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2016 BMW X1 First Drive [w/video]

Perhaps more than any other model, the X1 exemplifies the shift going on at BMW. That the X1 is the first front-drive-based car to wear the BMW badge in the US is both remarkable and doesn't matter at all. Some background: The first X1, sold here for the latter half of its six-year run, was an Old BMW. Based on E90 3 Series underpinnings, it was basically a tall, last-gen 3 wagon, a car on short stilts. We loved it. It drove almost exactly like a good 3 Series at a time when that 3 Series was no longer available. It sold in okay numbers. It's gone now. This new X1, the 2016 model, is a sort of about face, or at least a right-hand turn in the engine compartment. This is New BMW. The base engine is again a 2.0-liter four-cylinder, a new design based on the company's modular engine architecture that can spit out threes, fours, and sixes using the same component set. It's mounted transversely, not longitudinally like in the rest of BMW's US offerings. It loses some horsepower to the last X1's 2.0 (228 hp versus 240) and a bit of torque (258 lb-ft down from 260). Again, few will notice. The optional 3.0-liter turbocharged six from the last generation is gone. Not many customers chose it, and the six likely wouldn't fit under the hood of this rearranged X1. EPA fuel-economy numbers match those from the 2015 xDrive28i exactly – 22 mpg city, 32 highway – so no gains there. So packaging won. There's really no other explanation for the longitudinal-transverse swap, except that maybe it's less expensive to build this way. EPA fuel-economy numbers match those from the 2015 xDrive28i exactly – 22 mpg city, 32 highway – so no gains there. But the packaging advantages are abundant. The interior is somewhat narrow, but it's opened up a bit by the lack of a transmission tunnel that would normally eat space between the front occupants. Instead, the center console is set low, with a tall shift lever rising practically from the floor up to meet your hand. There's storage forward of the shifter and a folding center armrest that opens for small items. The original X1 was sold here with rear-wheel as well as all-wheel drive. For obvious reasons, that won't be the case this time around. BMW also won't sell a front-drive model here (although one is offered in Europe and elsewhere) likely because it would involve the admission that this is not your average BMW, but instead a New BMW, one designed for more people and fewer enthusiasts.

BMW's fuel cell coming after 2020

Honda made news earlier this week at the Tokyo Motor Show by announcing details of the what will be its first production hydrogen fuel cell vehicle earmarked for the US next year. As for BMW? Not so fast. The German automaker might start working on a fuel cell vehicle for one of its larger sedan lines, but don't expect it to see the light of day before 2020, Reuters reports, citing remarks made by BMW executive Merten Jung in Tokyo. Bimmer has been collaborating with Toyota on advancing fuel-cell technology since 2013, but any production vehicle from BMW would take place after that collaboration expires. In fact, one point Jung made was that the BMW fuel cell would be able to go further on a full tank (of hydrogen) than the Toyota Mirai's 300+ miles. Earlier this year, reports surfaced that BMW may have a fuel-cell vehicle ready before the end of the decade, and that it would likely be sold under Bimmer's i brand of advanced-powertrain vehicles. Additionally, this summer, videos started coming out showing a hydrogen fuel cell i8 prototype (a rather sporty one, actually) as well as a 5-series prototype, so getting a handle on BMW's plans for fuel cell vehicles is a bit of a moving target. As for Honda, the Clarity will be earmarked for fleet and business customers in Japan first before marketing starts for everyday drivers. We've got some brief first-hand impressions of what it's like to drive a Clarity prototype here.

BMW to pay $1.6M, rehire workers in discrimination settlement

A BMW subsidiary is on the hook for $1.6 million and must rehire workers as part of a settlement for a race discrimination lawsuit with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A change in BMW Manufacturing's criminal background check policy at the Spartanburg, SC, factory disproportionately affected African American workers, according to the EEOC, and it cost many people their jobs. The automaker has since changed the policy. According to Automotive News, the suit stemmed from BMW switching logistics contractors at the plant in 2008. As a result, 645 existing workers had to submit revised criminal background checks to keep their jobs. About 100 people didn't meet the new guidelines, according to the EEOC, and they lost their jobs. Around 80 percent of those affected were African American. According to the government agency's complaint, the altered procedures only took into account the category of a crime, not factors like when it occurred or whether the infraction was a misdemeanor or felony. With the settlement accepted by US District Court, BMW must offer work to the affected employees in this case and as many as 90 African American applicants that the contractor didn't hire because of the rules. The automaker also must offer training in the proper manner for criminal background checks. While there's nothing inherently wrong with investigating workers, "when a criminal background screen results in the disproportionate exclusion of African-Americans from job opportunities, the employer must evaluate whether the policy is job related and consistent with a business necessity," P. David Lopez, the EEOC's General Counsel, said in the agency's release, which you can read below. BMW to Pay $1.6 Million and Offer Jobs to Settle Federal Race Discrimination Lawsuit Company's Criminal Background Policy Disproportionately Affected African-American Logistics Workers, EEOC Charged GREENVILLE, S.C. - The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina today entered a consent decree ordering BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC (BMW) to pay $1.6 million and provide job opportunities to alleged victims of race discrimination as part of the resolution of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).