We’d ask if anyone could have imagined one day seeing a BMW sedan with the unmistakable front overhang of a front-drive car, but that would imply anybody actually wanted to imagine such a thing. BMW has staked its reputation on rear-wheel-drive, sporty driver’s cars, but as of late that position is eroding. Fresh off launching the front-drive-based X1 crossover, BMW has debuted the “Concept Compact Sedan” at Auto Guangzhou, apparently one of China’s larger auto shows. The small four-door directly previews the upcoming 1-series compact, front-drive sedan—the brand’s first ever front-drive sedan, that is.
Our venting about BMW’s brand values out of the way, we will say that besides having a longer shnoz-to-body ratio than any BMW extant, the Concept Compact sedan is otherwise handsome. In fact, the show car might look even better with smaller wheels. Following concept-car norms, the wee Bimmer wears gigantic 20-inch wheels that only serve to make the rest of the car appear small. Don’t believe us? Just check out the latest spy photos of 1-series sedan prototypes testing; sure, you can’t see the headlight or taillight details, but the realistic wheel sizes relieve some of the bubble-top syndrome that effects all small sedans, regardless of which wheels are powered.
No mention is made of what theoretically powers the Concept Compact sedan, but don’t hold your breath for BMW’s silken turbocharged inline-six. When the 1-series eventually goes on sale, you can expect a range of turbocharged three- and four-cylinder engines. All-wheel drive will be optional, too. Inside, the Concept Compact resembles the new X1—a car with which it shares most of its dirty bits—which is a good thing, because we like the new X1’s interior.
The front-drive BMW sedan will morph from concept to debut in production form soon, before going on sale in Europe. We’ll get the little guy sometime later next year, most likely as a 2017 model.
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