BMW M

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BMW M GmbH

logo
legal form Company with limited liability
founding 1972
Seat Munich , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Markus Flasch
Branch automobile
Website www.bmw-m.com

The BMW M GmbH is a 1972 BMW Motorsport GmbH formed subsidiary of automobile and motorcycle manufacturer BMW . It is responsible for the development and production of the high-performance BMW M automobiles , the individualization of all BMW models ( BMW Individual ) and the organization of BMW driver training courses.

history

One of the first results of M GmbH was the successful BMW 3.0 CSL , a lightweight version of the BMW E9, built with significant assistance from Alpina .

Based on the BMW Turbo prototype developed by BMW in 1972 , the Munich-based car manufacturer then wanted to produce a sports car that was primarily intended for participation in motorsport events. Since Italian sports cars were dominating racing at the time, BMW first decided to use the expertise of the Italian sports car manufacturer Lamborghini and have the model developed there. However, shortly afterwards, industrial disagreements led to rethinking. BMW made the decision to build the vehicle entirely on its own and then founded BMW Motorsport GmbH in 1972 .

Jochen Neerpasch was CEO of BMW Motorsport GmbH from 1973 to 1979. Racing colleague Martin Braungart , who started in the company together with Jochen Neerpasch in spring 1972, was technical director of BMW Motorsport GmbH from 1972 to 1979 and from 1977 to 1979 he was responsible for the overall development of the road vehicle BMW M1 , which will serve as the base vehicle for future racing was intended.

In 1992 the BMW Individual business group was integrated into BMW Motorsport GmbH and in 1993 the company was renamed BMW M GmbH, a company for individual automobiles .

Managing Director of BMW M GmbH
executive Director from to
Adolf Prommersberger January 1, 1994 November 30, 2003
Ulrich Bruhnke December 1, 2003 January 31, 2007
Ludwig Willisch January 1, 2008 May 6, 2009
Kay sailors May 7, 2009 April 30, 2011
Friedrich Nitschke May 1, 2011 December 31, 2014
Franciscus van Meel January 1, 2015 September 30, 2018
Markus Flasch 1st October 2018

BMW M models and M Performance models

The following BMW M models are currently (as of 10/2018) marketed:

  • BMW M2 Competition (F87) Coupé
  • BMW M3 (F80) Sedan (for the first time with its own development code - not as BMW M3 (F30), but BMW M3 (F80) Sedan; no longer available in Europe since August 2018)
  • BMW M4 (F82) Coupé (for the first time with its own development code - not as BMW M4 (F32), but BMW M4 (F82) Coupé)
  • BMW M4 (F83) Cabrio (for the first time with its own development code - not as BMW M4 (F33), but BMW M4 (F83) Cabrio)
  • BMW M5 (F90) sedan
  • BMW M6 (F06) four-door coupe
  • BMW X5 (F85) SUV (for the first time with its own development code - not as BMW X5 M (F15), but BMW X5 M (F85) SAV)
  • BMW X6 (F86) SUV (for the first time with its own development code - not as BMW X6 M (F16), but BMW X6 M (F86) SAC)

The following M Performance models are also available:

In BMW, LCI stands for Life-Cycle-Impulse, synonymous with MUE for model revision or facelift.

Motorsport

BMW 3.0 CSL with Chris Amon 1973
Nelson Piquet in the BMW M1 in 1980
BMW winning machine of the 1985 Paris-Dakar Rally

During the development of the new racing car, which was later to be named M1, M GmbH modified production cars for motorsport use. As early as 1972, the BMW 2002 model was converted for use in rallies . The breakthrough came a year later when the works drivers Hans-Joachim Stuck and Chris Amon won the touring car grand prize at the Nürburgring in a BMW 3.0 CSL . Shortly afterwards, in the touring car class of the Le Mans 24-hour race , the winner was also BMW. With a total of six European championship titles, the 3.0 CSL became the most successful touring car of the 1970s. The cars were used alongside the works team from Alpina, Schnitzer , Koepchen and GS-Tuning .

In 1978, M GmbH's first independent racing sports car was produced. Originally the M1 was planned for use in the German racing championship . However, since the development delays mentioned above occurred, participation in this racing series was no longer possible. In collaboration with Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley , the Procar series was founded shortly afterwards , which took place in the run-up to many Formula 1 races and was only equipped with M1 racing versions. Since racing use was only possible for series production vehicles, M GmbH produced and sold around 450 units of a stripped-down street version.

From 1980 the company developed engines for use in Formula 1. In 1982 the BMW turbo engine M12 / 13 made its debut in a Brabham Formula 1 racing car. As early as the 1983 Formula 1 season , BMW, with the British team and driver Nelson Piquet, won the first Formula 1 world championship with a turbo engine.

To this day, vehicles from BMW M GmbH are successfully used in motorsport all over the world. The most successful touring car in motorsport history to date, the BMW M3 , also comes from Munich.

The concise, three-colored "M-Design" (light blue, dark blue, red) is also used by BMW as a distinguishing feature for various racing series in motorcycle racing. B. in the Superbike World Championship and the Dakar Rally .

BMW Art Cars

Main article: BMW Art Car
BMW M1 designed by Andy Warhol

The French art auctioneer and racing driver Hervé Poulain had the idea of ​​having cars designed by well-known artists . On his initiative, Alexander Calder painted a BMW 3.0 CSL racing car in 1975 . A year later the New York artist Frank Stella designed a BMW with his typical grid pattern. These two vehicles took part in the Le Mans 24-hour races in 1975 and 1976 . The later designed BMW Art Cars by Roy Lichtenstein ( 1977 ), Andy Warhol ( 1979 ) and Jenny Holzer ( 1999 ) also competed in Le Mans .

Further cars were designed by AR Penck , Robert Rauschenberg , Ernst Fuchs , Ken Done, Michael Nelson Jakamarra , Matazo Kayama, César Manrique , Esther Mahlangu, Sandro Chia and David Hockney .

In 2010 Jeff Koons designed the last Art Car so far for BMW, a BMW M3 GT2 . This car took part in the Le Mans 24-hour race with drivers Dirk Müller , Andy Priaulx and Dirk Werner .

literature

  • Manfred Grunert and Florian Triebel: The BMW company since 1916 . BMW Group Mobile Tradition, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-932169-46-8 .

Web links

Commons : BMW M  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Franciscus van Meel takes over the management of BMW M GmbH. Press release. BMW Group PressClub Germany, September 23, 2014, accessed on January 9, 2013 .
  2. ↑ press.bmwgroup.com: Markus Flasch, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW M GmbH (from October 1, 2018) (09/2018)
  3. ^ BMW Art Car Tour (BMW Group). bmw-artcartour.com, accessed January 9, 2013 .