[parrys]

BMW India invited Team-BHP to visit Munich, Germany and have a close look at the BMW Museum, BMW Welt, BMW Plant - Munich & to the BMW Driving Academy.

The BMW-Vierzylinder (BMW four-cylinder), headquarters of the BMW group, was built between 1968 - 1972. This four-cylinder tower is a landmark in Munich and has been declared as a protected historic building in 1999.


Yours truly - 3rd from Left


First stop: The BMW Plant

• This plant has been in place since 1922 and was originally used only to build aircraft engines & motorcycles. Automobile production began in Munich in the year 1951.
• More than 1,000 engines & up to 1,000 vehicles are built here daily with the help of suppliers from the global production network.
• The press shop in the Munich facility produces around 1,30,000 car body parts from ~600 tonnes of steel per day.
• Paint shop uses water based paint & methods of application to have an eco-friendly halo over its head.
• Each of the six generations of the 3 series have been built at Munich.
• This plant offers guided tours from 0830 hours to 1830 hours on weekdays. One can opt for private or a group tour, and visitors should be over the age of 7 years. However, one cannot use a camera inside the premises (Hence, no pictures from the plant).

All of us Journalists heading out of the plant after an extensive ~5 km long walk.


Next stop: The BMW Museum

• The BMW Museum is located inside a circular building, and is also known as the "Bowl".
• The BMW Museum opened its doors in 1973 and has been showcasing historic automobiles, motorcycles, race cars, aircraft engines and much more.
• It is one of the oldest museums in Germany & was declared as a national monument in 1999.
• The Museum receives around 5,00,000 visitors every year.
• In 2008, the Museum was expanded by 5000 sq. mt.
• The Museum is open for visitors from Tuesday to Sunday between 1000 hours - 1800 hours. It is closed on Mondays.

The Museum, justifies the name "Bowl".


The entire BMW story, in short. Badge of each BMW model:


The kinetic ball / sphere sculpture is beautiful to look at. Comprises of more than 700 spheres / metallic balls suspended in the air.


The star from Mission Impossible 4, the BMW i8.




Gotta love that deep-dish type steering wheel.


This alloy design, functional or not, looks very funky.


Full glass section: Front+sides+top. Imagine driving this during Indian summers.


The Motorsports display:

Vettel was here...


This BMW Sauber F1.06 gave the finger boy his very first World Championship point when he finished #8 in the '07 United States Grand Prix.


What Vettel felt on the inside.


The 1983 Brabham BMW BT 52.


The 2004 BMW M3 GTR pumping 493 BHP. 0-100 in 3.5 seconds.


The 1989 BMW M3.


The E21, 1977 BMW 320. This was nicknamed as the flying brick.


Massive rear wing.


1975 BMW 3.0 CSL, the E9. Introduced in May 1972, the 3.0 CSL was a homologation specially built to make the car eligible for racing in the European Touring Car Championship. The "L" in the designation meant light, unlike in other BMWs where it meant long.






The BMW 850 Ci convertible never made it to the production line.


Personally, I would have loved to see these in production.


Nice and clean lines all around.


Enter the Museum and you see this at the entrance, the 1978 BMW Turbo (E 25).
And no, that's not the sunlight on the car. It is painted that way...


...even at the back.


Open the gullwing doors and you see this. Only 2 examples produced.

[parrys]

BMW M Power section:

E26 BMW M1, only 456 built.


E24 BMW 635 CSi was introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1983.


E28 BMW M5.


1989 BMW M3, based on the 1986 E30.


The BMW M Roadster, this one is a souped up Z3.


& it's a topless M.


The Iconic 2003 M3 CSL (Coupé Sport Leichtbau). Only 1400 built.


4 speakers at the back.


The BMW Roadsters, top view of the topless beauties.


Only 464 examples produced of this 1936 BMW 328.


Was powered by a 2.0L straight 6.


A dual tone 1934 315/1 which was later replaced by the 328.


One of the first cars produced by BMW, the Dixi, the 1930 BMW 3/15 PS.


My personal favourite from the roadster lot & proven to be expensive for the times, the BMW 507. Only 252 units built.


Nice beige and dark green combo. Seen this colour mix for the first time, apart from some in the weird & wacky section.


The '95 Z3.


BMW Z1. Where are the doors you may ask, well, they retract vertically down into the car's body. WOW.


The bond beauty, '99 Z8 featured in the movie The World Is Not Enough.


Just for fun, compare the Jaguar F Type Convertible with this angle.


What can I say...

[parrys]

The '66 BMW 1600 was also termed as the Neue Klasse (New class) which were specifically compact sedans & coupes by the German marque.


E21, the first generation BMW 3 series. Was an immediate successor to the BMW 2002, the New Class.


