Bimmer fever: the story of BMW

As the self-proclaimed “Ultimate Driving Machine”, BMW’s combination of style and innovation has attracted a certain kind of driving élite that don’t have the best reputation on the road. Whatever your opinion of their owners, BMW cars have an illustrious history that is almost 100 years old.

Planes, trains and automobiles

Bayerische Motorwerke (BMW) was founded in 1916 as the merger of two Bavarian aircraft engine manufacturers, Rapp Motorenwerke and Bayerische Flugzeugwerke. During the First World War, BMW made nothing but aeroplane engines. When the war ended in 1918, the Allies banned Germany from building all aircraft parts, which temporarily closed down the factory. BMW then started making pneumatic brakes for German trains, and then motorcycles from 1923. Their first car, the BMW Dixi, was produced in 1927.

Picture by Flickr's 'Georg Schwalback'

Attacked on all fronts

Prior to World War II, BMW produced increasingly popular cars such as the BMW 327 coupé in 1937, which was characterised by its excellent handling as well as style. The advent of the Second World War saw BMW being taken over to produce aeroplane engines for the war effort. History repeated itself, as at the end of the war the Allies banned BMW from manufacturing, and two of their production sites were lost. Car production didn’t start up again until 1952, but the new, über-stylish BMW 507 was too expensive to buy and lost the company a lot of money.

Bimmer-boom

The 1960s saw a rise in the popularity of BMW cars. The “New Class” BMWs, starting with the BMW 1500, reinvigorated the company as one that produced high quality sport compact cars. The success of this series allowed BMW to take over car manufacturer Hans Glas GmbH and relocate their HQ to Munich. The “New Class” models continued to be made until 1975 when the launch of the BMW 3 Series saw the arrival of BMWs best-selling models. Beginning with the BMW E75, the 3 Series combined prestige and affordability and are still being made nearly forty years later (the BMW F30 is due for release February 2012). The continued popularity of the 3 Series established BMW as an international powerhouse.

picture by Flickr's 'Mr Munnings on Tour'

Buy and sell

In the early 1990s, BMW looked to expand and bought out the Rover Group, which included brands such as Rover, Land Rover and Mini. The company also started a partnership with Rolls-Royce that enabled them to use the Rolls-Royce name on their cars from 1998. The BMW/Rover merger was not successful, however, as there was difficulty in figuring out just how to market Rover to customers without interfering with BMW sales. In 2000, BMW sold Rover and Land Rover but kept the Mini brand, which has seen continued success in the last decade.

BMW produced its one millionth car in 2006, and there seems to be no stopping them now. The company has won awards for the WhatCar? Car of the year for three years running, and was named Best Car Manufacturer at the 2009 Which? Awards. They have had a rocky history but BMW has managed to come out on top.

This article was written by Jamie Gibbs from Confused.com, the car insurance price comparison website which includes BMW insurance.