Section: BMW History

Introduction: Die Neue Klasse

Sections: BF Feature, BMW History, Vintage BMW Jan 21st, 2010 10 Comments

With this article we introduce Saad, our newest contributer here at BimmerFile. Saad has a passion for cars, BMWs in particular and will initially be providing us with some history behind the brand we love. Enjoy, as we are sure you will find the articles informative and engaging.

After World War II, Germany was in a state of destruction. A dreadful economy, the consequence of involvement in the war, and Allied bombings had left the German car industry in a perilous state. BMW had suffered badly, but the sanctions placed upon it were generously waived by the Allied Control Commission. This meant that, despite the war wounds and amputations, BMW could start over. With the glory years behind them, it was never underestimated how difficult it would be for a new beginning.

BMW demonstrated its postwar panache by producing timeless sports cars, like the 507, and the infamous Baroque Angels. By the end of the fifties, however, BMW had yet to produce a revenue generating automobile. The Baroque Angels were simply too expensive given the European economy of the time with limited sales potential and the diminutive Isetta just wasn’t selling well enough. The void between the V8s and the bubblecars had to be filled. The Goldilocks formula was a four-cylinder family car sized and priced between the Isetta-derived flat-twin rear-engined 600 and the elegant Goertz designed 503 sports car.

BMW Isettas Serve as Official ‘Welcome Ambassadors’ for the BMW Museum (Video)

Sections: BMW History, Sales/Marketing Aug 3rd, 2009 1 Comment

Official Release: 7,500 miniature models of the BMW Isetta – the diminutive vehicle built in Munich between 1955 to 1962, and one of the most famous ‘bubble cars’ – have been produced to greet the citizens of Munich and its visitors. The 5-centimeter model cars are supported by an advertising campaign designed to convey the Museum’s greetings from newspapers as well as outdoor posters. The campaign is capped by a 60-second cinema commercial relating the journey of the pocket-sized Isettas from the BMW Museum to the centre of Munich.

Does anyone else think this is at all related to BMW introducing a new city car code-named Project i? It may be a coincidence but it works on a couple of levels.

The first BMW World Record

Sections: BMW History, Official News Jun 15th, 2009 1 Comment

Official Release: The cruising altitude of modern airliners ranges from 10 to 12 kilometres. It is hard to imagine, then, that a pilot managed to broach these heights a full 90 years ago. It was a BMW engine which, on 17th June 1919, propelled Franz Zeno Diemer to an altitude of 9,760 metres. If further proof were needed of the superiority of the ingenious yet simple concept of BMW’s highaltitude engines, it was furnished during that summer of 1919 at Munich’s Oberwiesenfeld airfield. No human had previously piloted an aircraft to a greater height.