Photo: CarPix
You might have heard about the 1 Series going FWD, but the transition away from core BMW values has already happened with the second-generation X1 and the 2 Series Active Tourer, a model that has bitten a significant chunk of the Mercedes-Benz B-Class market.
The Active Tourer follows a formula that's very popular in European countries. You take the practicality of an MPV; you make it drive like a Ford Mondeo and add some ludicrously expensive options. The least BMW of the current BMWs has been on the market for quite some time and will receive a mid-life facelift soon.
The LCI has recently been spied undergoing road testing in Germany. It looks like the people applying the camouflage have been asked to do a bad job, because we can see everything that matters... and we like it.
The major design upgrade for the 2018 model is going to be a new set of full-LED headlights which has a design inspired by the 7 Series. The top portion of the halo is missing, but the angle of the chop is slanted, rising with the line of the hood.
The grille is also slightly revised and appears to be tightly wrapped around the mesh. But as with the revisions to the front and rear bumpers, the changes aren't easy to spot. Inside, you're probably going to see a few small changes in trim and an iDrive touchscreen for the premium navigation system.
The 2 Series Active Tourer is the first BMW to be based on the UKL1 platform, shared with all the current MINI models. It came out in 2014 and also has a 7-seat version that's longer. It seems that the closer we get to the age of parenthood, the more appealing a front-wheel-drive BMW starts to look. Hopefully, they found ways to make it handle a little better.
The powertrain lineup doesn't look like it needs any tinkering. You can have the Active Tourer with anything from a base 1.5-liter to a 2.0-liter turbo that rivals the Golf GTI for output or the 225xe iPerformance, which uses the same plug-in hybrid setup we've seen in the MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 plug-in model.
The LCI has recently been spied undergoing road testing in Germany. It looks like the people applying the camouflage have been asked to do a bad job, because we can see everything that matters... and we like it.
The major design upgrade for the 2018 model is going to be a new set of full-LED headlights which has a design inspired by the 7 Series. The top portion of the halo is missing, but the angle of the chop is slanted, rising with the line of the hood.
The grille is also slightly revised and appears to be tightly wrapped around the mesh. But as with the revisions to the front and rear bumpers, the changes aren't easy to spot. Inside, you're probably going to see a few small changes in trim and an iDrive touchscreen for the premium navigation system.
The 2 Series Active Tourer is the first BMW to be based on the UKL1 platform, shared with all the current MINI models. It came out in 2014 and also has a 7-seat version that's longer. It seems that the closer we get to the age of parenthood, the more appealing a front-wheel-drive BMW starts to look. Hopefully, they found ways to make it handle a little better.
The powertrain lineup doesn't look like it needs any tinkering. You can have the Active Tourer with anything from a base 1.5-liter to a 2.0-liter turbo that rivals the Golf GTI for output or the 225xe iPerformance, which uses the same plug-in hybrid setup we've seen in the MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 plug-in model.
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