BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke AG) History Documentary

the great German car manufacturer BMW can trace its origins back into the last century in the 1930s it built some of the world's best sports and luxury cars it recovered from destruction in World War two and financial reversal in the 50s by the early 70s it was once again a major factor in the world high performance and luxury market the name BMW Bavarian motor works was first registered in March 1916 by a company that manufactured aircraft engines it would continue to manufacture them into the 1930s and make a major contribution to head off Hitler's development of superior military technology the company's first major success was a max for its design six-cylinder and line engine that powered German fighters in World War one German aces Ernst Udet and Manfred von Richthofen the Red Baron owed much of their success to BMW engines after the war the Treaty of Versailles banned the production of aircraft engines in Germany BMW turned to agricultural machinery but the genius of max Fritz continued to make its mark his six-cylinder BMW aircraft engine was part of a winning four different it also designed the engine that won the 1914 French wall Prix for Mercedes in 1919 his six-cylinder BMW aircraft engine powered a DFW biplane an amazing flight which reached an altitude of 32,000 feet meanwhile the BMW name had been sold to another company which intended to produce brakes for a railway carriages it was bought back by one of the mws original investors and in 1923 the reconstituted BMW released the revolutionary r32 motorbike the r32 s twin cylinder engine was designed by max fritz power was transferred to the rear wheel by a shaft rather than a chain the r32 set the pattern for the classic BMW motorbike in 1924 BMW entered the r32 in competition success was immediate BMW wanted to produce its own cars but it did not want to rival the large daimler-benz 'as of the time and decided on something small the eisenach Dixie company was producing a German version of the popular British Austin 7 under license BMW decided to take over the eisenach Dixie company it raised the money and in late 1928 the little 315 Dixie with its tiny 750 cc engine and 47 miles an hour top speed became BMWs first car BMW had been in debt before raising money for the Dixie takeover the Dixie company itself had hidden debts but sales of the tiny Dixie were good in Britain the low price of the Austin 7 had brought car ownership within reach of a new part of the market in Germany the Dixie did the same thing and it was just the car for the depression it sold in thousands the dixie was very basic transportation but he gave BMW a start in the world of four wheels many Dixie owners tuned their tiny cars for competition on the race track competition successes in the humble Dixie foreshadowed BMWs distinguished record in motorsport the Allies dropped the ban on German aircraft engines in 1922 and ten years later BMW engines powered a Dornier flying boat on a record-breaking round-the-world flight BMW had moved into car manufacture and was once again building aircraft engines but it had not forgotten motorbikes the r2 motorbike continued the BMW pattern of horizontally-opposed twin engines and shaft drive but a new factor was about to affect BMWs fortunes you by the time Hitler came to power in 1933 BMW had withdrawn from the agreement with the British Austen company to produce the German version of the Austin Sun it had attempted without great success to reduce a small car of its own design but it had also developed a 6-cylinder engine and in the first year of the Nazi regime introduced its 303 sedan Hitler was more interested in aircraft than cars and BMW successful aircraft engines attracted his support BMW radial engines powered the successful yonkers ju 52 transport aircraft BMW cars were manufactured at eisenach aircraft engines were built at Munich the staff of the Munich Factory increased from 2800 in 1932 to 12,500 in 1934 cars were not as politically important as aircraft engines but development of BMW automobile technology was rapid BMWs first sports car the 315 one have the six-cylinder of the sedans fitted with three Solex carburetors its elegant styling underlined BMW seriousness about performance BMW guaranteed that this car could exceed 75 miles an hour the 315 two-seater was built in 1935 and 1936 only 242 were produced but they set the pattern for the great BMW cars that were to follow not all BMWs were elegant sports machines the 3:19 sedan produced between 1935 and 1937 was a practical family car but BMW was moving toward the top end of the market this is the handsome 326 Cabriolet of 1936 the classic body styling of the 326 made it the major attraction of the 1936 Berlin Motor Show it was not intended to be a sports car it was designed to appeal to Mercedes customers it was the most successful BMW of the 30s and a total of almost 16,000 were sold between 1936 and 1941 the 326 offered its buyers hydraulic brakes torsion bar rear suspension newly designed independent front suspension and a strong box frame which replaced the previous BMW sedan chassis it was available