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MILLIONS love BMW, few know how it started, one of the best brands in history of cars.
The story behind that badge is even crazier than you might expect, their journey is not about building luxury sedans, 100 years back the adventure began above the clouds.
Wait, BMW Built Planes First?
It all started in Munich in 1916, when a small comany called Bayerische Motoren Werke began crafting aircraft engines during the war.
Their engines were renowned for being light, reliable and capable of performing at high altitudes, which made them prized among pilots of the era.
And that iconic blue and white roundel, despite popular belief, it is not meant to show a spinning propeller, it actually represents colors of Bavaria.
However, the propeller story stuck because it sounded romantic, but the truth is simpler, it is a proud nod to where the company came from, not what made it!
What was their next move – BWW R32 and BMW 3/15?
In the ’20s the company began producing motorcycles and their first model the R32, became a sensation, it was fast, dependable and engineered with the same precision that once kept aircraft in the air.
After their success, they wanted to move forward and soon they were ready to put four wheels on their vision.
Late in ’20s, cars like the BMW 3/15 were rolling off the line, they were not luxury yet but they proved something more important, they could build cars that combined reliability, performance and engineering finesse, the DNA of the modern cars was already in motion.
From Sky High to Formula 1 Glory
The company knew that the time to compete against the best in the world was close so in 1983, their engineering mastery reached new heights when Nelson Piquet won the title in a car powered by a BMW turbo engine, it was incredible milestone and the company that once built aircraft engines now build the world’s fastest racing engines.
BMW did not stop there, they dominated in touring cars, and other series, a family of performance road cars that became legends.
THE M3 and MP5 were more than just fast sedans, they were living proof that racing DNA could survive the jump from track to street.
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BMW’s Record-Breaking F1 Turbo Engine
When BMW engineers started to experiment with turbocharging engines in ’80s, they discovered something extraordinary, the iron block from the M10 could handle astonishing pressure once reinforced and paired with a sophisticated turbo system.
Times passed and this evolved into the M12/13, a small but brutal powerhouse, in qualifying, it could unleash over 1,400 horsepower, a number so extreme that even BMW’s dynos could not measure it accurately, it was power that came with danger, few drivers could handle its sudden surge without fear.
During the race, it had less power, from 640 to 840 horsepower, but still far more than competitors, but the quali engines were one lap monsters, mechanics even joed that the engine had only two settings, fast and explode!
However, this engine changed everything in F1, after Nelson Piquet title win, it gave first constructors F1 title to BMW of that turbo era.
The car’s straight line speed was equally jaw-dropping, Gerhardt Berger recorded a top speed of 352.22 km/h in 1986, setting a F1 benchmark that stood as one of the fastest ever achieved in that era.
From a simple 1.5-liter roard engine to a record shattering F1 machine, BMW’s M12/13 became a symbol at the time.
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The Real Takeaway: Reinvention Never Stops
The BMW story is one of grid and reinvention, from building aircraft engines to dominating racetracks and shaping the future of electric mobility, they have faced a lot, yet always found a way to adapt.
Every time you spot that blue and white roundel, remember this, it represents over a century of resilience, curiosity and the belief that engineering can be emotional, BMW is not just a company that builds cars it is one that builds legacies.
