FWD BMW is just wrong... they had one job...
I'm in two minds about this.
On the one hand, basic 1-series, and even 3/4-series, are nothing special to drive. They barely feel rear-wheel drive in the first place and aren't even close in terms of fun or response to some of the decent front-drive stuff available at the moment.
However.
I'm more concerned that the brand's ethos is being diluted. However good (or bad) the application, making rear-wheel drive cars, and all the technical and emotional baggage that comes with that, is a statement of intent, and shows that the people developing the cars are enthusiasts even if the people buying them aren't. And it does result in inherently decent balance, nice proportions from a styling perspective, and the prospect of some fun if you're prepared to spend a bit extra on a decent engine.
There is obviously good business sense in building a front-drive 1-series, as most owners wouldn't know rear-drive if it gave them an accidental spike of oversteer on an icy roundabout, and it'll be cheaper to build for BMW, which is good for profits.
But it does raise the threshold for access to the kind of models that rear-drive gives access too, like the M140i, which are actually jolly good fun and fairly unique in offering the experience they do for the price they do. A front-drive M140i might be excellent - BMW makes MINIs of course, and MINIs handle pretty well - but I actually doubt BMW's ability to make a front-drive hot hatch as good as say, Volkswagen can. Or Honda, or Renault, or a bunch of other brands they never really had to compete with before because they were the one company sticking with rear-drive...