BMW Celebrates 25 Years of All-Wheel Drive
One in four BMW cars sold around the world is now equipped with all-wheel drive. In addition, the number of cars from the brand’s various model series specified with all-wheel drive is steadily rising. BMW currently offers 45 models in which xDrive provides variable distribution of drive between the front and rear wheels. These models extend all the way from the BMW X models via the BMW 3 Series and BMW 5 Series ranges to the BMW 7 Series family of luxury Saloons.
Which makes it hard to believe that’s been just 25 short years since the world’s most successful premium automaker rolled out their first all-wheel drive car: an unassuming 1985 3-series. Using a visco-lock system to maintain a static torque split, that car paved the way for the uber-complicated systems underpinning modern xDrive equipped vehicles, combining performance and all-road capability in a manner that still inspires today’s all-wheel drive BMW vehicles. So to BMW’s xDrive; Happy 25th Birthday!
