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BMW 2 Series Active Tourer is the world's first front-drive Bimmer [w/videos]

While BMW has been showing concepts for its Active Tourer for over a year, they never seemed entirely real. Why would BMW, a company that has built its image on sporty, rear-wheel drive sedans, move into the five-door, front-wheel-drive market? The answer is still not entirely clear, but the new BMW 2 Series Active Tourer is very real. It launches in Europe later this year and is rumored to come to the US in 2015.
To brand purists, a front-wheel drive BMW may seem anathema to everything the company has built, and the production Active Tourer has clearly been built to provide drivers with a luxurious but utilitarian package first and foremost. It is 170.9 inches long and rides on a 105.1-inch wheelbase, but despite its compact dimensions, its high roof allows for 16.53-cubic-feet of cargo space with the rear seats up or 53.33 cubic feet with them folded flat. Its general appearance is nearly identical to the previous concepts, except with a blunter nose and cleaner lines. The front end wears BMW's traditional dual circular headlights and naturally, while the profile incorporates the company's traditional Hofmeister kink into the greenhouse's rear pillar. The interior has been designed to be especially useful with a sliding rear seat, adjustable rear backrests, fold-flat backrests and optional features like an automatic tailgate and panoramic sunroof.
Unlike both previous concepts, none of the Active Tourer models at launch use hybrid power. For Europe, the hatchback is going on sale with three engine options. The basic version is the 218i Active Tourer with a 1.5-liter, turbocharged three-cylinder with 134 horsepower that we just previewed in the 2014 Mini Cooper - good enough for average fuel economy of 48 miles per gallon in the EU cycle when equipped with a six-speed manual. The next step up is the 225i Active Tourer with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 228 hp and offers 39-mpg average fuel economy. Finally, there is the there is the 218d Active Tourer with its 148-hp, 2.0-liter turbodiesel and 57 mpg average fuel economy on the EU cycle. A six-speed manual is standard on all of them, but there is a six-speed automatic option for the 218i and eight-speed automatics available for the 225i and 218d. All-wheel drive will be available on future models.

This Alpina C1 is a rare bit of BMW 3 Series history

Over its five decades in the business, German tuner-turned-automaker Alpina has established a long history of taking great BMWs and making them just a bit tastier, more luxurious, and well... faster. Of course, they haven't always been the land rockets of modern day, however that's not to say they were exactly tame. Back in the early 1980s, this was one of the cars to have—an Alpina C1 2.3. Based on the original E21 BMW 3-series, the C1 2.3 bridged the performance gap between the standard BMW 323i and Alpina's hard-charging B6 2.8. It summoned up a heady 170 horsepower and disposed of the 60 mph sprint in just seven and a half seconds. Not shabby at all. 33 years later, this '83 Alpina C1 is back up for sale , and it's still quite the head-turner. RELATED: Check Out the Hard-Charging 2016 Alpina B6 xDrive A look back at the C1's contemporary relatives show just how wide Alpina's performance gap had been. Introduced in 1977, the BMW 323i offered up 141 horsepower courtesy of BMW's famed M20 straight-six engine, a big performance improvement over the E21's previous four-cylinders. The Alpina B6 2.8 3-series on the other hand, introduced in 1978, blew its doors off thanks to the bigger 2.8-liter straight-six plucked from the BMW 528i, offering up 200 horsepower. All that, in an early 3-series. With that in mind, a middle-of-the-pack car made sense, so Alpina treated the 323i's straight-six to some of the B6 2.8's goodies, minus the former's Bosch fuel-injection system. Bilstein shocks were part of the diet too, along with oversized disc brakes, sleek alloy wheels, as well as the tell-tale Alpina front splitter, rear spoiler, and racy side-stripes. RELATED: The BMW Isetta is Coming Back, But as an Electric Vehicle! Inside, Alpina added a dose of luxury as well. One could order their C1 2.3 with the gorgeous optional Recaro seats with Alpina stripes, as well as a bespoke leather steering wheel, gear knob, and speedometer. Top speed? About 130 mph. Compared to regular E21 BMW 3-series cars, these are quite rare. How rare is a point of debate, however. Production estimates range from as few as 35 to as many as 400, depending on the source. Regardless, you certainly don't see them everyday, and if this one fits your fancy... it lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Related Video: This article originally appeared on Boldride.com. Aftermarket BMW Auctions Coupe Classics eBay alpina

Did BMW drag its feet on Mini recall?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening an investigation into BMW's reporting of a recall for 30,456 examples of the 2014-2015 Mini Cooper Hardtop, Cooper S, and the 2015 John Cooper Works. According to the government, "it appears from a review of NHTSA's databases that BMW may have failed to submit recall communications to NHTSA in a timely manner." The automaker issued the recall in July because crash tests showed the models didn't meet side impact requirements for passengers in the back seat. While there were no reported injuries at the time, the company decided to install energy-absorbing material in the space between the rear interior panels and the exterior. However, NHTSA has decided to investigate whether this campaign should have started much earlier, given the evidence the company had. According to the government's report, the Cooper Hardtop failed side-impact tests in 2014, although one of these tests was five-miles-per-hour faster than the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. The agency claims: "In January 2015 BMW verbally committed that it would conduct a service campaign to add padding to the rear side panels of MY 2015 Mini 2 Door Hardtop Cooper models. However, BMW did not initiate the service campaign and failed to inform NHTSA of its failure to do so." A subsequent crash test of an example with this fix showed it to make the vehicle compliant with the rules. Mini spokesperson Mariella Kapsaskis told Autoblog: "Regarding the NHTSA audit query, BMW Group is evaluating the request and will respond to NHTSA as appropriate." INVESTIGATION Subject : BMW Reporting & Timely Recall Execution Date Investigation Opened: SEP 24, 2015 Date Investigation Closed: Open NHTSA Action Number: AQ15004 Component(s): STRUCTURE All Products Associated with this Investigation Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) MINI COOPER 2014-2015 MINI COOPER S 2014-2015 MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS 2015 Details Manufacturer: BMW of North America, LLC SUMMARY: NHTSA is opening this AQ to better understand and evaluate BMW's process(es) for its notification procedures and for timely and efficient execution of its safety recall campaigns. In mid-2014, NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) had side impact moving deformable barrier (MDB) tests performed on two model year (MY) 2014 Mini 2 Door Hardtop Coopers. These two tests were performed at a speed 5 mph higher than required by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 214, Side impact protection.