day since getting the car, I also auto crossed my 9-3 a couple of times so I am definitely not an experienced race or track driver. For me the car goes fast, quick off the line (if you search the threads you will see some discussion of pedal tuners and lag but I drive pretty much exclusively in sport mode). I originally leased the car and when the lease ended, I did not hesitate to buy it out. Even today there is nothing on the market I like better including the new X1 and the supposed X1 M35 coming soon. I dislike the run flats and my [...]

Thank you, much appreciated!

I’m not worried about power or performance, looking at numbers it all seems more than enough for daily use. And all reviews seem to rave about this as well. What I was more worried about or interested in is if there is something that goes fundamentally wrong after a few years (like rod bearings in E60 M5 or E90 M3), but I’m not hearing these noises.

I like the look of the X2 - had almost forgotten about it, my wife wanted a VW T-Roc initially, but the X2 seems to be a class or 2 above. I’m not really comparing the X2 to the M6s or the G30 5-series cars I’ve had in recent years, but I do have a soft spot for BMWs…

I found a 2022 M35i with only 6,000 km/4,000 miles on it at a BMW dealership, and since the price was very good, decided to buy it. It will be interesting to see how it goes - suspect the RF tyres may need to go pretty quickly - it will be primarily driven by my wife, the last comparison point is the previous gen Audi RSQ3. I think the X2 at least looks better…

[MelbourneFinn]

Originally Posted by rice_rocket88

I think rounderman and I have commented on similar posts...

Definite downsides are:
1) no spare tire (it wasn't even an option) But yes I bought one
2) runflats - yeah it's rough...
3) throttle/pedal response
4) sound deadening?
5) no blindspot or any other great "safety nannies"
6) FWD bias

So compared to all the E60's and F10's that you drove that were the "higher class" cars. There's a lot less insulation, therefore a lot more noise.

However, with the m35i and it's exhaust it sounds wonderful to me.

Newish Idrive 6? Means you get some new stuff, but missing a lot of the new new stuff.

Fast off the line.. yep it's peppy.. sure it might run out of steam towards 80mph, but unless that's you thing it doesn't matter. It'll feel faster than all your n54 and n55 cars. Gas mileage is around 24mpg to me with driving it as hard as I want. I think on my N54's I was around 21/22.. not a huge sacrifice, but it is a tiny bit better.

Yes the height is perfect for my old man back too. Seats are comfy, but not like the 22 ways the E60 could adjust. Hugs tighter.

And.. it's a small small car compared to all the rest (very short) which is nice to me.

No regrets!

Thanks for the input, no big surprises! As per my reply to rounderman’s post I pulled a trigger on a very low km 2022 model.

I think one of BMW’s biggest mistakes was to start shipping everything except the proper M cars with RF tyres - I think they may end up getting a boot very soon despite having plenty of life left in them. And as for things like road noise, won’t be often when the car will be driven outside of normal urban roads, so not too worried about that. Also, you would not expect similar level insulation as cars more than twice the price anyway. Tbh the new bigger ones (F06, G30) are probably almost too well insulated - you don’t really even properly hear the V8…

Looking forward to getting the car, likely next weekend (need to fly to Sydney to drive it to Melbourne - a full day)…

[MelbourneFinn]

Originally Posted by Kkritz163

I bought my '19 M35i fresh off of a lease in July of 2022 with 20K miles. I would agree with all of the points in both of the above posts.
Cons:
1) Throttle response while in comfort drive mode is bothersome and potentially dangerous if you need to accelerate quickly. Purportedly can be improved with pedal tuners as mentioned above but I have somewhat gotten used to it over the past year.
2) Poor blind spot visibility and no options available for blind spot sensors.
3) Road noise is more noticeable than my previous '09 328i (w/ runflats also)
4) Brakes wear very quickly. Had to change front pads at 27K.

Pros:
1) Very quick off the line
2) M35 exhaust sounds wonderful, lots of pops and gurgles while driving around town
3) Seats are very comfortable
4) Apple carplay is a huge bonus for me, even considering the '19 M35 still uses iDrive 6
5) Handles very well in the snow. Although I do switch over to Pirelli Sottozeros during the winter months in Michigan.

Overall I have been very happy with my purchase of the X2. A lot of people on the forums seem to have an issue with the run flat tires but aside from their outrageous cost per tire I do not have any issues with them. I also thought I would notice and lament the FWD bias a lot more than I do but it hasn't bothered me much so far. Sitting at just over 35K miles now and have not come across any issues or concerns mechanically aside from brake replacement so I would say very reliable at low to medium mileage.

Fantastic, thank you for the input.

The feedback seems to be very consistent and none of the “negatives” bother me. RF tyres are easy to swap (let’s see, I think I’ve only had one car with RFs and can’t even remember if I ended up changing them for non-RFs, or maybe I’m thinking of some rental cars I’ve had with them…) and everything else appears to be something I don’t this I (or my wife) will have any issues to live with.

I’m not expecting it to replace my 2021 M550i as my daily driver, but nevertheless I’m looking forward to getting the car in a week or so.

[rice_rocket88]

Awesome!

We don't have the T-Roc here, but I did see a funny video from.. carwow? Where they raced the audi, x2 and troc? Pretty funny those guys.

I think you can't quite go wrong with either depending on what you like for styling.

