Mistakes made by an online article on the history of BMW
The History of BMW - by Traian Popescu
Traian Popescu was the owner of the World's Fastest Sedans website from 1999 to 2007. Within that site he wrote a series of articles titled Sedan Ramblings. One of these articles is called The History of BMW, which does not compare well with published histories of BMW, including the books BMW - Bavaria's Driving Machines by Jan P. Norbye and the editors of Consumer Reports and the Ultimate History of BMW by Andrew Noakes.
Popescu: "...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."
The company was actually bought by Austrian financier Camillo Castiglioni, who installed the equally Austrian Franz Josef Popp as general manager. Popp had been at Rapp Motorenwerke previously to supervise the building of Austro-Daimler V-12 engines under licence. Max Friz, on the other hand, played no part in taking over the company. He was installed as chief engineer after Rapp's departure, mainly because his engine design was rather better than Rapp's. Furthermore, Norbye took great pains to point out that Friz was neither Austrian nor Bavarian, but Swabian.
Popescu: "In March that same year [1916], 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."
Norbye contends that Rapp Motorenwerke and Otto Werke (formerly Gustav Otto Flugmaschinefabrik) changed their names to Bayerische Motoren Werke and Bayerische Flugzeugwerke on the same day in March 1916, but that they remained separate entities at the time. Norbye then states that Castiglioni sold BMW to air brake manufacturer Knorr-Bremse and then, in 1921, bought back the BMW name and engine-making equipment, merged BMW with Bayerisch Flugzeugwerke, and installed BMW's equipment on Bayerisch Flugzeugwerke premises. Noakes claims that Rapp Motorenwerke changed its name to Bayerische Motoren Werke in June 1917 (around the time Norbye claims Rapp left BMW). Noakes mentions Castiglioni's sale of BMW to Knorr-Bremse and his buyback of the BMW name, claiming that Castiglioni "set up shop at the now-disused site which had been the home to the Bayerische Flugzeug Werke."
Popescu: "The first BMW motorcycle, the R 32, went into production in 1923 at the newly constructed Eisenach factory next to the Munich airport of the day."
Forget Norbye and Noakes for a while, get an atlas, and find Eisenach. Here's a hint: Eisenach is not in Bavaria, much less close to anywhere that could be a Munich airport of that time or any other. BMW would eventually have a factory at Eisenach in Thuringia, for reasons that will be stated later, but they did not have one in 1923. The factory that was next to the Munich airport was on the same premises that had been used by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, in the Munich suberb of Milbertshofen.
Popescu: "It was 1928 that made history in terms of the BMW car. Produced at the Eisenbach [sic] factory, the Dixi 3/15 PS marked the beginning of BMW automobile production."
In isolation, apart from the misspelling of Eisenach, there is nothing factually incorrect about that statement. However, it gives one the impression that BMW simply began production of the Dixi 3/15 PS in 1928 in their Eisenach factory, which was earlier confused with their Milbertshofen factory. The untold story is that BMW bought Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, makers of Dixi cars, in October 1928, and that the Dixi 3/15 PS had begun production in December of the previous year.
One effect of Popescu not mentioning that BMW's pre-war car factory was in the state of Thuringia is that he also does not mention the post-war headache of Thuringia, including Eisenach and BMW's factory there, falling into the Soviet Occupation Zone, and of pre-war BMW cars and motorcycles being built there under Soviet control after the war.
Popescu: "1932 was the year the BMW AM 4 (Ausfuhrung Munchen 4 Gange - Munich Version 4 Speeds) - a.k.a. BMW's first "real" car - went into production. The AM 4, also called the 3/20 PS, was the successor to the Dixi and the first production car to be built entirely in-house by BMW."
Not quite. Norbye and Noakes agree that the new, all-BMW car (the 3/15 being a quite "real" car) that was introduced in 1932 was the 3/20 AM-1. Noakes does not mention further development, but Norbye states that the series had reached AM-4 by 1934
Popescu: "The next year mark ed [sic] the introduction of the 303 saloon and the first BMW inline-six cylinder power unit..."
Before going to Norbye and Noakes, I will go to a quotation earlier in the same article: "In 1917, BMW's first aircraft engine went into production, the 6 cylinder Type IIIa." Norbye and Noakes affirm that the Type IIIa, the first product ever designed and built by BMW, was an inline-six cylinder power unit.
