BMW 1 GT Render

We are just over a month away from the Paris Motor Show, its September run alternates annually with the enormous Frankfurt show. BMW this year is said to make waves in France rather than wait until next year on its home turf, or in early 2013 at Geneva. Making waves, is putting it mildly- outside the huge announcement that was BMWi, this may be the biggest in the history of the BMW brand.

BMW will be changing the wheels its famed engines send power to and changing those famed engines at the same time. That ‘s right, the front wheel drive car we heard about more than two years ago is finally going to be shown to the world. The architecture it is based on will underpin many models as it is scalable and can be used in front, rear and all wheel drive applications in anything from a BMW, a MINI and even other brands. BMW is targeting the entry level premium buyer looking for a more efficient and compact vehicle, aiming directly at Mercedes Benz and the B Class. While the chassis, drivetrain, electronics and ancillaries will be shared between the 1 GT (as it is rumored to be called) and the next generation F56 MINI, the drive, and style will be individual. Like siblings these products will share many traits but they will be individuals in their own right and target different consumers.

We have also heard that BMW will unveil its latest range of Efficient Dynamics engine offerings- starting with a 3 cylinder. Using a .5l per cylinder the engine family will be scalable from the 3 up to an inline 6. New generations of valvetronic and double vanos are said to be shown by our sources and will increase the performance and efficiencies of all engines across the BMW lineup. Using BMW ‘s Twin Power approach, these engines will utilize turbo charing and direct injection to eek out everything they can. The 3 cylinders will range from 100hp up to over 200hp in multiple variants.

The Life Cycle Impulse of the BMW 7 Series will also be on display for the first time at an autoshow in addition to other face lifted models. We expect BMW to have an official announcement in regards to its Paris plans in the coming days so stay tuned.