50 Fun Facts About BMW

What does BMW stand for?

BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, 'Bavarian Motor Works'; the spaced three-word spelling is ungrammatical German, which is why some advertising has run the last two words together.

In which city is BMW headquartered?

BMW has been headquartered in Munich since its founding; its 1972 headquarters tower by architect Karl Schwanzer stands beside the city's Olympic Park.

What does the 'M' in BMW's M performance division stand for?

The M stands for Motorsport: BMW Motorsport GmbH was founded in 1972 to run the company's racing programme before it began building high-performance road cars.

Which engine firm, founded in 1913, was the first to change its name to BMW, in 1917?

Rapp Motorenwerke, founded by Karl Rapp in 1913, took the BMW name in 1917; in 1922 the name and engine business passed to the aircraft maker Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, which became BMW AG.

What was BMW's first motorcycle, introduced in 1923?

The R32 of 1923 was BMW's first motorcycle; it used shaft drive rather than a chain, and around 3,000 were built before production ended in 1926.

BMW became a car maker in 1928 by acquiring an Eisenach factory that built which British car under licence?

The Austin 7 was built under licence at Eisenach by Dixi; BMW bought the Dixi works in 1928 and sold the little car on under its own badge.

What was the first car sold under the BMW name?

The 3/15, launched in 1929, was the first car to carry the BMW badge; it was a lightly reworked version of the Dixi licence-built at Eisenach.

According to a persistent myth, what does the BMW roundel depict?

The story that the roundel shows a spinning aircraft propeller is a myth born of a 1929 advertisement; the blue and white quarters actually echo the Bavarian flag, and the logo predates the ad by twelve years.

Why does the BMW logo not use the lozenge pattern of the Bavarian flag?

Trademark law of the period forbade state arms and other symbols of sovereignty on commercial logos, so BMW used plain blue-and-white quarters instead of the Bavarian lozenges.

How many forced labourers did BMW use building the 801 aircraft engine during the Second World War?

Up to 40,000 forced labourers, mainly concentration-camp prisoners from camps such as Dachau, built the BMW 801 radial engine; car production stopped entirely for the war.

How did BMW survive after World War II, when banned from producing vehicles or aircraft?

Banned from building vehicles, BMW survived by making pots, pans and bicycles; motorcycle production restarted in 1948 and car production in 1952.

Which Italian-designed microcar did BMW build under licence from 1955?

The Isetta was designed by Italy's Iso; BMW built it from 1955 with its own motorcycle engine, and the egg shape and bubble windows earned it the 'bubble car' nickname.

Which rival nearly took over BMW in 1959?

Daimler-Benz proposed taking over BMW at the December 1959 shareholders' meeting after slow luxury-car sales and thin microcar margins had left the company in serious trouble; shareholders rejected the deal.

Which family's 1959 investment saved BMW from being swallowed by its Stuttgart rival?

Herbert and Harald Quandt used a fortune their father Gunther had built arming the Wehrmacht with forced labour; the family remains the largest shareholder.

How many BMW 507 roadsters were built between 1956 and 1959, causing heavy losses?

Only 252 BMW 507s were built between 1956 and 1959; it cost far more to build than planned and lost money on every car, though owners included Elvis Presley and John Surtees.

Which 1962 range of compact sedans began BMW's reputation for sporty cars?

The New Class (Neue Klasse), launched in 1962 with the 1500 sedan, established BMW as a maker of sporting saloons; the 02 Series of 1966 was derived from it.

In which year was the BMW 3 Series introduced?

The 3 Series arrived in 1975 as the E21, replacing the 02 Series; it went on to be BMW's best-selling line and made Car and Driver's 10Best list 22 years running, 1992 to 2014.

What was the first road car released by BMW's M division, in 1978?

The M1, a mid-engined supercar with a 3.5-litre straight-six, was the M division's first road car; about 450 were built between 1978 and 1981, including Procar racers.

Which Italian company was first contracted to build the BMW M1 before BMW took over?

Lamborghini was contracted to engineer and build the car, but its financial collapse in 1978 forced BMW to move final assembly to the German coachbuilder Baur, with bodies from Italdesign.

In which model did BMW introduce its first V12 engine?

The 750i and long-wheelbase 750iL of the E32 7 Series carried the 5.0-litre M70, BMW's first V12; the engine line ended with a 2022 'Final V12' edition.

Which 1999 model was BMW's first SUV?

The X5 of 1999 was BMW's first SUV, which the company branded a 'Sports Activity Vehicle'; its E53 first generation ran until 2006.

Which British carmaker did BMW buy in 1994, at great cost, before selling most of it off in 2000?

BMW bought Rover Group from British Aerospace in 1994, lost heavily and broke it up in 2000, keeping only the Mini brand, which it relaunched from the Cowley plant in 2001.

From which company did BMW acquire the rights to the Rolls-Royce car brand in 1998?

The Rolls-Royce name and logo belonged to the aero-engine company Rolls-Royce plc, which licensed them to BMW for £40 million after Volkswagen outbid BMW for the Rolls-Royce Motors car business in 1998.

Where does BMW build Rolls-Royce cars?

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, BMW's wholly owned subsidiary, has built every car at its purpose-built plant at Goodwood in West Sussex since 2003.

What was BMW's first mass-production electric car, released in 2013?

The i3, a carbon-fibre-bodied city car, went on sale in 2013 as BMW's first series-production electric model; over 250,000 were built before production ended in 2022.

Which 2014 model was BMW's first front-wheel-drive car?

The 2 Series Active Tourer, a compact MPV launched in 2014 on the UKL platform shared with Mini, was the first BMW-badged car to drive its front wheels.

What is BMW's slogan in the United States and Britain?

