SPY PICS: BMW's first seven-seat people-mover

BMW executives spent most of the launch of the 2 Series Active Tourer denying the all-new front-wheel drive five-seat wagon was a people-mover, and it turns out they were right.

The people-mover version of the 2 Series Active Tourer won’t go on sale until 2015, when this seven-seat version arrives.

The seven-seater — dubbed FAST by some pundits, for Family Active Sports Tourer — will be one of five BMW models derived from the 2 Series Active Tourer’s UKL1 front-drive chassis architecture. Other known variants include a sedan and a crossover SUV.

There is no space in the 468-litre luggage area of the new 2 Series Active Tourer for a pair of fold-down temporary rear seats, so BMW sources insist the seven-seater will retain the 2670 mm wheelbase but add extra length behind the rear wheels.

This extra rear overhang will make the car at least 200 mm longer than the 4342 mm 2 Series Active Tourer, but it will be identical in the first two rows, with two front seats and three-seat capability in the middle row.

While it will retain the current electrically operated drop-down function of the current rear seats and their fore-and-aft and backrest angle adjustments, it will be unique from there back.

Instead of folding down into the rear floor area, BMW sources suggest the last two temporary seats will fold down from the side of the cargo area, as in a Toyota LandCruiser.

BMW is said to be paranoid about compromising the car’s cargo area, which currently extends to 1510 litres with the rear seats folded flat. Folding the seats down from the sides will protect the 2 Series Active Tourer’s clever underfloor rear packaging.

While BMW expects a conquest rate of around 70 percent for the 2 Series Active Tourer family, it may be even higher for the seven-seat version. The only other seven-seat BMW is the X5, which is a long way in philosophy and price from the 2 Series Active Tourer.

Expect the stretched 2 Series Active Tourer to be offered with the same turbocharged three- and four-cylinder-engines, and for all-wheel-drive to be optional – eventually along with a plug-in hybrid version.

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