BMW 2-Series Active Tourer revealed at Geneva

In their increasing eagerness to become a German Toyota, BMW has officially unveiled their new 2-Series Active Tourer at the Geneva Motor Show last week. The big news is that it is BMW’s first front-wheel-drive car. And oddly enough, after forcing icons like the M3 to take on even-number badges because, as per their marketeers, all coupes and convertibles will get even numbers, they drop this minivan in the same family as the 2-Series coupe that was unveiled just a few months earlier.

For one, anybody familiar with the 2-Series Coupe will notice that the Active Tourer has no facial similarities with its handsome sibling. However, the minivan will lay the foundations for the upcoming X1 crossover, which is also switching to front-wheel-drive, apparently because its existing customers didn’t care it was rear-wheel-drive.

The 2-Series Active Tourer will come with three engine options, namely a 1.5-litre turbocharged 3-cylinder engine producing 136 hp and 230 Nm of torque, a 2.0-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder producing 231 hp and 350 Nm of torque, and finally a 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine producing 150 hp and 330 Nm of torque. They will be dubbed 218i Active Tourer, 225i Active Tourer and 218d Active Tourer respectively. All of the above could be had with a 6-speed manual gearbox, but as an alternative, there’s a 6-speed automatic option for the 218i and an 8-speed automatic for the 225i and 218d.

The 2-Series Active Tourer is reportedly about the size of a sub-compact sedan. But BMW makes up for it with flexible seating and cargo space, as well as ample headroom.

In any case, as of now, there is no news of an official GCC release. The 2-Series coupe, on the other hand, is already available in the UAE.