'The Ultimate Driving Machine' was coined for BMW of North America in the mid-1970s and became the brand's line in both the United States and Britain.

What is the English translation of BMW's worldwide slogan 'Freude am Fahren'?

'Sheer Driving Pleasure' is BMW's official English rendering of 'Freude am Fahren', the German line it has used for decades; the 2010 'Joy' campaign built on the same idea.

What is BMW's headquarters tower designed to resemble?

The 1972 tower by Karl Schwanzer is shaped like a four-cylinder engine: its four cylinders hang from a central support rather than standing on the ground, and it was listed as a historic building in 1999.

Which sculptor painted the first BMW Art Car, a 3.0 CSL raced at Le Mans in 1975?

Alexander Calder painted the first Art Car at the suggestion of racing driver Hervé Poulain, who drove the 3.0 CSL at Le Mans; Lichtenstein, Warhol and Hockney were among those who followed.

Which driver won the 1983 Formula One world championship in a BMW-powered Brabham?

Nelson Piquet took his second title in 1983 in the Brabham BT52, the first drivers' championship won with a turbocharged engine; BMW supplied Brabham from 1982 to 1987, and the units lived on as Megatrons with Arrows.

Which driver scored the BMW Sauber team's only Formula One win, at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix?

Robert Kubica won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix from the front row, a year after his huge crash at the same circuit; BMW had taken over Sauber in 2005 and quit Formula One after 2009.

BMW designed and built the V12 engine for which legendary 1990s supercar?

BMW's M division built the 6.1-litre S70/2 V12 for the McLaren F1 at Gordon Murray's request; the road car was timed at 240 mph in 1998.

With which Japanese carmaker did BMW agree in 2013 to co-develop a sports-car platform?

Toyota and BMW signed the 2013 agreement that produced the 2018 Z4 and its sister car, the fifth-generation Toyota Supra, both built by Magna Steyr in Austria; it also covered fuel-cell research.

Which US state is home to BMW's Spartanburg plant?

The Spartanburg plant in South Carolina opened in 1994 and grew into BMW's largest factory by output, building the company's X-model SUVs for export worldwide.

Which was the first wholly owned BMW subsidiary outside Germany, established in the 1970s?

BMW South Africa, formed when BMW AG took over the Rosslyn plant near Pretoria in the early 1970s, was the first wholly owned BMW subsidiary outside Germany; cars had been assembled there since 1968.

Where is BMW's main motorcycle factory, in operation since 1969?

BMW has built motorcycles at Berlin-Spandau since 1969, when production left its home city; the site had been the Bramo aircraft-engine works, a Siemens subsidiary BMW took over in 1939.

What is BMW's early-1990s front suspension design that reduces dive under braking called?

Telelever, introduced on the R1100RS in 1993, pairs a telescopic fork with a wishbone to reduce dive under braking; the Duolever, a Hossack-type design, followed on the K1200S in 2004.

With which Chinese carmaker did BMW form its Shenyang joint venture?

BMW Brilliance Automotive was set up with Brilliance Auto in 2003 to build BMWs in Shenyang; in 2022 BMW raised its stake from 50% to 75%, one of the first foreign carmakers to take a Chinese majority.

Which car-sharing joint venture did BMW run with Sixt in Europe from 2011 to 2019?

DriveNow was BMW's car-sharing joint venture with the rental company Sixt, launched in 2011; in 2019 it merged with the rival service car2go to form Share Now.

Which company bought Husqvarna Motorcycles from BMW in January 2013?

Pierer Industrie, the holding company of KTM chief Stefan Pierer, bought Husqvarna Motorcycles from BMW in January 2013 and folded the brand into the KTM group alongside its Austrian marques.

Who succeeded Oliver Zipse as chairman of the board of management of BMW AG in May 2026?

Zipse had replaced Harald Kruger in August 2019; Brownridge became CEO of Rolls-Royce in December 2023.

How many vehicles did BMW produce in 2023, making it the world's ninth-largest producer?

BMW Group built about 2.56 million vehicles in 2023 across its BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, which placed it ninth among the world's vehicle makers by volume.

Which 1936-40 BMW sports car won its class at the 1938 Mille Miglia and was a Car of the Century finalist?

The 328 was built from 1936 to 1940; a 328 won its class at the 1938 Mille Miglia and a streamlined 328 coupe took outright victory in the 1940 Mille Miglia.

What is the shape of the roof of the BMW Museum?

The cauldron-shaped building, also by Karl Schwanzer, opened in 1972; the BMW Welt showroom by Coop Himmelb(l)au followed in 2007.

BMW traces its origins to which aircraft firm founded in Bavaria in 1910?

Gustav Otto's Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik, an aircraft maker founded in 1910, was reorganised as Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in March 1916, the date BMW counts as its founding; it took the BMW name in 1922.

Which engineer developed the BMW IIIa straight-six aircraft engine in 1917?

Max Friz designed the BMW IIIa in 1917 with a high-altitude carburettor that kept power up in thin air; the engine powered the Fokker D.VII fighter and made the company's name.

Which 1995 model was BMW's first mass-production two-seat roadster?

The Z3 of 1995 was BMW's first mass-produced two-seater roadster and the first BMW built solely outside Germany, at the Spartanburg plant; the earlier Z1 ran to only about 8,000 cars.

What image sat at the centre of the logo from which the BMW roundel evolved?

The predecessor firm's logo showed a black horse's head on a plinth inside a black ring; BMW kept the ring and filled the centre with the blue-and-white quarters of Bavaria in 1917.

BMW's first successful motorcycle in 1923 introduced which distinctive engine layout?

BMW's first motorcycle used a boxer twin, its two cylinders set out into the airflow on either side of the machine; the layout went on to define the company's R-series motorcycles for a century.