in open enclosed versions and had an excellent top speed of around 70 miles an hour BMW was not slow to use the reputation of their successful aircraft engines to promote their cars on the unwitting to fallacies katemel tone hey azita height as pflueger's up ascent BM damnit or he goes a town nearby ocean with all-american from ultimate own their BMD cut bargain to putin who fear the sisupala see the cindy merkmallen SPMD motors so STP and even some classes and far toys give all of inflows of starza in fat loss and gelinda Isparta what you kiki think about amoeba Island Hazim VMV bargain bit for bit because who can be late 30s a confusing variety of engine and body combinations was available to the market its kind euros already the 320 and later 321 were both shorter and lighter two-door version us of the 326 octagon but they were different from each other all were beautifully finished well engineered cars in B&B found BB cream but while BMW was achieving success with its family and luxury range it had developed a new model that would become the greatest BMW classic of the 30s be envied when the 328 was released in 1936 its impact on the sporting car public was immense it's styling was a development of the three 15:1 sports car it was powered by the BMW 2 liter engine fitted with a high-performance aluminum cylinder head you could buy the 328 with a choice of gearboxes for the road or for competition and there was also a choice of knockoff or bolted wheels top speed was close to 90 miles an hour the light tubular chassis allowed suspension to be relatively soft and yet still give excellent handling for the remainder of the 30s the BMW 328 was a benchmark in sports car design in post-war years it became a classic sought after by collectors and classic car racers for many BMW enthusiasts it remains the high point of the company's history elegant styling was a feature of the whole range of late 30s cars the 327 was among the best-looking of all the BMWs it was a two-door sports version of the earlier 326 the 327 was released in 1937 this is actually a three 2728 a high-performance version with a 2-liter engine of the 328 sports car by the late 30s BMWs were strongly identified with the affluent end of Nazi German lifestyle as well as engine options the 3:27 offered the possibility of specialist coachwork if you wanted it you could order one of many coachbuilt bodies in coop or Cabriolet style there were many detailed differences between models the 321 s doors were hinged at the back like its larger cousin the 326 the 327 on the other hand had doors hinged at the front almost every taste could be satisfied by the BMW range as long as you had the money but while BMW continued to pour out its beautifully designed and engineered cars the industrial might of Germany was being harnessed to build the instruments of war companies like BMW were an essential component of Germany's plan to arm itself better than any potential enemy by 1939 BMW was working on a wide variety of high-tech military projects including the development of jet and rocket engines for aircraft but steel from the German furnaces was still available for car manufacture and BMW had one last pre-war designed to come the last of its classic line of 30s cars the 335 was released in 1938 it had a three and a half liter engine and was a luxurious successor to the 326 it remained in production until 1941 and became a great favorite of high-ranking military officers it was not a car for the masses just over 400 were built the declaration of war in 1939 was the beginning of the end for BMW as it had developed over its first decade as a car manufacturer BMW cars continued to be built but the design and development resources of the company were diverted to the war effort the level of manpower controlled by BMW expanded enormous ly much of this increase came from prison and concentration camps the company's expertise in aircraft engine production became a major factor in the Luftwaffe technical superiority the great Fokker Wulf 190 fighter was one of many German aircraft powered by BMW success attracted the attention of the Allies BMWs Munich factory was bombed around-the-clock in one day in July 1944 almost 12,000 bombs hit one BMW Factory when the war ended the damaged Munich factory began again from scratch producing pots and pans made from scrap aluminum BMW went back to its origins the motorbike and by 1948 was ready to release its first post-war Road machine the r24 the original BMW car factory at eisenach was now out of reach in Soviet East Germany and it would be ten years from the end of the war until BMW was allowed to rebuild their aircraft engine plane in the meantime BMW motorbikes became the mainstay of the company's return they were successful on the road and on the racetrack the Deutsche Bank arranged the financing necessary to bring BMW back to life there was no sign of a new car yet the r24 motorbike proved to be a winner the r24 was followed by the r51 like the r24 it was a direct descendant of the original BMW motorbike they shared the basic BMW characteristics a twin cylinder horizontally-opposed engine and shaft drive after the devastation of the