BMW 3/15

BMW
BMW 3/15 PS DA 2 (1929)
3/15 hp
Production period:	1929-1932
Class :	Small car
Body versions :	Roadster , touring car , limousine , coupe , convertible sedan , convertible
Engines:	Petrol engines : 0.75 liters (15-18 hp) (11-13 kW)
Length:	3000-3100 mm
Width:	1150-1275 mm
Height:	1300-1625 mm
Wheelbase :	1905 mm
Empty weight :	410-550 kg
Previous model	Dixi DA 1
successor	BMW 3/20 PS

The BMW 3/15 PS was the first automobile made by Bayerische Motoren Werke .

history

With the purchase of the Eisenach vehicle factory at the end of 1928, BMW took over the license agreement with the Austin Motor Company , under which the Dixi 3/15 DA was further built. When sales began in July 1929, the further developed BMW 3/15 PS was the first BMW car, but the Austin 7 was still under license . BMW secured the right to adopt its contemporary body design from the French car manufacturer Rosengart and further developed the model into a complete all-steel body.

Under the direction of chief engineer Gotthilf Dürrwächter, the first production vehicle was built on March 22, 1929 in Berlin-Johannisthal . The chassis supplied the BMW plant in Eisenach; BMW employees assembled the sheet metal parts produced on the new presses at Ambi-Budd into modern all-steel bodies in a rented hall right next to the Ambi-Budd plant. While production in Berlin-Johannisthal was stockpiling, BMW in Eisenach prepared the production of conventional bodies in the classic composite construction according to the " Weymann System ".

The new BMW branch opened in Berlin on July 9, 1929, and the press was presented at the same time. From then on, the BMW 3/15 PS was available from BMW dealers in two versions, sedan and touring car.

At the end of 1929, the initially good sales figures collapsed due to the onset of the global economic crisis. In 1930, BMW took the outsourced production from Berlin-Johannisthal back to Eisenach. Despite the difficult times, the DA 2 was further developed in 1931 to the DA 4 with a swing axle and an enlarged body. However, the swing axle quickly came under criticism from experts as the wheel guidance was too imprecise and had to be improved.

The production of the 3/15 ended with the introduction of the successor 3/20 in March 1932; the 3/15 was offered with and without a swing axle until the end of 1932.

technology

The technology was largely identical to the DA 1 . In the common spare parts lists, the differences are briefly dealt with on the last pages 36 to 43.

engine and gears

The BMW 3/15 PS was powered by a water-cooled four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 749 cubic centimeters. The side-controlled engine developed 15  hp (11  kW ). One weak point was the design of the crankshaft . It had only two bearings and limited the service life of the engines to between 5,000 and 50,000 km, depending on the load. When driving continuously at more than 75 km / h, the crankshaft could break due to the build-up of vibrations.

chassis

The Eisenach plant built the chassis for the DA 2 without any major changes to its predecessor, the Dixi DA 1 .

The rigid front axle of the DA 2 and DA 3 with a transverse leaf spring was replaced in the DA 4 by a swing axle in which the steering knuckle was attached directly to the transverse leaf spring.

Executions

BMW 3/15 PS DA 2

BMW 3/15 DA 2 Tourer (1929)

The DA 2 was built 12,318 times from March 1929 to February 1932:

• 6600 sedans
• 120 sunshine limousines with roll-up roof
• 435 delivery trucks
• 1834 touring car
• 1387 two-seater open
• 1374 three-seater convertibles
• 300 two-seater roadsters

In September 1930 prices ranged from 2,175 Reichsmarks for the open two-seater to 2,625 Reichsmarks for the three-seater convertible.

268 chassis were produced at the price of 1900 Reichsmarks for special bodies. a. at Assmann in Eisenach, Buhne in Berlin and Schwab in Stuttgart with bodies.

BMW-Ihle Type 600 (1936)

From the mid-1930s, the Ihle brothers in Bruchsal offered popular special bodies in the form of open roadsters.

BMW 3/15 PS DA 3 type Wartburg

The Wartburg was BMW's first sporty car from April 1930 to January 1931. Only 150 units were built in Eisenach, the price was 3,100 Reichsmarks. Between 1930 and 1933 he won numerous mountain and circuit races in his class.

