Front-drive BMW defied internal sceptics

Engineers who developed BMW’s first front-wheel drive car have revealed the project was initially met with internal scepticism.

And they have conceded that despite the official claims that the 2 Series Active Tourer offers “hallmark BMW dynamics”, it does nothing of the sort.

However, they do insist it leads the compact people-mover class -- in which its primary rivals in Europe are the front-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz B-Class and new Volkswagen Golf Sportsvan -- for dynamic talents.

“Of course there were some internal discussions asking the question ‘is a front-wheel drive BMW still a BMW’,” project launch manager Stefan Karch told motoring.com.au.

“Clearly when we entered the segment our target had to be best in segment and the benchmark for each competitor when it comes to driving dynamics.”

Karch also insisted potential Active Tourer buyers – about 75 per cent are expected to be new to the brand -- were mostly concerned about the amount of interior space on offer.

“We knew from our market research the customers we wanted to approach with this car… for them it was not a case of whether it was front or rear-wheel drive,” he explained.

The Active Tourer goes on sale in Australia in November. Check here for our first drive of the turbo-petrol 225i and check back in on Friday morning for official Australian pricing and spec and a review of the 218d turbo-diesel.

It is the first of a slew of front-wheel drive BMWs that go on-sale over the next few years.

At its international launch overnight in Austria, claims were made in official material that the Active Tourer had “hallmark BMW dynamics” and “like all BMW models, the new BMW 2 Series Active Tourer makes its mark with great driving dynamics and the sort of driving experience the brand is renowned for.”

In a video presentation it was claimed the Active Tourer “Drives like a true BMW” and “offers precisely the amount of driving fun that constitutes the fascination of a BMW.”

But chassis engineer Martin Schuster presented a far more realistic goal when asked if BMW really had set out to try and emulate rear-wheel drive handling behaviour with the Active Tourer.

“No this wasn’t the target. The target was to make this the BMW of this class,” he explained. “To make the BMW experience in this car the essential experience must be the steering behaviour.

“How the car reacts to the steering input and that was the focus when we developed the car.”

Schuster said a focus had been compensating for the negative handling inputs generated by front-wheel drive such as torque steer and understeer.

“Our aim was to reduce negative feedback from the wheel, but the focus on steering behaviour means you have to feel the street in your hands and that’s the compromise.

“But we have front-wheel drive and we have physics and that’s a fact.”

Schuster admitted his background in the company developing traditional rear-wheel BMWs had made the early stages of his five-year involvement in the Active Tourer project a challenge. And he wasn’t alone.

“Lots of people internally said rear-wheel drive was the real BMW,” he said.

“I am 17 years with BMW, 12 years with rear-wheel drive and five years with front-wheel drive and for me BMW was clear. It was clear with rear-wheel drive.”

He said an important moment came when board member for development Herbert Diess drove a test version in 2011 and gave it the thumbs up.

“We were very, very nervous because we were proud of what we had done. And he got out of the car and smiled and said ‘this can work’.”

“Now I am very proud of this car.”

BMW, which has long sung the virtues of its exclusively rear-drive model range, purchased the Rover Group in 1994, before breaking it up and retaining the MINI brand in 2000.

The following year it released the new-generation MINI Cooper, but until now its front-drive platform remained exclusive to MINI.