New BMW 1 series GT.

[Dennisch]

And it's wrong. As BMWs should be rearwheel drive, this goes the wrong way:
No. Just No.

It shares it's platform with the Mini III. No.

 

[E28]

*cues high-pitched horror film music*

 

[Tornado]

'Dis Gon' Be Good.

 

[Dennisch]

'Dis Gon' Be Good.

It will be horrible. Horrible.

I don't mind that they want to use a 3 cilinder, with a turbo it will give some power. But Fwd, in a BMW, that makes it an Opel or VW.
And in such an ugly package.

 

[AudiPro]

...Them good ol' boys we're drinking Jäger and were about to cry.
This is the day BMW died.
This is the day BMW died...

 

[Spacegoat]

I never thought I'd see "Fwd" and "BMW" in the same sentence.

I think I've just died a little inside.

 

[G.T.Ace]

Kill it, kill it with fire!!!

 

[MHPALA]

I read in a engineering magazine that Mercedes is developing a car like this one and its fwd. So competition in a potential market is a must:tup:.

 

[peter_vod69]

Bah - is this really any worse than that hideous, hateful BMW X1?

 

[JJ72]

the clip shows it is still a true BMW, nobody is letting it to pull out haha!

 

[homeforsummer]

Ah, I wondered how long this would take.

Doesn't matter that 80% of 1-Series owners don't even know their car is RWD, because even BMWs that nobody here would ever buy even if it was RWD and despite the entire rest of the BMW range still being RWD should still be RWD because they say so.

Seriously, some people here have no clue about the motor industry.

Making the 1-Series GT RWD would be utterly pointless. It has zero benefit for the sort of people the car is aimed at, but plenty of disadvantages. It also doesn't matter because most modern BMWs are set up to understeer anyway and their current FWD offering, the MINI, actually understeers less than something like a current 1-Series...

 

[hawkeye122]

I don't see the point... BMW already have the Mini brand... why do they need another FWD car? Or will this be cheaper than the Mini?

 

[Zenith]

Who cares? Would this really stop you from buying an M3? I realize that it's hard to see your beloved brand make a car that isn't built to your specifications, but really, you've put up with worse in the past.

 

[homeforsummer]

I don't see the point... BMW already have the Mini brand... why do they need another FWD car? Or will this be cheaper than the Mini?

Because there are buyers who prefer the BMW badge to the MINI one, but don't give a damn about BMW's rear-drive heritage and wouldn't notice anyway. Simple as that.

 

[Famine]

There's talk that the success of the FWD 1-Series will form the basis of a decision on which end to drive for the next 3-Series...

I wonder if it still has the Hofmeister Kink?

 

[homeforsummer]

There's talk that the success of the FWD 1-Series will form the basis of a decision on which end to drive for the next 3-Series...

The difficult thing about that will be deciding what measure of that success is down to which wheels are being driven.

I suppose you could put it like this: Had the MINI been RWD, would it have been any less popular? Less profitable probably, but I suspect the MINI sells largely on its shape, and a 1-Series largely on its badge. That way, the driven wheels essentially don't matter, so you could just as easily have a RWD MINI and a FWD 1-Series as the other way around...

I'd be probably more uneasy if the 3er went FWD than I am for a variant of the 1er, but it's pure speculation at this stage. I suspect the 3-Series trades more heavily on its traditional BMW-ness.

Edit: Perhaps more interesting, watching that video, is how much the 1-GT could share with the BMW i3, their carbon-fibre-bodied electric car due in the next few years? I can't actually remember whether the i3 is FWD or RWD (could be anything being electric - pretty easy to drop an electric motor in the boot and get it powering the rear wheels).

 

[JJ72]

I don't see the point... BMW already have the Mini brand... why do they need another FWD car? Or will this be cheaper than the Mini?

Many people consider it to be too girly, a fashion statement, style over substance etc etc etc. But the people who are that prejudiced are probably gonna be put off by the idea of a FWD BMW as well.

 

[JJ72]

I suppose you could put it like this: Had the MINI been RWD, would it have been any less popular?

