BMW X2 sDrive20i M Sport In Misano Blue Looks Sportier Than It Should

BMW has made some very sporty-looking crossovers over the past couple of decades since the original X5 kicked things off. But short of an M model, we’d venture that few look quite as sporty as this one.

It’s a new X2 in sDrive20i spec, decked out in Misano Blue Metallic and equipped with the crucial M Sport package.

That model isn’t offered in North America, where the xDrive28i is the only engine spec available. But elsewhere in the world – say, like Abu Dhabi where this one was captured – the 20i model packs the same 2.0-liter turbo four, tuned to deliver 187 horsepower.

The sDrive designation tells you this is a front-drive model, which may have seemed unthinkable for a BMW just a few years ago, but is fast becoming the norm for the automaker’s smallest models.

The only thing really elevating this X2 above a bog-standard model is the M Sport trim, which (like the smaller engine) isn’t even offered in these parts – where the lower base spec and top M Sport X Design models are the only offered.

Yet it doesn’t look low-rent. Not to our eyes, anyway. And if a low-spec X2 can look this aggressive, just imagine what it’d look like in M Performance or full-on M spec, with the equipment to back it up.

Fortunately the automaker appears to have just such a model in the pipeline in the X2 M35i, tipped to pack as much as 300 horsepower. Looks like the Audi RS Q3 and Mercedes-AMG GLA45 could soon have some competition on their hands.