Now that Klaus Fröhlich is a member of the Board of Management for BMW AG, Development, we should expect some good things coming from BMW. Fröhlich is a man who, up until last year, was in charge of development for every BMW up to the 5 Series. But now he’s in charge of the whole lineup. Motor Trend recently sat down with Fröhlich, to discuss where the company is headed and what is in store for upcoming vehicles.
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One thing he stressed early on was modularity. The idea that many BMWs can share the same chassis and architecture yet be vastly different. He uses the M235i and the 3 Series Gran Turismo as examples of this. “They come from the same rolling chassis, but they feel like cars from a different planet. We’re good at that. ‘Modularity’ sounds like engineering language, but we must emotionalize it,” said Fröhlich.
This is good news, of course, as BMW is planning on using just two new scalable CLAR (cluster architecture) chassis architectures to be used for almost all of the BMW lineup in the future. One will be for front-wheel drive based vehicles and transverse engines while the other for rear-wheel drive vehicles and longitudinal engines. “The front-wheel drive one is from the X1 down to the Mini,” states Fröhlich, who continues “Those cars need different axle positions, bulkhead heights, hip points. Then we have the RWD cluster from the 7 Series down to the 1 Series. The powertrain is always in the same position — the position of the flywheel. But you can change the width, wheelbase, rear-axle type — a luxury one for the 7 Series and one that’s more space-efficient for the 3 Series Touring.”
He also goes on to talk about how how the new BMW 7 Series is the first of many BMWs to use its architecture. “It will be seen in the future 5 Series, 3 Series, etc. The body can be very specific. The 7 Series uses carbon fiber, magnesium, die-cast aluminum, and hot-formed steel. Some axle parts are common among series, but the body will change materials.” This is very important, and good news as well, as the current 5er is built off of the F01 7 Series platform and is quite big and heavy because of it. So the next 5 Series will employ many of the same exotic weight saving materials and techniques as the new 7.
Fröhlich continues to prove that he is the right man for the job, at least in enthusiast’s minds, as he talks about how the upcoming 1 Series may be rear-wheel drive based. “If rear drive, we would lose advantages of luggage space,” he says, but goes on to say “But if one sort of customer wants space, he can get the [FWD minivan-esque] 2 Series Active Tourer. The 1 Series is about conquest sales, so it has to be a true BMW. We don’t have to decide until the end of this year.” To me, that sounds like he wants the next 1 Series to be rear-wheel drive and he’s trying to make a case for it to the rest of the board.
If wanting to keep the 1 Series rear-wheel drive isn’t enough to make you like Klaus, then maybe this will. When asked about the growing partnership with Toyota to make a new sports car, Klaus said “I know what I want: a really sharp, sporty Z4 successor, I want to make this happen. And I know the elements it must use.” So Fröhlich sounds like a guy who knows what direction he wants BMW to take, with all of its cars, and knows how to do it. The entire BMW lineup seems to be in good hands.
[Source: MotorTrend]
Okay good good. I like this guy so far.
I agree that this guy sounds promising. I may have missed it, but I didn’t see anything about a FWD 1er hatch. I’d prefer RWD.
That is the whole point of the 1 series, the thing that makes it so different. A true BMW interpretation of an Hatch… For the X1, maybe X2 and 2 series AT and GT it makes sense, but for the 1 series no i think they have to keep playing the fun+sport card for this car, and let it RWD based.
I agree with you. I’m just noting the headline that states FWD and there’s nothing about it in the article.
“he talks about how the upcoming 1 Series may be rear-wheel drive based. “If rear drive, we would lose advantages of luggage space,” he says, but goes on to say “But if one sort of customer wants space, he can get the [FWD minivan-esque] 2 Series Active Tourer. The 1 Series is about conquest sales, so it has to be a true BMW. We don’t have to decide until the end of this year.” To me, that sounds like he wants the next 1 Series to be rear-wheel drive and he’s trying to make a case for it to the rest of the board.” I don’t know if he added it later, but i don’t think so. That’s the whole end of the article btw.
YES! I like this a lot! I really hope they’ll keep the RWD for the 1 Series as it’s the only Hot Hatch with RWD and it’s a huge advantage over the others and it’s far more premium and worth the extra money!! :D And I also can’t wait for the Z4 successor, although they will really have to do everything they can to make it as beautiful. :)
Ugh, that rendering is so unbelieveably hideous. They better not mess up the Z4. It STILL looks current and sexy.
Sounds like a good change for E, from that money saving guy to an real enthusiast! Could be worse ;)