BMW History - 1, 3, 5, 7 series, Z3, Z4, X3, X5, X6, M3, M5, M6

Admirers and enthusiasts, drivers and consumers still have a dispute about the date of foundation of the BMW Company. Today BMW is associated with car manufacturing but originally the founder was intended to produce airplane engines.

In October, 1913 Karl Friedrich Rapp established company "Rapp-Motorenwerke" near Munich that manufactured aircraft engines. But the enterprise did not go far because the engines produced faced the problems with the vibration.

But the roots of the company as an automobile producer go back to 1928, when 28 German companies were competing on the automobile market. Only seven of them survived the war and world crises. And BMW is one of the seven.

The acronym "BMW" stands fro Bayerische Motoren Werke that means Bavarian Motors Works after the place where the first cars were manufactured.

However you can still see the connection that existed between BMW and aircrafts. In 1920 the current BMW logo was introduced. The logo's design has been inconsiderably changed several times since that times but the blue-and-white circle inspired by the rotating aircraft propeller has remained the same.

The first car build at BMW factory in Eisenach, Thuringia, was the BMW Dixi 3/15.

In 1932 the 3/20PS was launched as a new BMW model. At the same time BMW's popularity as an engine manufactures grew fast.

In 1933 the first BMW inline-six cylinder power unit saw the light and this configuration has remained in some BMW models till nowadays.

Year after year BMW manufactures new improved engines that become the innovating technologies of the time.

During the World War II BMW factories were partially destroyed and the part of remaining machines was taken to the USSR. Only the factory in Munich could still operate and continue the production of BMWs. Due to the support of German National Bank BMW was able to survive and introduce the new model - the sporty BMW-328.

The designers and managers of BMW decided to produce a luxurious new model BMW-501. But the financial shortage restricted the mass production and in 1952 only 49 BMWs were assembled. Besides the company faced another problem that concerned the inability of BMW engines to produce enough power. BMW manage to cope with the problem and now BMW engines are considered to be most reliable and powerful.

Most BMW models are still on offer of course being revised and modified.

Reliability and powerful performance even allowed BMW to enter Formula 1. Currently BMW has a long-term agreement under which the BMW Company supplies engines an expertise.