war resuming the production of BMW motorbikes had been difficult enough but picking up the evolutionary threads of BMW cars would be much harder a decade and a way of life had passed since the BMW 328 dominated the sports car world but its technology was still usable and several German enthusiasts set about building their own cars using the 328 as a basis among them was Ernst louf in the late 40s leuf developed a highly sophisticated series of sports cars around BMW 328 components he called his range of cars BMW Veritas the very task cars were built for both the racetrack and the road they were extremely successful in German Road racing in the late 40s and early 50s and evoked strong memories of the great pre-war sporting tradition established by BMW the surviving Veritas cars are now great collectables Ernst louf their designer returned to work for BMW in the 50s to help reestablish the car making side of the company but by the beginning of the 50s the first BMW post-war car was still two years away and the main production output of the factory continued to be motorbikes initially motorbikes and sidecars were just right for an economy in which few could afford cars even if they were available BMW motorbikes appeal strongly to young Germans trying to rebuild their lives after the war motorbike and sidecar combinations also had the advantage of providing spectacular racing for a public hungry for distraction and amusement while BMW continued to dominate post-war German motorbike racing argument continued inside the company about what kind of car to produce it did not seem logical simply to pick up the pieces that had been dropped in 1941 conditions had changed too much a small car prototype a step up from the motorbike and sidecar idea was built but rejected directors favored a car that would measure up to BMWs pre-war luxury reputation it was a strange commercial decision given the economic reality of the time the market for such a car had virtually disappeared the BMW Factory in Munich was still largely a motorbike production facility when a prototype for the new luxury car was shown in April 1951 there was really no means of mass producing it BMW made a momentous decision the company would invest all its available capital in building its own pressed steel stamping plant which would take several years to complete a new facility was developed incorporating modern post-war work practices and technology while the plant and all its support systems were being built bodies for the new car would be contracted out to the coachwork company Bower in Stuttgart it was a grand idea even though the new car was in fact little more than a revision of the pre-war 3:26 progress was slow 18 months would pass between the showing of the prototype and the delivery of the first cars from the factory there was no question of producing a new engine old technology would have to be adapted the new luxury car would be heavy almost 3,000 pounds but BMW had to use the pre-war 2 liter 6-cylinder engine to power it the factory was equipped to produce motorbike engines tooling up to produce an old car engine would be a major expense for now a new engine was impossible with only sixty five horsepower available for such a heavy body no one expected performance to be outstanding but BMW saw the old engine as only a short-term solution engineers were designing a 3.2 liter v8 with a power output double that of the old six the major investment in new plant equipment and personnel was a risky move if the decision to build a luxury car was wrong the company faced the possibility of financial ruin the post-war German economic miracle was beginning but for BMW workers there was a chance it could be over very quickly the new BMW luxury car was called the 501 it entered production in October 1952 the body had generous flowing lines its many compound curves would eventually be pressed out of sheet steel in the BMW factory but for a while all the bodies would come from the bauer Coachworks the price tag of the new car would be high it was set at $15,000 50 times the monthly wage of the workers building many Germans didn't like the baroque angel as it was nicknamed they called in fact said it looked too much like the contemporary British Austin designs they were also critical of BMW for putting a weak elderly engine into such a bulky car in spite of all the early criticism the BMW buying public liked the 501 cars trickled out of the factory in 1952 only 50 were delivered but production gradually increased and eventually the 501 sold well the 501 was underpowered but it wasn't slow it had a top speed of 85 miles an hour acceleration was another matter it took over half a minute to reach 60 a series of engine improvements was made through the production life of the car it was given a 12-volt electrical system a dual downdraft selects carburetor and a new camshaft were added a new ZF gearbox was installed top speed was increased but reliability reduced BMW s already stretched financial situation was stretched even further by the number of repairs it had to make to these cars under guarantee the real revolution occurred when the v8 engine at last became available and the 