Popescu: "The first post war model, the V8 equipped 501 luxury sedan produced in 1951 was a poor production choice for a country that was also devastated by the war."
The 501 of 1951 used a slightly enlarged version of the two-litre six-cylinder engine used by BMW just before the war. The V-8 engine was introduced in the BMW 502 of 1954.
Popescu goes on to mention the Isetta 250 (but not the Isetta 300) and the BMW 507 roadster (but not the 503 coupe), and then goes straight to the 1500, which he calls "the predecessor to the cars we know today", which is correct if, by "cars", he means BMW cars. He does not, however, mention two cars that BMW had built earlier that paved the way for the 1500: the odd and unsuccessful Isetta-based 600, which was the first BMW to use the semi-trailing arm rear suspension that BMW would use for the next forty years, and the successful 700, the first BMW to have unit body construction.
He then mentions briefly the 5-series that replaced the Neue Klasse (1500, 1600, 1800, 2000), and that it were followed by the 3-series and the 7 series. He does not mention the Karmann coupes (2000C, 2000CS, 2800CS, 3.0CS, 3.0CSL, or 2.5CS), the New Six sedans (2500, 2800, 3.0, 3.0L, 3.3Li, or Bavaria), or the 6-series.
He jumps from the new 7-series of 1977 to BMW's 1990 joint venture with Rolls-Royce plc to build aircraft engines in Germany. He goes on to give one more howler:
"In 1998, after extended talks concerning the sale of Rolls Royce, BMW officially bought the rights to the Rolls Royce name and logo from Volkswagen, with the transition expected to take place in 2003."
The "extended talks" concerning the sale of Rolls-Royce Motors were so extended because Volskwagen did *not* have the rights to the Rolls-Royce name and logo. Although Volkswagen had outbid BMW to buy the assets of Rolls-Royce Motors, including the rights to the grille and the mascot, Rolls-Royce plc, owner of the Rolls-Royce name and logo, had sold the licence to use the name and logo to BMW, their partner in the joint venture mentioned earlier. Eventually, an agreement was reached wherein Volkswagen continued to build both marques until 2003 (Popescu's article was written in 2000) and then gave BMW the rights to the grille and the mascot, renaming its subsidiary Bentley Motors.
Traian Popescu was the owner of the World's Fastest Sedans website from 1999 to 2007. Within that site he wrote a series of articles titled Sedan Ramblings. One of these articles is called The History of BMW, which does not compare well with published histories of BMW, including the books BMW - Bavaria's Driving Machines by Jan P. Norbye and the editors of Consumer Reports and the Ultimate History of BMW by Andrew Noakes.
Popescu: "...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."
The company was actually bought by Austrian financier Camillo Castiglioni, who installed the equally Austrian Franz Josef Popp as general manager. Popp had been at Rapp Motorenwerke previously to supervise the building of Austro-Daimler V-12 engines under licence. Max Friz, on the other hand, played no part in taking over the company. He was installed as chief engineer after Rapp's departure, mainly because his engine design was rather better than Rapp's. Furthermore, Norbye took great pains to point out that Friz was neither Austrian nor Bavarian, but Swabian.
Popescu: "In March that same year [1916], 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."
Norbye contends that Rapp Motorenwerke and Otto Werke (formerly Gustav Otto Flugmaschinefabrik) changed their names to Bayerische Motoren Werke and Bayerische Flugzeugwerke on the same day in March 1916, but that they remained separate entities at the time. Norbye then states that Castiglioni sold BMW to air brake manufacturer Knorr-Bremse and then, in 1921, bought back the BMW name and engine-making equipment, merged BMW with Bayerisch Flugzeugwerke, and installed BMW's equipment on Bayerisch Flugzeugwerke premises. Noakes claims that Rapp Motorenwerke changed its name to Bayerische Motoren Werke in June 1917 (around the time Norbye claims Rapp left BMW). Noakes mentions Castiglioni's sale of BMW to Knorr-Bremse and his buyback of the BMW name, claiming that Castiglioni "set up shop at the now-disused site which had been the home to the Bayerische Flugzeug Werke."
Popescu: "The first BMW motorcycle, the R 32, went into production in 1923 at the newly constructed Eisenach factory next to the Munich airport of the day."
