As you know the next generation of the BMW 1 Series will be a front-wheel drive model. So, whoever expected BMW to enter the "hurried FWD" war should be disappointed.
Dirk Hacker, vice president of BMW's sports division has just confirmed that there will be no FWD sports with an M division stamp. Ever. Never.
We have to feel the car through the steering and the accelerator. Today, there is still no solution for front-wheel drive.
Harsh statements from one of the main responsibles of the German brand to Autocar, who must not be aware of what Albert Biermann, one of BMW's historic, has been doing at Hyundai with "everything ahead". Or the Renault Sport with the Mégane RS…
Tradition
We have to put Dirk Hacker's statements in context. BMW is and will always be a brand known for its rear-wheel drive sports cars. Even the power escalation of some engines has forced them to resort to all-wheel drive. Still, all BMW models continue to give priority to the rear axle.
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That said, the future of the hardcore version of the next generation BMW 1 Series will be all-wheel drive. BMW will want to play on the board of the Mercedes-AMG A45 4Matic and Audi RS3, where it already had an all-wheel drive version of the M135 i Xdrive.
BMW M2. Last manual
Hacker also repeated something that is not exactly new. “I really like the manual boxes(…). But the fact is that dual-clutch gearboxes have better performance and efficiency.”
The current BMW M2 is expected to be the last manual gearbox model in the history of the M division. We have until 2020 to get used to the idea, at which point the current 2 Series will go out of production.