Mayank's Garage: January 2012

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BMW (English: Bavarian Motor Works) is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1917. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands. In 2010, the BMW group produced 1,481,253 automobiles and 112,271 motorcycles across all its brands.

Although BMW's current fame and reputation as one of the greatest automobile manufacturers can be mostly linked to models produced in the last two decades, the history of the marque stretches back almost 90 years and contains numerous achievements that have established it as a benchmark.
The origins of BMW trace back to 1913 when Karl Friedrich Rapp, a Bavarian who had been a well-known engineer in a German aircraft company, formed Rapp Motoren Werke in a suburb of Munich. The company specialized in airplane engines however Rapp found that they were problematic and suffered from excessive vibration. Nearby, Gustav Otto, also an airplane specialist, set up his own shop, Gustav Flugmaschinefabrik, building small aircraft.
Because of the faulty engines, Rapp Motoren Werke secured a contract with Austro-Daimler, who was unable to meet its demands, to build V12 Aero engines under license. The company expanded too quickly, however, and by 1916 Rapp resigned from the company because of financial troubles. In his place Franz Josef Popp and Max Friz, two Austrians, took over the company. In March that same year, Rapp Motoren Werke merged with Gustav Flugmaschinefabrik to form Bayersiche Flugzeungwerke. It was shortly afterwards renamed Bayersiche Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works), or BMW, forming the company we know today.
In 1917, BMW's first aircraft engine went into production, the 6 cylinder Type IIIa. In 1919, using an aircraft powered by its successor, the Type IV, Franz Zeno Diemer set an altitude record of 9,760 metres (32,013 ft). After the Treaty of Versailles was signed in the same year, prohibiting BMW from building aircraft engines, production switched to air brakes for railway cars. When BMW started once again to build aircraft engines in 1922, no fewer than 29 world records in aviation were set with them. The current BMW logo, introduced in 1920, was based on the circular design of an aircraft propeller.

Timeline BMW History:

1923: The first real BMW was the R32, a 500cc boxer (8.5hp) with shaft drive and a single carburetor
There were 3090 sold modells and the price was 2200 Reichsmark.

1925: The R39 is a bit cheaper model with a 250cc 1 cilinder engine.

1932: The R16S3 (third series), a 750cc with 33hp was the first one with 2 carburetors.

1933: The R4S2 (second series) was the first model with a 4 gear gearbox.

1935: The R12 was the german army bike and they build 36000 of them. The model first came with one carburetor (R12-1) and laetr with 2 carburetors (R12-2) what increased the power from 18 to 20 Horsepower.

1937: The R5 was the first BMW with a foot controlled gearbox, Besides the foot control they still kept the hand control And it would take some time untill they released that concept.

1938: The R71 Was seen by BMW as the new army bike but the german army itself thought different about that idea,The R12's still did a good job and the R71 had too less to offer more, there were only 3458 of them build and after that the modell was sold to the russian army who build the bike under the name "M72". Much later the modell was sold to china who still builds the bike and sells it under the name "Chiang Jiang CJ750".

1950: The R25, a 250cc 1 cilinder, was the first BMW with rear springs instead of a spring saddle. The R25 was a populair modell because from the three series there are sold 109.751 pieces.

1969: The R75/5 was the first BMW that uses Bing vacuum carburetors.

1973: The R75/6 was teh first one with a 5 gear gearbox.

1976: With the R100(R)S The first fairing was born and also there was the first 1000cc engine.

1980: The R80G/S (Gelande/Sport) appeared and won the rally Paris-Dakar.

BMW i Concept

BMW i stands for visionary vehicles and mobility services, inspiring design and a new understanding of premium that is strongly defined by sustainability. With BMW i the BMW Group is adopting an all-embracing approach, redefining the understanding of personal mobility with purpose-built vehicle concepts, a focus on sustainability throughout the value chain and a range of complementary mobility services.

The BMW i Series includes two models that wouldn't be out of place in a sci-fi flick...

The i3 hatchback

BMW i3

It features the all-electric, rear-wheel drive and offers 170 hp, seating for four, a top speed of 93 mph, and a 0-60 time of under eight seconds.

The BMW i3 is announced and expected to go into mass production in 2013 with deliveries in several world markets by that year end.

BMW i8

The hybrid i8 coupe
It pairs an electric motor running the front wheels
and a turbocharged three-cylinder powering the rears for all-wheel drive possibilities, limited range
all-electric driving, a 0-60 time of under five seconds,
and a perfect 50/50 weight distribution ratio.
All four wheels provide regenerative braking.