Luxury Van

What we like:

It’s a very practical car with lots of space everywhere you look.

What we dislike:

Sounds like a proper van with the clattery engine and less-than-ideal insulation.

It’s front driven and shares its chassis with the X1 and 218i Active Tourer.

That should say it all; but for those who don’t speak BMW as fluently as motoring journalists do, let me explain.

Rear driven cars are always better, which is why BMW has always made its staple the rear driven platforms and also why Lamborghini came up with the LP 580-2 tested not so long ago. But with rear driven cars the transmission tunnel that houses the drive shaft which sends power from the engine in front to the rear wheels tends to limit space in the form of a huge hump down the middle and in the back row which as you can imagine complicates practicality quite a bit.

So to create a whole range of spacious family cars, BMW has decided it would use front-wheel drive platforms. And to compensate for the loss of driving dynamics associated with front driven cars, BMW has had to go and work on the suspension quite a lot.

The result of which is a car that rides on the firm side but never uncomfortably, and is able to zip around more like a 116d hatchback than an actual minivan. Does it still feel like a BMW? Most certainly. There’s all of that BMW solidity and quality engineering feel that emanates from the car as you drive around town.

The 1.5l three cylinder turbo diesel is straight out of the 116d and paired to the 6-speed automatic transmission from the Active Tourer. There’s nothing much to talk about here except that it’ll do the job effortlessly and efficiently, albeit without any excitement and quite the noticeable clatter.

What the car lacks is the clean BMW steering feel that has been corrupted by the front wheels pulling the car along and changing direction at the same time; you also sit a bit too high unlike in any other BMW. But all these things give it the character that BMW wanted – the ultimate family car.

If you could ultimately use the utility, this could be the car to change up to.

Credits: Story and Photos by Alvan Sio