The Spirit of BMW: 50 Reasons Why We Love Them

By Vaughan Grylls

A glorious exploration of BMW, one of the greatest car brands of all time, with dynamic photography and lively text that explains why people love them.

Known as 'the ultimate driving machine', BMW is one of the world's most prestigious car brands. Renowned for their smooth handling, precision engineering and sleek looks, BMWs pair driving comfort with powerful engines. Originally formed during the first world war, the company reached new heights of popularity in the 1960s and is still going strong today.
This captivating book outlines all the most iconic BMW models, from their first car, the Dixi of 1927, to today's high-performance models, including the beautiful 1955 507 roadster, the instantly recognisable 2002 from the 1960s, and the iconic E30 M3, first manufactured in the mid-1980s. Each evocative vintage photograph is accompanied by insightful explanation.
The ideal gift for every car enthusiast, whether they're a BMW owner or just aspire to be, this beautifully illustrated book conveys perfectly the joys of this classic brand.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Batsford
• Release date: May 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9781849948791

Vaughan Grylls

Vaughan Grylls is a photographer, author and artist. His photography has been shown in the Photographers’ Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Arnolfini. He is represented in several public collections, including the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, the Contemporary Art Society, Pfizer, Unilever and the Arts Council of Wales. From 1996 to 2005 Grylls was Chief Executive of the Kent Institute of Art and Design. In 2005 he founded the University for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham and Rochester, and serves as Emeritus Professor. He is the author and photographer of Oxford Then and Now, Cambridge Then and Now, Hong Kong Then and Now and Singapore Then and Now. 

Book preview

Illustration

THE SPIRIT OF

BMW

50 REASONS WHY WE LOVE THEM

Illustration

THE SPIRIT OF

BMW

50 REASONS WHY WE LOVE THEM

Vaughan Grylls

Illustration

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

01. THE BMW IMAGE

02. MODEST BEGINNINGS

03. A BRILLIANT CAR DESIGNER

04. REINVENTING BEAUTY

05. CUTE BMW

06. THE 1 SERIES

07. THE 2 SERIES

08. THE 3 SERIES

09. THE 4 SERIES

10. THE 5 SERIES

11. THE 6 SERIES

12. THE 7 SERIES

13. THE 8 SERIES

14. THE X SERIES

15. THE I

16. THE M

17. THE Z

18. THE CUSTOM

19. THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE

20. GO COMPARE

21. POLIZEI BMW

22. BODY BUILDING

23. HOLD THAT ROAD …

24. BMW ADS

25. BREAKDOWN BMW

26. ABANDONED BMW

27. THE DESIGNERS

28. ART CAR

29. THE ICONIC LOGO

30. THOSE KIDNEYS

31. THE FRONT END

32. THE KINKY SIDE

33. THE REAR END

34. FROM THE TOP

35. THE COCKPIT

36. CONVERTIBLE COOL

37. BACK SEAT DRIVER

38. CLEAN LINES

39. THE WHEELS

40. HOMAGE TO SPEED

41. THE IDRIVE

42. THE COLOUR

43. THE ENGINES

44. SKI BMW

45. BIMMER SPECIALS

46. RACING AND RALLYING BMW

47. BMW IN AMERICA

48. HEADQUARTERS MUNICH

49. THE BMW MUSEUM

50. SHOULD YOU BUY ONE … OR TWO?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

The Ultimate Driving Machine

This is not a technical book. It is about BMW, a German company that designs superlative cars. These cars entice you into taking for granted how good they actually are, until you drive a car of another make. Then the difference becomes glaring.

Why has BMW climbed to global pre-eminence? Simple. A BMW is a stylish, high-performance automobile that is sporty and easy to drive. Before BMW, high-performance cars could be challenging to master.

When BMW’s 3 Series hit the market, its rivals were caught on the back foot. Mercedes had to rethink its legendary construction costs, ponderous design and performance. It was to little avail. BMW would overtake Mercedes in the world’s key automobile import market – the USA. A Mercedes may have been classy, but a BMW was fun and young too.

Lesser makes struggled even more. Few today remember the Dolomite Sprint, promoted embarrassingly in the UK by British Leyland’s Triumph as ‘The BMW Eater’. Not after covering a hundred miles in an hour on a German autobahn it wasn’t. Saab and Audi were the nearest European style rivals in the US, yet Saab was a minnow of a company next to BMW, while Audi was just not as sexy and didn’t have the model range.

BMW – Bayerische Motoren Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works – was established in 1916 as a manufacturer of aero engines, which it produced from 1917–1918 and then from 1933–1945. In 1928 BMW bought Automobilwerk Eisenach, which held a licence from Austin in England to build the Austin 7 model known as the Dixi. BMW made some changes and put their badge on it.

Illustration

1970s BMW magazine advert.

Illustration

The BMW 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coupé winning the race in Brescia, Italy, 1940.

Illustration

The BMW Dixi Cabriolet.

Throughout the 1930s, BMW designed their own cars at Eisenach. A particular eye-opener was the 328, a sports model built between 1936 and 1940. Using their impressive 2-litre straight-six, an engine that would become a BMW hallmark, the 328 won important races such as the 1936 Nürburgring Eifelrennen, the 1937 Tourist Trophy, the 1940 Mille Miglia and the 1939 Le Mans 24 Hours race.

In the Second World War, BMW focused on military production, from army motorcycles to the engines for airplanes such as the Dornier bomber. But by the end of the war, BMW’s factories lay totally destroyed thanks to British and US air raids.

Like most industrial conglomerates in Nazi Germany, BMW had used slave labour. Although no BMW director or employee has ever been prosecuted for war crimes, at BMW’s centenary in 2016 the company issued a statement: ‘To this day, the enormous suffering this caused and the fate of many forced labourers remains a matter of the most profound regret.’ The mea culpa appeared inadequate.

After 1945 BMW were not allowed to manufacture automobiles because of their involvement in the war, so they produced