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Traditionally, Lex Luthor is an enemy of Superman, as shown in films like Superman and Superman Returns.
However, in the movie Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Lex forces Superman to bring him Batman's head. Does he really want to kill Batman? If yes, then why?
Lex doesn't actually want to kill Batman - he wants to kill Superman.
All Lex Luthor wants to do throughout Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is kill Superman, as he fears that a man as powerful as Superman will one day become a dictator of sorts, using his godlike powers to take over the world.
By forcing Superman to fight Batman by taking Martha Kent hostage, Lex hopes that Batman will use the Kryptonite he stole from Lex to kill Superman - which very nearly happens.
It's worth noting that Lex has been baiting the two of them into battle for some time, setting up a series of events that lead Bruce Wayne/Batman to come to the same conclusion that Lex has - that Superman is too dangerous to live.
As such, Batman is nothing more than a pawn in the game that Lex Luthor is playing.
Lex wants Batman dead because look at what Batman can do: he tears through Luthor's security on several occasions in the film and figures out what he's doing with the Kryptonite and then makes his own weapon out of it. Batman is a threat. Period. But Luthor believes Superman could kill him easily, so makes Superman do it so he can show the world what Superman "really" is. But of course Batman wins because he's Batman. As it should be.
Did it ever occur to anybody that it's simply a game. He's mad. He's Lex Luthor....He knew Batman could do the job and he's always one step ahead, get rid of the greater inconvenience and then take care of the light work later on so he can pull the strings to control the rest of the world. He knew their identities like he knew the identities of the rest of the Justice League, it was fun to him. Identify the threats to his Empire seek and Destroy all memetahumans. There's a slight indication that Lionel Luthor had already began work due to Wonder Woman that's why he had a file on them. He made a reference to his father in the movie about the painting and it should be flipped because he already knows about Darkseid. He didn't count on Batman folding or finding the krytonite, so Batman actaully became a pawn later in movle. He underestimated his compassion. The bottom line, it's about power with Lex Luthor you guys are thinking way too hard.