E30, the first 3 series convertible.


The E30 with AWD, a stationwagon too.


Happy tears for me; the '96 E36 BMW 328i. This was the 3rd generation of the 3 series & was also known as the Dolphin Shape. (A much better Dolphin shape than the Honda City)


A liftback version of the E36, the BMW 316g. Its life came to an end when the BMW 1 series came out in 2004.


Another timeless BMW, the '99 323i powered by a 6 cylinder 2.5L engine.


Clay play, the F30.


Looks cheesy, doesn't it?




2011 BMW 328 Hommage concept.


Parts were made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP).


This was unveiled at the 2011 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and later at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.


The BMW Isetta 250, also known as the bubble car. Was one of the top selling single cylinder cars.


Lift the door up, from the front...


...but remember to keep holding it till you get inside. Or you get a nice spank.


Can one call this a sunroof?


Stacked up: From Top to bottom - BMW 745, BMW 633, BMW 520 & BMW 323.


A '39 BMW 328.


'64 BMW 700 coupe.


The 2002 Ti.


The E9, '71 3.0 CSi.


BMW 320i racing version art car painted by Roy Lichtenstein.


The red Dixi, the 3/15 PS.


A carrier like version of the Dixi.


Built on an aluminium chassis, the 1939 BMW 328.


Closer look at the light weight chassis.


Built with carbon fibre and other light materials, the '05 BMW M6 body shell.

[parrys]

Originally used only to build aircraft engines & motorcycles, this unit from BMWs Munich plant is the inline 6 cylinder, water cooled aircraft engine built during the 1920s. Power output was in the range of 250 BHP.


Off to them motorbikes:

Anybody wants a inline six cylinder motor on twos? The 2009 BMW Concept 6.


The BMW Dakar rally spec bikes






Ernst Henne made a world record on this BMW WR 500, for touching 279.5 kmph.


Some more BMW two wheeled classics.


Do you know what they called the guy sitting in the side car? A Monkey.




















The 2010 S1000 RR.

[parrys]

Final destination for the day: The BMW Welt

1. The BMW Welt - apart from being a delivery center to customers from all over the world - also showcases all the products from the BMW Group brands under one roof (BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce, BMW Motorrad & the BMW M & i sub-brands).
2. The Welt attracts over 2 million visitors in a year. Since its opening, it has had over 10 million visitors.
3. ~160 vehicles are handed over to customers at the BMW Welt per day.
4. More than 215,000 individuals have participated in more than 24,000 tours at the BMW Welt.
5. The BMW Welt is open daily from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. There is no charge for admission.
6. 4,000 tonnes of steel were used in the construction of the BMW Welt building – around a quarter in the Double Cone alone.

BMWs parked under the double cone structure.




What you see now is the delivery area.


The M powered cars on display.


M-heart.


The X6M.


M6 Gran Coupe. Coming to India soon.


BMW 1M Safety car.


The Rolls-Royce Display:

Welcoming with open arms, eh? The Phantom


Stunning blue RR Wraith.






The Spirit of Ecstasy.


Mini:

Placed right in the center, the Mini Cooper Paceman by John Cooper Works.


A Cabrio Highgate.


The Hyde Park.


Cooper S Bayswater.


The Mini Bond Street.


Some more Minis...






Now that's Mini.


The BMW 4 series: 4 door sedan & 2 door convertible.


The Motorrads (Located on the upper floor).

[parrys]

For the kids.




Merchandise store inside the Welt.




For the li'l ones again.


Bags from the Mini brand.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the International Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[kutts]

Awesome ! That's a huge collection BMW has and great coverage by parrys.

[kaushik51094]

Wow! Amazing. Thanks for the coverage! rated the thread a well-deserved 5 stars .

[mnrvokk]

Not fair at all!!

This kind of post needs a NSFW warning in the title. This car porn. plain and simple

[fine69]

WOW!!!!!!!!!! Many thanks for sharing this!

One question, when you keep cars which were built decades ago, just parked in a museum, does it not spoil the engine and other mechanicals in the car. Or do they keep on taking the cars out for spin every now and then

[rakesh_r]

Excellent stuff.Was fortunate enough to visit the BMW,Porsche and Mercedes Benz museum.Out of the three i felt the BMW museum was better,though the MB museum held lot of History.

[Amyth Prabhakar]

A pit-stop in Germany for all auto Enthusiasts.Thanks for the Walk-through !! All pictures look excellent !!

[GRAND23]

Amazing museum.

History comes alive in such museums. Want to get the true experience by visiting Munich, Germany.

[zavegur]

You guys must have had an awesome experience out there!

Thanks very much Parrys for sharing the pictures.