Bayerische Motoren Werkes was founded in 1913 and produced aircraft engines. The modern day logo represents an aircraft's propeller from these beginnings. Unfortunately, the Treaty of Versaille prohibited such production and it wasn't until 1922 that BMW began producing again and with great success. The company turned its sights on motorcycles in 1923 and the first car rolled out of the factory in 1928. The Dixi 3/15 PS marked the beginning of BMW car production. It was built under license from Austin and was essentially the same car as the US Bantam and the Japanese Datsun. Four years later BMW produced the first car that was designed and built completely in-house, the 3/20 PS. The next year saw the 303 and the first straight 6-cylinder engine, a configuration still used by the company today.
The 30's saw great success...their motorbike was used to achieve a world speed record that lasted 20 years and they introduced the incredible 328, which started life as a rally car, but ended up a road favourite.
Then the Second World War came along and BMW's factory was almost destroyed. The allies prohibited the company from producing for three years as punishment for the aero engines and rockets it produced for the Nazis during the war years.
When it finally did start producing again, the company chose a large luxury car as it's first offering, not a great decision considering the state of the country and the people. However, their next attempt was intriguing. Under licence from the Italian company Iso, BMW produced the Isetta, the iconic bubblecar of the fifties.
A year or so later and they did it again with the memorable 507 and later the 1500, which is the precursor to the cars we know today. This range lead to the 5-Series in the early 70s, then the 3-series and finally the 7-series in 1977.
The company went from strength to strength and in 1990 joined with Rolls-Royce to once again add the aero engine market to its successful car production.
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Check BMW insurance groups - select a model to start
Whether you currently own a BMW or you are considering buying a model from
the BMW range, it helps if you understand insurance groups and how they affect
your premium.
Insurance group ratings take into account performance, security, damage and parts costs, new
car values, availability of body shells and repair costs and times. What you'll typically
find is that cars in lower insurance groups attract a lower premium, whilst cars in higher
insurance groups attract a higher premium - usually because they are high performance models
or have high repair or replacement costs. Just choose a model to check its insurance group ratings.