Introduction to BMW - -
BMW
The Bavarian engine manufacturer (German: Bayerische Motoren Werke, abbreviated as BMW), in mainland China and Hong Kong Owning the registered trademark of BMW, it is a world-renowned German high-end automobile and motorcycle manufacturer with its headquarters and birthplace in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, Germany.
In addition to selling various automobile and motorcycle products under the abbreviation BMW as the brand trademark, the factory has also acquired a number of overseas car manufacturers, such as the British Rolls-Royce (Rolls-Royce). The group. BMW also acquired the British Rover Group, but after a short period of operation due to unbearable losses, it sold Rover back to the British consortium for 1 pound, retaining only the Austin brand. Mini models are also sold under the Mini brand.
In addition to luxury and comfort, the automobile products manufactured by BMW are known for their rich driving pleasure and excellent handling performance. In line with these characteristics, the car manufacturer has been very active in participating in many automobile brands around the world. Among the motorcycle racing activities, the one with the highest level and investment is investing in FIA Formula One. Currently, the factory is the main sponsor and engine supplier of Team BMW-Williams.
The nascent period of history
The BMW corporate headquarters building located in the western suburbs of Munich
The founder of BMW, Karl Friedrich Rapp ) in 1913, using a factory building originally used for bicycle manufacturing in the suburbs of Munich to establish the Rapp-Motorenwerke to engage in the manufacturing of aviation engines. In the same year, Gustav Otto also founded the Gustav Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik nearby. Gustav was actually the famous Nikolaus Otto. Nikolaus August Otto, son of the inventor of the four-stroke gasoline engine (Otto cycle engine).
Gustav Otto later formed a joint venture with others and founded the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) on March 7, 1916, and merged the factory he had founded for three years into Enter this new factory. In the same year, Lapp also received funding from bankers Camillo Castiglioni and Max Friz to significantly expand its scale. However, due to an evaluation error and excessive expansion, poor operations led to Lapp's collapse. Pu sadly left in 1917. His partners found Austrian financier Franz-Josef Popp to take over the business of the engine factory, and renamed the factory Bavarian Engine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. on July 20, 1917. Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, abbreviated as BMW), with Pap as the first president. During World War I, BMW, a military supplier, set up a large factory near the Oberwiesenfeld military airport on the outskirts of Munich and continued to manufacture military aircraft engines for the military until 1918. On August 13, 1918, BMW was restructured into a publicly listed joint-stock company (BMW AG), establishing the scale of the company that would flourish thereafter.
In 1922, BMW merged with BFW and became the BMW we are familiar with today. However, when tracing the history of the company, the company's official statement is based on the founding date of BFW, which is March 7, 1916 as the founding day of BMW.
BMW’s first aviation engine was the Type IIIa, which was put into production in 1917. It was a water-cooled inline six-cylinder engine that used the high-altitude engine developed by Fritz, one of the company’s partners. With a carburetor, the engine can achieve maximum output even in high-altitude environments.
In 1919, BMW installed a Type IV inline six-cylinder engine produced by the factory into a DFW biplane, piloted by Franz Zeno Diemer, at the Munich Olympic Park (today The flight altitude record was set at 9,760 meters above the BMW headquarters).
From the Sky to Two Wheels The First World War ended in 1918. According to the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, the manufacture of aircraft was prohibited in Germany, which severely hit the growing German aviation industry and forced BMW to switch to manufacturing. brakes for railways and began to develop engines for locomotives.
In 1920, the M2 B 15 engine designed by Martin Stolle became the first locomotive engine produced by BMW. In 1923, Fritz designed the R32 locomotive with a displacement of 500 cc. Different from the factory's previous locomotive products, which all used chain drive designs, the R32 was the first BMW locomotive to use shaft drive. The shaft drive design has become one of the most famous features of BMW motorcycles, and we can still see this design on the factory's R series motorcycles to this day. The engine carried by the R32 is actually BMW's original Type VI aviation engine. Perhaps it is for this reason that BMW used the blue and white checkered flag factory emblem inspired by aircraft propellers for the first time on the R32 (the blue and white checkered flag is the tradition of Bavaria). symbol) and is still used today.