I actually think it will be less popular, it might be too twitchy to be both RWD and retain the current level of dynamic ability, it wouldn't be as fun to toss around as a FWD platform.

it would hurt the already modest rear seat usability too.

 

[Boffin]

Ah, I wondered how long this would take.

Doesn't matter that 80% of 1-Series owners don't even know their car is RWD, because even BMWs that nobody here would ever buy even if it was RWD and despite the entire rest of the BMW range still being RWD should still be RWD because they say so.

Seriously, some people here have no clue about the motor industry.

Making the 1-Series GT RWD would be utterly pointless. It has zero benefit for the sort of people the car is aimed at, but plenty of disadvantages. It also doesn't matter because most modern BMWs are set up to understeer anyway and their current FWD offering, the MINI, actually understeers less than something like a current 1-Series...

This is basically my thought as well. 👍

Think about who is actually going to buy this car. More often than not, the more mature aged driver who care about a badge and not a drivetrain. Plus FWD does come with some benefits....weight, economy, etc.

 

[homeforsummer]

I actually think it will be less popular, it might be too twitchy to be both RWD and retain the current level of dynamic ability, it wouldn't be as fun to toss around as a FWD platform.

it would hurt the already modest rear seat usability too.

I see your point, but I'm talking all other things being equal. Most MINI drivers, like most 1-Series drivers, don't really care what wheels are being driven, or even what's powering the car, as long as it suits their image.

Many people consider it to be too girly, a fashion statement, style over substance etc etc etc. But the people who are that prejudiced are probably gonna be put off by the idea of a FWD BMW as well.

I say again: The majority of 1-Series customers don't even know their BMW is RWD. Even if they did know, they wouldn't care.

It's perfectly feasible that customers might not want a MINI but would happily buy a BMW with FWD.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Yup, no two ways about it, I hate FWD hatches, and I'm a massive Bimmer fan, however I can understand that commercially it's the right thing to do.

Mercedes and Audi have both been offering FWD variants of their cars for years.. Audi even offered the A8 as a front wheel drive.

And lets not forget, not all BMW's are RWD anyway, many are four wheel drive!

Do I like it, not particularly.. does it bother me, no.

 

[YSSMAN]

Edit: Perhaps more interesting, watching that video, is how much the 1-GT could share with the BMW i3, their carbon-fibre-bodied electric car due in the next few years? I can't actually remember whether the i3 is FWD or RWD (could be anything being electric - pretty easy to drop an electric motor in the boot and get it powering the rear wheels).

My first thought on seeing that prototype was of the i3. I was under the impression the i3 was rear-drive, based on this video.



Now that I look at them both, the car in the first video looks a lot like this one.

 

[MatskiMonk]

The i3 will use a rear mounted motor to drive the rear wheels.

Whilst it's true that BMW's common interchangable platform allows for both FWD variants as well as traditional RWD and AWD variants, I believe the i3 use's a unique body construction - BMW call it LifeDrive. The simple chassis/platform is built around the battery compartment, and the Carbon Fibre shell and plastic body are placed on top...

... at least thats what they say of Concept i3.

 

[Prosthetic]

$20 says its ugly as sin.

 

[MatskiMonk]

^You won't be getting it in the US, so I wouldn't worry!

 

[niky]

And lets not forget, not all BMW's are RWD anyway, many are four wheel drive!

Which puts paid the notion that BMW is exclusively rear-wheel drive. As far as I recall, actually, there are no RWD X6s, most X1 models are all-wheel drive except for a few exceptions, and given the level of nannying understeer in most BMW road cars without an "M" in front of their number, nobody who's actually buying said road cars actually cares.

The 1-series is amazing to drive, is somewhat neutral, but safe, since the front end loses bite first in very fast corners. Not as quickly as the front end of the 3-series loses bite, but it's there.

The MINI is amazing to drive, is amazingly neutral, but safe, since the front end loses bite first in very fast corners. It's lighter than the 1-series for the same back seat space and pace. And it looks a whole lot better, too.

There is no reason not to make the 1 front-wheel drive... except maybe the 135i and the 1M, but with a flexible architecture, you can simply swap those drivetrains in whole from the 3-series just for those two models... which is what's happening now, anyway.