Forget Norbye and Noakes for a while, get an atlas, and find Eisenach. Here's a hint: Eisenach is not in Bavaria, much less close to anywhere that could be a Munich airport of that time or any other. BMW would eventually have a factory at Eisenach in Thuringia, for reasons that will be stated later, but they did not have one in 1923. The factory that was next to the Munich airport was on the same premises that had been used by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, in the Munich suberb of Milbertshofen.
Popescu: "It was 1928 that made history in terms of the BMW car. Produced at the Eisenbach [sic] factory, the Dixi 3/15 PS marked the beginning of BMW automobile production."
In isolation, apart from the misspelling of Eisenach, there is nothing factually incorrect about that statement. However, it gives one the impression that BMW simply began production of the Dixi 3/15 PS in 1928 in their Eisenach factory, which was earlier confused with their Milbertshofen factory. The untold story is that BMW bought Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, makers of Dixi cars, in October 1928, and that the Dixi 3/15 PS had begun production in December of the previous year.
One effect of Popescu not mentioning that BMW's pre-war car factory was in the state of Thuringia is that he also does not mention the post-war headache of Thuringia, including Eisenach and BMW's factory there, falling into the Soviet Occupation Zone, and of pre-war BMW cars and motorcycles being built there under Soviet control after the war.
Popescu: "1932 was the year the BMW AM 4 (Ausfuhrung Munchen 4 Gange - Munich Version 4 Speeds) - a.k.a. BMW's first "real" car - went into production. The AM 4, also called the 3/20 PS, was the successor to the Dixi and the first production car to be built entirely in-house by BMW."
Not quite. Norbye and Noakes agree that the new, all-BMW car (the 3/15 being a quite "real" car) that was introduced in 1932 was the 3/20 AM-1. Noakes does not mention further development, but Norbye states that the series had reached AM-4 by 1934
Popescu: "The next year mark ed [sic] the introduction of the 303 saloon and the first BMW inline-six cylinder power unit..."
Before going to Norbye and Noakes, I will go to a quotation earlier in the same article: "In 1917, BMW's first aircraft engine went into production, the 6 cylinder Type IIIa." Norbye and Noakes affirm that the Type IIIa, the first product ever designed and built by BMW, was an inline-six cylinder power unit.
Popescu: "The first post war model, the V8 equipped 501 luxury sedan produced in 1951 was a poor production choice for a country that was also devastated by the war."
The 501 of 1951 used a slightly enlarged version of the two-litre six-cylinder engine used by BMW just before the war. The V-8 engine was introduced in the BMW 502 of 1954.
Popescu goes on to mention the Isetta 250 (but not the Isetta 300) and the BMW 507 roadster (but not the 503 coupe), and then goes straight to the 1500, which he calls "the predecessor to the cars we know today", which is correct if, by "cars", he means BMW cars. He does not, however, mention two cars that BMW had built earlier that paved the way for the 1500: the odd and unsuccessful Isetta-based 600, which was the first BMW to use the semi-trailing arm rear suspension that BMW would use for the next forty years, and the successful 700, the first BMW to have unit body construction.
He then mentions briefly the 5-series that replaced the Neue Klasse (1500, 1600, 1800, 2000), and that it were followed by the 3-series and the 7 series. He does not mention the Karmann coupes (2000C, 2000CS, 2800CS, 3.0CS, 3.0CSL, or 2.5CS), the New Six sedans (2500, 2800, 3.0, 3.0L, 3.3Li, or Bavaria), or the 6-series.
He jumps from the new 7-series of 1977 to BMW's 1990 joint venture with Rolls-Royce plc to build aircraft engines in Germany. He goes on to give one more howler:
"In 1998, after extended talks concerning the sale of Rolls Royce, BMW officially bought the rights to the Rolls Royce name and logo from Volkswagen, with the transition expected to take place in 2003."
The "extended talks" concerning the sale of Rolls-Royce Motors were so extended because Volskwagen did *not* have the rights to the Rolls-Royce name and logo. Although Volkswagen had outbid BMW to buy the assets of Rolls-Royce Motors, including the rights to the grille and the mascot, Rolls-Royce plc, owner of the Rolls-Royce name and logo, had sold the licence to use the name and logo to BMW, their partner in the joint venture mentioned earlier. Eventually, an agreement was reached wherein Volkswagen continued to build both marques until 2003 (Popescu's article was written in 2000) and then gave BMW the rights to the grille and the mascot, renaming its subsidiary Bentley Motors.