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JEZ SPINKS March 18, 2010
BMW will abandon a vehicle design it attributes to better grip, traction, steering and comfort in the quest for better fuel economy and demand for smaller vehicles.
BMW yesterday confirmed it would finally follow other luxury rivals – including Mercedes-Benz and Audi – by building a front-wheel-drive small car.

BMW boss Dr Norbert Reithofer yesterday said at an annual accounts conference that new compact and sub-compact models would help boost profits and reduce the company’s fuel consumption and overall CO2 emissions.

“In the future we will launch more Mini and BMW models and variants – also in the small-car segment,” said Reithofer. “This segment is expected to grow further, and we will take advantage of this opportunity.
“We are exploring the possibility of developing a joint architecture for the front-wheel- and four-wheel-drive systems of these cars. In other words, there will be front-wheel-drive BMWs in the smaller vehicle classes in the future.”

Despite owning the Mini brand that popularised front-wheel-drive for the world, the German car maker has previously criticised front-drive vehicles for reducing grip and corrupting steering – even ruling out Audi as a genuine rival because its front-wheel-drive cars were not suited to luxury motoring.

All current BMW passenger cars are rear-wheel drive, including its smallest model the 1-Series, with one executive once stating “premium cars have rear-wheel drive because of comfort and design.”
When the BMW 1-Series arrived in 2004 BMW said its rear-drive layout was crucial, saying it “ensures improved grip and better traction under acceleration” and that it delivers “optimum grip leaving the front wheels to steer”.

The new front-wheel-drive BMW platform is understood to be capable of underpinning models ranging from 3.8 to 4.3 metres long, which at their extremes are slightly smaller than the current Mini and slightly longer than a Volkswagen Golf.

The architecture is expected to debut on the next-generation Mini due in 2014, with industry reports suggesting the platform could spawn up to 20 different models.
The second-generation 1-Series due in 2011 is likely to remain rear-wheel drive, and BMW has yet to reveal whether its new sub-compact range would be called the 0-Series.

Peugeot-Citroen (PSA) would be expected to be BMW’s preferred choice of car maker it decides to share development costs for the platform. The French car-making group already has an alliance in place to share four-cylinder engines between front-wheel-drive Peugeots and Citroens and Minis.

No doubt people will be queuing up to pay a premium for a small fwd BMW. The ultimate driv.... oh, much the same as every other £15k hatch back

Besides, while I acknowledge the undisputed advantages of rear wheel drive, I think BMW have rather down-played the (also indisputable!) advantages of front wheel drive - and there certainly are some!