On September 19, 1929, motorcycle rider Ernst Henne rode a new BMW motorcycle with a displacement of 750 cc. and set a speed of 216.75km/h in Munich. world record. After that, he continued to break the world high-speed record many times, among which the 279.5km/h set in 1937 was the most astonishing. This record lasted for 12 consecutive years before anyone broke it.
Moving towards the field of four-wheel products in 1927, the Eisenach depot in Eisenach, Thüringen, Germany, obtained the authorization from the British Austin depot. , began to manufacture the German version of the factory's famous Austin 7 car model, and sold it under the Dixi brand. The following year, BMW acquired the factory at a price of 16 million marks, and thus obtained the production rights for the Dixi 3/15 PS car, which became the factory's first car product. This car was launched as an improved version DA2 after being modified by BMW. DA means Deutsche Ausführung (Made in Germany). It was well received after its debut and sold 18,976 units in just about three years of production. .
As for the 3/20 PS (also known as AM 4, Ausführung München 4 Gange, meaning "Munich production, four-speed transmission") that debuted in 1932, it was the first BMW-made car product. This car improved from the Dixi is equipped with a 782 cc. inline four-cylinder engine, with a maximum horsepower output of 20hp/3500rpm, and a top speed of about 80km/h. In the same year, it competed in Baden-Baden (Baden-Baden) Winning the Concours d'Elegance.
The BMW 303, which debuted in 1933, is truly the most important and representative car. It created two traditions that BMW still maintains today. Firstly, it is BMW's first car equipped with an inline six-cylinder engine. Secondly, this car adopts the famous "double kidney" radiator grille shape on the front part for the first time. The kidney shape has also been modified many times, but the basic styling tone has remained unchanged to this day.
Current car models
Automotive products All BMW automobile and motorcycle products
BMW’s automobile products are classified based on car series. Under each car series According to the detailed differences in engines, drive systems and equipment levels of each model, each has its own model name (such as 760Li, 645Ci, 330iX).
Since all modern BMW models have the same name and are passed down from generation to generation, it often happens that the car names are the same but the models are actually different. In order to avoid confusion, we often refer to the car series within the car manufacturer. Code names are used to assist in naming (although in business, BMW does not directly publicly use car series codes), so we often hear names like E36 318i and E60 M5 to distinguish various BMW models.
Series (1er-Reihe): Car series code-named E87, launched in 2004, small five-door hatchback series.
Three Series (3er-Reihe): Car series code E90, launched in 2004, small executive-level touring car series.
Three Series (3er-Reihe): Car series code E46, launched in 1998, small executive-level RV and derivative model series, among which the four-door RV model has been discontinued, and currently only the two-door coupe ( Coupé), five-door station wagon (Touring), two-door four-seat convertible (Cabrio) and three-door hatchback (Compact) continue to be sold.
Fifth Series (5er-Reihe): Car series codenamed E60, launched in 2003, medium-sized executive-level sedan and derived five-door station wagon.
Six series (6er-Reihe): medium and large coupe series, including two-door coupe (car series code E63, launched in 2003) and two-door convertible (car series code E64, launched in 2004) launched) two models.
Seven series (7er-Reihe): a large luxury sedan series, launched in 2002, with two body types: short-axle type (car series code E65) and long-axle type (car series code E66).
Z3 coupé: a small two-door coupe, launched in 1998. It was originally a derivative of the Z3 roadster convertible. After the latter was replaced by the Z4, only the hardtop model was still on sale.
Z4: Car codenamed E85, launched in 2002, a small two-door, two-seater convertible sports car.
X3: Car codenamed E83, launched in 2003, a small five-door SUV series.
X5: Car codenamed E53, launched in 1999, a medium-sized five-door SUV series.