The most successful BMW driver was Bobby Kohlrausch from Eisenach, who achieved 27 first and 8 second places in those years - in 1930 with his private Wartburg without official factory support . In 1931 he received support from BMW with a new Wartburg equipped with an OHV test engine. In 1932, Kohlrausch's modified BMW increasingly met the increasingly powerful competition from Austin and MG , who competed with supercharged engines; BMW discontinued its support in 1933, Kohlrausch switched to Austin in the same year and continued his successful career with MG in 1934.

BMW 3/15 PS DA 4

BMW DA 4 from 1931

The DA 4 was introduced in January 1931 - the worst year of the global economic crisis for Germany - with a new front axle ("swing axle") and an enlarged body, and 3480 units were built by February 1932.

The production program only included the following body variants:

• 2575 sedans
• 175 open four-seater
• 475 open two-seater
• 210 coupes
• 45 chassis for special bodies

The prices ranged from 2,175 Reichsmarks for the open two-seater and up to 2,575 Reichsmarks for the coupé. The cabriolets were still listed in the price lists, but were not built. In November 1932 there was a new price list in which models with and without a swing axle were offered.

literature

• Werner Oswald : All BMW automobiles 1928–1978 . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-87943-584-7 .

Web links

• Model BMW 3/15 PS DA 2. In: BMW History. BMW AG, accessed on January 8, 2016 (dossier of the BMW Group Archives). 
• Manual for the 0.75 liter / 15 hp BMW motor vehicle. In: BMW history. BMW AG, 1928, accessed on January 8, 2016 (manual with pictures, 61 pages). 
• Spare parts list for the 0.75 ltr. / 15 HP Dixi and BMW vehicles. In: BMW history. BMW AG, 1934, accessed on January 8, 2016 (complete spare parts list with pictures, 94 pages). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Walterzeichner: From the idea to success - the first BMW automobiles. In: Mobile Tradition live - Edition 02 / June 2004. BMW AG, June 2004, pp. 28–31 , accessed on January 9, 2016 (document in the BMW Group Archive). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Price list No. 10b from November 20, 1932 for 0.75 liter / 15 hp BMW small cars. In: BMW history. BMW AG, November 20, 1932, accessed on January 12, 2016 (documents in the BMW Group archive): "Delivery options reserved" 
3. ^ "Dissected - BMW Dixi." in: Oldtimer Praxis 11/2017, pp. 100–103
4. ↑ Price list No. 5 for 0.75 liter / 15 hp small BMW cars. In: BMW history. BMW AG, September 16, 1930, accessed on January 12, 2016 (documents in the BMW Group Archive). 
5. ↑ Type BMW 3/15 PS DA 2. In: BMW history. BMW AG, accessed on January 17, 2016 (dossier in the BMW Group Archive). 
6. ↑ Sports cars from "Ihle" always inspire! In: Brochure of the Ihle brothers. BMW AG, 1935, accessed on January 17, 2016 (document in the BMW Group Archive). 
7. ↑ Type BMW 3/15 PS DA 3 type Wartburg. In: BMW history. BMW AG, accessed on January 17, 2016 (dossier in the BMW Group Archive). 
8. ↑ Hagen Nyncke: Bobby Kohlrausch. The tireless one. In: Mobile Tradition live - Edition 02 / June 2004. BMW AG, June 2004, pp. 34–37 , accessed on January 17, 2016 (document in the BMW Group Archive). 
9. ↑ Type BMW 3/15 PS DA 4. In: BMW history. BMW AG, accessed on January 17, 2016 (dossier in the BMW Group Archive). 

Timeline of the Dixi , BMW and EMW models from 1927 to 1955
Type	1920s				1930s										1940s										1950s
	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th
Small car		Dixi 3/15
				BMW 3/15			3/20
Lower middle class									309
								303	315
Middle class									319/329			320		321			...			321/2
											326						...			326/2				340		EMW 340
upper middle class														335
Roadster / Coupé / Convertible					BMW Wartburg				315/1 / 319/1			327					...			327						EMW 327
												328
Kübelwagen												325															EMW 325
Under the “Dixi” brand ; The Austin 7 compact car is built under license Produced under the brand "EMW" in the GDR by the Eisenacher Motoren Werk