Photo Comparison: Active Tourer vs BMW Concept Active Tourer

In fall 2012, BMW introduced the Concept Active Tourer at the Paris MotorShow. The concept car gave us a preview at what the first …

n fall 2012, BMW introduced the Concept Active Tourer at the Paris Motor Show. The concept car gave us a preview at what the first front-wheel drive BMW may look like.

About a year and a half later, the F45 BMW 2 Series Active Tourer is born.

Our image comparison shows lots of similarities between the two vehicles, but at the same time, some significant changes as well.

First, the kidney grille have gone under a small surgery, they are now flatter and the headlights’ size have been increased as well.

At the rear, the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer have most conventional tailpipes, since the concept was shown in Paris was a hybrid. The taillights are also less “futuristic”, think more production than concept, a trend we have seen before. From the profile, we can see a different set of door handles and mirrors.

Inside we get a toned down version of the concept interior, one that resembles current BMWs in the lineup. Gone are the glass inserts and cool looking iDrive knob, replaced by the “typical” BMW buttons and trim.

Without any further ado, here are the comparison images:

 (( SOURCE : bmwblog ))

What women want: Female Drivers’ Top 10 Favorite BMWs

Featured Posts, Interesting | September 27th, 2010 by Horatiu Boeriu 27

While we acknowledge that majority of our readership is male, we cannot simply overlook the fact that an important percentage of our readers are women. …

While we acknowledge that majority of our readership is male, we cannot simply overlook the fact that an important percentage of our readers are women. Therefore, we decided to turn our attention to our female BMW drivers and find out more about their preferences when it comes to a BMW.

Recent studies show that generally women demand more from their vehicles than men do and are more particular about certain features and capabilities found in a car. In a recent article for Yahoo Autos, Tim Greig, interior design manager for General Motors, said that “what I’ve noticed in our market research, however, is that women tend to not only see the big picture but pay close attention to the details as well.”

Automakers value the importance of a large base of female customers and lots of marketing research and scenario-based approaches are being utilized to determine what a female driver is looking for in a car.

But what motivates female buyers? From market research done byautomotive experts, and based on our own experience from conversing with BMW owners or female fans of the brand in general, we learned that safety, comfort, practicality and best-bang for the buck are top priorities for women car buyers.

Many of our Twitter and Facebook followers seem to be driving BMW SAVs, from the entry-level X3 to the highly versatile and comfortableX5. Not enough data is available for the X1, but we expect a large number of those models to go to female owners.

In our opinion, convertible bimmers come second. A few years ago, a survey showed that the previous generation BMW Z4 had the sixth highest percentage (60.31 percent) of female primary drivers. Despite what many might think, in the Chicagoland area, we tend to see more M3 Convertible female owners than in the smaller, more affordable andsofter designed 1 Series Coupe. The Z4′s body blends convex and concave shapes inspired by a flame. Rumor is that when designing the Z4 roadster, Chris Bangle even commissioned a group of dancers so that he could model the roadster’s form in part based on their spontaneous body movement.

The new BMW Z4 illustrated here.

So we are going to take a chance here and without any official data available to us, will go ahead and list the top 10 BMWs that we believe have the most fans among female drivers. Right after our little stunt, we are going to open a survey where BMWBLOG’s female readers can list their favorite BMWs.

1. BMW 3 Series Sedan, Coupe and Convertible

2. BMW Z4

3. BMW X5

4. BMW X3

5. BMW M3 Convertible

6. BMW 1 Series Convertible

7. BMW 1 Series Coupe

8. BMW X1 (Europe)

9. BMW 3 Series Touring (Europe)

10. BMW 1 Series Hatchback (Europe)

Are we that far off in our top 10? Let’s find out.

read more :source