501 model was replaced by the 502 the long-awaited new engine was Germany's first high-volume alloy v8 initially it produced 95 horsepower but output was increased throughout its life this is a 1954 502 it was a beautifully made luxury car with top speed now approaching a hundred miles an hour and finally acceleration to match sales began to increase and in 1955 BMW launched two new cars that had the potential to elevate the company to its pre-war status the sporty 503 signaled a return to high-performance cars in the tradition of the 3:15 and 328 it had a top speed of 118 miles an hour but was not a big seller neither was the 507 but it was by far the most desirable car that BMW had produced since the 30s BMW's gamble in producing low volume luxury cars was not paying off and motorbike sales which had kept the company going were dropping as the population became more affluent people who owned neither motorbike tour car relied on public transport as the German economic miracle developed and disposable incomes grew buying a car became more than a dream for a larger larger section of the population even zoo benefit of Einstein but for most buyers a small cheap car was the only realistic if uncomfortable possibility collective effort Louis tofu - man 58 installs in 1955 BMW went right to the opposite extreme from its luxury v8 and offered the buying public just about the smallest car possible no more problems finding parking spaces and no more damage trying to fit into one that was too small for the car they'd invented the negev platfrom paliku fielded in the new BMW parking was as simple as ingen yeah by de pack of income me decent pass like owner took a fin drowsy in their plan look at insuring a throne Nick bath the Isetta as it was called belonged to a class known in the 50s as the bubble car it was designed by an Italian refrigerator manufacturer Renzo revolta and BMW was one of several companies that built it under license it really could be driven straight into a tiny parking space and many who could only afford to look at the luxury v8 would actually buy an Isaiah BMW sold 160 thousand of them later models had a 600 CC BMW motorbike engine ironically this strange little car helped BMW survive it provided the volume sales the company needed to build its news 4700 series the magnet fulfills the MV LS looks of course always a feature param Costa come for the 700 was released in 1959 and remained in production in several different versions until 1965 yeah magnifique it's 700 CC motorbike engine was only slightly larger than that of the 600 bubble car but it looked like a real car and found a steady stream of buyers in standard form the 700s engine produced 30 horsepower sports versions were tuned to give 10 more and in a small light body performance was surprisingly good a few mid-engined competition roadsters were even included among the various forms of the 700 and they competed with success in a class of racing where the competition could be to say the least intense the 700 was a very important BMW although it didn't make a fortune for the company it paid its way BMW researchers identified the need for a slightly larger car to fill the gap between the 700 and the luxury tours but the company's planners argued about just what kind of car they should build in the meantime the company nearly went broke in 1959 large BMW stockholders pressed for the acceptance of a low-priced daimler-benz takeover bid but BMW dealerships and the smaller shareholders resisted financiers Herbert and Harald Quandt acquired a large parcel of stock Herbert Quandt pressed for the production of a car aimed at Germany's growing middle class the success of the 700 bought time to allow the company to set up for the production of that new car if it hadn't been for the cheeky little 700 there might well be no BMW today the company could not have held out against the takeover threats nor could it have afforded the tooling to develop the new mid-range car that performed the basis of BMWs next-generation it was essential to BMW that the new car the 1500 be ready for release at the Frankfurt Motor Show in the autumn of 1961 it was not yet ready for production but BMW felt that it had to be shown to interest potential customers the 1,500 cc four-cylinder engine was well developed but there was conflict between the development engineers and the sales department about the look of the new car the sales department prevailed the Italian stylist Michael Adi was asked to incorporate the traditional BMW kidney shaped grille into the new front bodywork the chassis bodywork and running gear were developed in haste but the 1500 made the deadline it was a great success at the show thousands were ordered but there were problems in getting it into immediate mass production a preliminary series was produced in February 1962 but full production didn't begin until October only two thousand were built in the year against 20,000 orders placed by the end of 1961 the 1500 was a new beginning for BMW it was known within the company as the new series or new range it offered very sporty Road performance and was a natural for competition another major feature of the 1500 was