The history of BMW

BMW, short for ‘Bayerische Motoren Werke’, which means ‘Bavarian Motor Works’ in English, has come a long way since its inception and has become one of the most popular sports, luxury, and family car manufacturers today. The BMW history started with the efforts of Karl Rapp, who incorporated Rapp Motorenwerke near Oberwiesenfeld. The company used to manufacturer aircrafts and had contracts with Gustav Otto and Austro-Daimler to manufacturer V12 engines for its airplanes. Let’s learn more about the BMW Logo, the company’s history timeline, and their latest models.

However, in 1918, BMW was forced to cease production of aircraft engines. Therefore, the company shifted its attention to manufacturing motorcycles by 1923. Soon enough, BMW saw huge potential in the field of automobile manufacturing and then began producing automobiles in 1928. The first automobile produced by the company was the ‘BMW Dixi’.

The BMW initials stand for Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works) and are famous worldwide for building quality and luxury automobiles.

n the 30s, BMW introduced a new car, the ‘Wartburg’ DA3, which was also incredibly successful. Soon enough, the company attempted to introduced a new front axle on both their Dixi and Wartburg models, but due to construction faults most of the prototypes ended up in series accidents. However, in 1933, the company got back in the game and manufactured the 303 which used the new M78 engine.

The 60s were an incredibly successful time in BMW’s History. In fact, the company had become so popular that the Munic Plant couldn’t handle the production and consumer demands. Therefore, in 1967, the company shifted to a new location with a larger plant and began production of motorcycles in Berlin. In the 70s, BMW began production of its vehicles in South Africa.

A few years later, the BMW motorsport GmbH was founded. Additionally, BMW established its own museum of aircraft engines and traditional hit cars. Not to mention, it was during this time the 5 series, 3 series, 7 series, and 6 series vehicles were introduced in the market, which are still in production.

Later on, throughout the 30s, newer models of the 303 were created, including the 326, 320, 329, 327 and the most popular being the 328 Brescia Grand Prix. However, due to the impending war in 1940, BMW shifted its interest to manufacturing military vehicles. By the 50s, BMW re-entered the automobile field and introduced the 501, the first post-war BMW.

By 1954, the most famous vehicle of all time, the BMW 502 V8 super made its debut, which allowed the company to enhance its reputation worldwide. In 1956, BMW introduced a muscle 507 car, which made the company the largest money earner at that time.

BMW was established as a business entity following a restructuring of the Rapp Motorenwerke aircraft manufacturing firm in 1917. After the end of World War I in 1918, BMW was forced to cease aircraft engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty.

The company consequently shifted to motorcycle production in 1923, once the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted, followed by automobiles in 1928–29.

The first car which BMW successfully produced and the car which launched BMW on the road to automobile production was the Dixi, it was based on the Austin 7 and licensed from the Austin Motor Company in Birmingham, England.

BMW’s first significant aircraft engine was the BMW IIIa inline-six liquid-cooled engine of 1918, much preferred for its high-altitude performance.

With German rearmament in the 1930s, the company again began producing aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. Among its successful World War II engine designs were the BMW 132 and BMW 801 air-cooled radial engines, and the pioneering BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet, which powered the tiny, 1944–1945–era jet-powered “emergency fighter”, the Heinkel He 162 Spatz.

The BMW 003 jet engine was tested in the A-1b version of the world’s first jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me 262, but BMW engines failed on takeoff, a major setback for the Emergency Fighter Program until successful testing with Junkers engines.

Towards the end of the Third Reich BMW developed some military aircraft projects for the Luftwaffe, the BMW Strahlbomber, the BMW Schnellbomber and the BMW Strahljäger, but none of them were built.

By the year 1959, the automotive division of BMW was in financial difficulties and a shareholders meeting was held to decide whether to go into liquidation or find a way of carrying on. It was decided to carry on and to try to cash in on the current economy car boom enjoyed so successfully by some of Germany’s ex-aircraft manufacturers such as Messerschmitt and Heinkel.

The rights to manufacture the Italian Iso Isetta were bought; the tiny cars themselves were to be powered by a modified form of BMW’s own motorcycle engine. This was moderately successful and helped the company get back on its feet.

The controlling majority shareholder of the BMW Aktiengesellschaft since 1959 is the Quandt family, which owns about 46% of the stock. The rest is in public float.

BMW acquired the Hans Glas company based in Dingolfing, Germany, in 1966. It was reputed that the acquisition was mainly to gain access to Glas’ development of the timing belt with an overhead camshaft in automotive applications. Glas vehicles were briefly badged as BMW until the company was fully absorbed.

In 1992, BMW acquired a large stake in California based industrial design studio Designworks USA, which they fully acquired in 1995. In 1994, BMW bought the British Rover Group (which at the time consisted of the Rover, Land Rover and MG brands as well as the rights to defunct brands including Austin and Morris), and owned it for six years.

By 2000, Rover was incurring huge losses and BMW decided to sell the combine. The MG and Rover brands were sold to the Phoenix Consortium to form MG Rover, while Land Rover was taken over by Ford. BMW, meanwhile, retained the rights to build the new Mini, which was launched in 2001.

Chief designer Chris Bangle announced his departure from BMW in February 2009, after serving on the design team for nearly seventeen years. He was replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, Bangle’s former right hand man. Bangle was known for his radical designs such as the 2002 7-Series and the 2002 Z4.

In July 2007, the production rights for Husqvarna Motorcycles was purchased by BMW for a reported 93 million euros. BMW Motorrad plans to continue operating Husqvarna Motorcycles as a separate enterprise. All development, sales and production activities, as well as the current workforce, have remained in place at its present location at Varese.

In June 2012, BMW was listed as the top most reputable company in the world by Forbes.com. Rankings are based upon aspects such as “people’s willingness to buy, recommend, work for, and invest in a company is driven 60% by their perceptions of the company and only 40% by their perceptions of their products.”