Honestly almost every car I come across is ditching the spare tire and using runflats! You can buy a spare tire and conveniently all else you need is the screw to hold it down and whatever jack/tire iron you want.. definitely go check out the posts.. but for the most part, that's why we have AAA and BMW roadside assistance is included anyways for like 5 yrs for us?

Oh.. and what I was going to get to in the first place to address your original question on reliability.. the B46/B48 engine has been in production since 2016 with little real known issues. I've had one piece? maybe fail on our 2016 X1. A couple other things that a few people have noticed: dead engine mounts. Some say the start/stop feature doesn't help.. I have no idea what causes the failure, but have seen more than one person had theirs fail and some were pretty fast. I've also seen/heard about 3 people have their coil spring break out of nowhere, but I'm sure that's also out of the norm (but normal on early 2000 BMW 3 series to have cracked in the rear).

You should be totally fine in general though with this engine and car! No major catastrophic things are common!

[MelbourneFinn]

An update: X2 M35i purchased! No pictures yet, will collect from Sydney on Saturday. 2022 model, Sapphire Black - my wife will be happy, it’ll be her car. I’m just not sure whether I’m more excited than what she is 😂

[MelbourneFinn]

Here come the photos… after a paint correction and a good wax. Happy with the car, a real little monster!

[King_Leonard]

Originally Posted by rounderman

Even today there is nothing on the market I like better including the new X1 and the supposed X1 M35 coming soon.

I was surprised to see that the X1 M35 is slower than the current X2 M35 by almost a half second.

[chowser51]

Looks great! Did it come debadged?

I'm actually liking the diamond pattern grill. Maybe I will order a set for my '19 one day.

[MelbourneFinn]

Originally Posted by chowser51

Looks great! Did it come debadged?

I'm actually liking the diamond pattern grill. Maybe I will order a set for my '19 one day.

No, debadging I did myself… Just don’t like badges in my cars - you never all dirt away next to badges - yes, I have OCD 😇

Also, the car is a proper sleeper - 99.99% of people have no idea how fast it is. Only had the car for 2 weeks and I’ve seen several bigger SUV and truck (we call them UTEs here down under) drivers making a mistake of challenging the little monster - to their detriment… It goes like bonkers, and people have no idea until they eat the dust…

[Little_Nasty]

Originally Posted by MelbourneFinn

It goes like bonkers, and people have no idea until they eat the dust…

[mrpingu]

Originally Posted by MelbourneFinn

No, debadging I did myself… Just don’t like badges in my cars - you never all dirt away next to badges - yes, I have OCD 😇

Also, the car is a proper sleeper - 99.99% of people have no idea how fast it is. Only had the car for 2 weeks and I’ve seen several bigger SUV and truck (we call them UTEs here down under) drivers making a mistake of challenging the little monster - to their detriment… It goes like bonkers, and people have no idea until they eat the dust…

Beautiful black & shining. Love the blue brakes aswell


what do you use to debadge?
Any tutorial i can look up?

[MelbourneFinn]

Originally Posted by mrpingu

Beautiful black & shining. Love the blue brakes aswell


what do you use to debadge?
Any tutorial i can look up?

Heat the badge glue up with a hair dryer, then carefully slide a fishing line through the glue - comes off nicely. Then remove the remaining glue, just remember, nothing sharp or hard can go anywhere near the paint. Then polish lightly until no sign left where the badge was. There’s plenty of videos about this in YouTube.

[rice_rocket88]

I've always wanted to try a rubber wheel to get the final glue off.. but these cars are new enough that some goo gone will work, then a polish and wax after it and "if" you can see the shadow it will fade in a short amount of time.

[sfpablo]

Originally Posted by Kkritz163

Pros:

5) Handles very well in the snow. Although I do switch over to Pirelli Sottozeros during the winter months in Michigan.

Can you share what the setup is? An entirely different set of wheels+tires? I haven't been finding any replacement tires for the winter in the OEM size, which is my one reservation about buying a used m35i. Would be fine with all seasons, non-RFT, year round.

[rice_rocket88]

My assumption is that you're talking about the 20" tires which people have complained about sizing... use a tire tool and you can find many different iterations that would work. You can get 225 width, 235, and 245. You could get spacers and even do 255 width. If you go plus or minus in rolling diameter by 3-5% it's all good!

Definitely not a reason to get a car you like as you can run into tire sizing issue with any car depending on stock now a days.

[chowser51]

If you go with an all weather non runflat tire, i think you'll be fine.

for my winter set up, i run 18" wheels with I think they're general altimax snow tires. I know if I get a front flat, I would have to move a rear tire to the front and then put my spare on the back because the spare tire will not clear the front calipers. i made my own 17" compact spare tire when I ditched the runflats.

[sfpablo]

Yep, I was worried about the 20s.

I have a knack for picking vehicles with limited options; I have the Rivian-specific 21s on my R1S and you are stuck with the OEM Pirelli there. But it works quite well in the snow so no problems.

I've never bought anything other than the recommended size before, and frankly start getting a little confused by all of the terminology, but it sounds like it's not a big deal to have a small deviation.

[rice_rocket88]

Best site I use is: will they fit.

Great calculator that you can punch in all the tire info to see in real terms how the diameter, speed..or even how much closer to the suspension it will be. Sure beats the calculations I used to do on paper...