Heresy: A front-wheel drive BMW Minivan

In 2008, my wife and I made and absolutely unsavory decision to trade her Volvo XC70 Ocean Race Edition for a Toyota Sienna XLE minivan. It was the most painful, automotive decision we had ever made. Not only would this vehicle be a Toyota but a Toyota MINIVAN! But for a family vehicle, it just made too much sense. Soon after I fondly named it, “The Anti-Christ”. Now in 2012, there’s a new Toyota Sienna Limited, “The second coming of the Anti-Christ”, sharing the space in the garage with my X5. Decked out with more electronic and entertainment amenities than our family room and sharing many luxurious toys from the Lexus parts bins, it’s made life with Anti-Christ v2012 more palatable.

A BMW Minivan

As an BMW enthusiast family and if a BMW Sports Tourer were offered, we certainly would have bit the bullet, paid a bit more and slightly given up a little size and some amenities to be hauling our family around in a people mover with a Roundel vs rounded “T” in the hood and hatch.

In a recent post titled “Weeks away from BMW’s first front-wheel drive vehicle” the BMW Compact Sport Tourer is rumored to be the first of a series of, dare we say it, front-wheel drive BMWs. Adding insult to this heresy, the Compact Sports Tourer appears to be BMW’s first foray the into sports tourer segment. If I had to bet on it, I might even set a wager that the Compact Sports Tourer is headed to the US even if it would be at least a few years out). With the recent word that BMW is looking at building a plant in Mexico for when the compact range is set to shift to front-wheel drive, I think this is a clear possibility.

The Compact Sports Tourer will take a more compact MPV form like the Mazda5, verses the not-so-mini minivans of late, but I feel this could have quite a bit of appeal to for small families desiring an Ultimate Sports Touring Experience if marketed and priced correctly. Ford was the one carmaker who’s definitely on the right tack with such a vehicle. The Ford C-Max is the right design for a sports tourer for families and should be the functional model that BMW should emulate.

More at www.bmwblog.com
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vdiv - 8/14/2012 5:16:24 PM

0 Boost

Toyota and Chrysler have had AWD minivans without too much sacrificing space. Mercedes has their Sprinter vans that are solid rear axle RWD. It can be done, the question is should BMW do it at all?

Willis - 8/15/2012 8:21:17 AM

+5 Boost

It can be done, yes, but RWD still means more weight and extra costs due to the driveshaft. Arguably FWD makes sense in a minivan due to weight, space and gas mileage issues.

Also, nobody is going to buy a minivan to "drive sporty".

vdiv - 8/14/2012 4:40:47 PM

+6 Boost

From BMW's advertisement campaign:
"We only make one thing, the Ultimate Driving Machine"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPwI60PX6aM

And yet, there's nothing but bad news/rumors about the future of BMW. The company has become too big and has lost focus.

macpowah - 8/14/2012 9:48:37 PM

0 Boost

Ok, I can see this happening in Europe, but no way in hell is this coming to North America. This would just kill BMW's brand image here. I can definately see the appeal here, but why can't they just leave this to MINI?

Willis - 8/15/2012 8:43:20 AM

+3 Boost

Most customers in the US don't know what FWD is and don't care. And even if it comes to the US, there are still countless other RWD BMWs for the enthusiasts to choose from.

t_bone - 8/14/2012 10:35:11 PM

+2 Boost

I would love to replace my Mazda5 with this. But that probably makes me a minority of a minority. Offroad looks and high seats are what sells.

nguyenvuminh - 8/14/2012 10:39:54 PM

+3 Boost

This is such a lovely posting. I have always loved 2 designs in particular, the hatchback sedan (ala Citroens) and the mini minivan (ala Mazda5 and Ford 7-seater C-Max). Both designs can embrace high-performance and practicality equally well. Alas, we have no alternative to the Mazda5 here in the US so I would love to see more mfrs offer such cars to this market and Ford, BMW, Mercedes or Audi would be most welcome. My requests for such a true mini minivan would be i) sliding rear doors ii) flexible walk-through design in the 2nd row. I realise I have just wasted 3 minutes of my life typing this comment as I honestly can't see the US market ever receiving more mini minivans in the future but I guess one can always dream.