BMW of North America has announced its entry today into the 2023 Rebelle Rally with the all-new BMW X2. The new crossover, decked out for extreme off-road conditions, will compete in the X-CROSS™ Class, piloted by experienced Rebelle Rally veterans, Rebecca Donaghe and Sedona Blinson.
The Rebelle Rally, renowned as the longest off-road rally competition in the United States, is set to kick off on Thursday, October 12, at the Mammoth Mountain Resort in Mammoth Lakes, California, concluding on Saturday, October 21, near the Mexican border, in the challenging terrain of the Imperial Dunes. Over the course of the rally, competitors will navigate through six stages covering a grueling distance of more than 1,300 miles, traversing the harsh and unrelenting deserts of California and Nevada.
“It is the first time that we have entered a BMW into this competition, which is extremely demanding not only on the driver and navigator, but also on the vehicle,” said Andreas Meyer, Vice President of Product Management at BMW of North America. We are excited to see how the all-new BMW X2 performs in the hands of these experienced rally competitors.”
To prepare the BMW X2 for this challenge, a series of enhancements and modifications have been made to ensure the vehicle’s performance and durability in extreme off-road conditions. These modifications include:
- Falken Wildpeak AT Trail Tires
- Rotiform ZMO-M Wheels
- Morimoto Triple Row BangerBar (front) and 2Banger Pod lights (rear)
- Thule Caprock roof platform
- Smittybilt off-road recovery gear and accessories
- BMW M Performance Parts tow straps
- Custom underbody protection/skid plate
- Custom cargo area spare tire carrier
- TerraTrip external odometer
The model used is the new 2024 BMW X2 M35i which is powered by the B48 2.0 liter four-cylinder TwinTurbo. It makes 312 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm). It runs from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 5.2 seconds. The BMW X2 M35i (MSRP $51,400) will arrive at BMW dealers across the US in the first quarter of 2024.