that it removed BMW for the time being from head-on competition with Mercedes the 1500 engine set the pattern for the modern BMW it was designed for high speed cruising it could run at speeds approaching 100 miles an hour on the autobahns and only cost half as much as the 502 v8 its clean styling and excellent road manners hit the middle-class market niche dead center at last 17 years after world war ii this was the car that would save the company as the 1500 success continued BMW began to drop its owner and less profitable models the little Isetta was dispensed with in 1962 the 501 and 502 v8 without a production in 1963 the four-cylinder 1500 engine was designed to accept high-performance tuning it was also designed to be stretchable it was planned that after the initial market period of the 1500 the engine would be enlarged to 1.8 and then 2 liters the 1.8 liter version called the 1,800 was introduced in 1963 externally only a chrome strip and a badge gave away the difference BMWs sports minded engineers had more in store at the same time the high-performance ti4 Touring International was introduced with high compression and extra carburetor and various other performance options and there was much more to come over the next 10 years until the early 1970s many different versions of this basic line of cars would be offered to satisfy all tastes in BMWs new sector of the market one of the most important variations from the basic model was the two-door line of cars this is an 1802 from 1971 the two-door cars were substantially lighter than their four-door counterparts and they made a great impact on buyers interested in high-performance development continued the two thousand range with a 2-liter version of the four-cylinder engine came into the market in 1966 the new BMWs changed the traditional notion of a sports car they were engineered to outperform most of the two-seater roadster 's of the 60s and yet they looked like normal sedans eventually the 2000 became available in a fuel-injected version the tii released in 1969 it had a top speed of 115 miles an hour the two-door 2002 came out in 1968 Road testers raved about and it quickly became a cult item the great American dealer in European cars max Hoffman champion BMW for a long time and the two-door cars vindicated his faith in BMWs American potential but the American versions of the 2002 lacked the punch of their less regulated European counterparts while the line of cars that saved BMW had 4-cylinder engines the company's tradition of six cylinders dating back to the 30s was not forgotten motorcycle production continued but cars were now dominant and among the new products of BMWs rapidly developing technology was a new line of six-cylinder cars the BMW 25 hundredths the four-cylinder cars had started with the 1500 engine which was designed to be easily expanded to larger capacities the same principle was adopted for the six-cylinder cars increasing demand led to a period of change and expansion new factories were taken over and renovated motorcycle production was moved to Berlin the company almost bankrupt less than 10 years ago was rapidly expanding the six-cylinder cars were offered in four-door sedan and two-door coupe form the 2.8 and 3 litre coupes are among BMWs most handsome cars of the 70s the six-cylinder sedans and coupes expanded the market reach of BMW their introduction meant that once again the MW was competing with its old rival Mercedes as the wealth of the German middle class increased BMW pitched its cars to a widening economic spectrum by the time the three later CSI was introduced in 1971 the company was once again setting out to appeal to the top end of the market the elegant 3 litre CSI once again positioned BMW in the market sector they had occupied so successfully in the 30s with cars like the 327 the CSI had a six-cylinder engine it had high performance and the price tag to match BMW had come full circle since World War two the company had risen from the ashes of the war and endured a period of uncertainty and adversity with success had come an opportunity to return to the old principles of excellence and high performance in the early 70s BMW began to build a new office block in Munich symbolizing its return to a dominant position in the German motor industry the building was designed to utilize high-technology construction methods it was built in the shape of four cylinders in 1972 with BMW developing its third generation of post-war cars the building was completed from its position of prosperity in the early 70s BMW could look back over the brilliant cars that saved the company the great misguided cars that nearly ruined it and beyond the devastation of the war for the elegant coupes and roadsters that had set a standard for excellence in the 30s from the 315 BMWs first sports car of the little Austin 7 based Dixie that began it all BMW had come a long way Oh

Channel: BMW Alpina

Views: 236,003

Rating: 4.8176198 out of 5

Keywords: BMW History, BMW Documentary, BMW (Organization), Bayerische Motoren Werke Geschichte, BMW Geschichte

Id: aZ3DBfhHmGg

Length: 47min 11sec (2831 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 23 2013