Oh boy. This could absolutely tie you up for days. Better get in some bottles of water and healthy snacks because BMW has launched an online historical archive that looks back at the stories of all of its cars. Yes, all of them.
What is this magical online resource called?
The new BMW Group Online Archive, for that is its official name, delves right the way back to the earliest days of the brand, when Bayerische Motoren Werke was born out of the Dixi brand (which was making small and cheap models based on the Austin 7) and took over the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach factory. The Dixi 3/15 PS DA 1 became, in 1929, the first-ever car to wear the blue-and-white badge of BMW.
You see? Straight away, you fall down a rabbit hole of the variations on the original Dixi model (there was a Phaeton tourer, a van, a two-door convertible, even a saloon with a full-length sunroof! Argh! I’ve already lost an hour just writing this paragraph!) and on into BMW’s more famous pre-war cars - such as the 327 and 328, cars that still influence the feel and direction of the brand today - and the less famous stuff, including the first car with a 325 badge, which was actually a 1938 design for a Kübelwagen (reconnaissance vehicle) for the German army. Yes, that German army…
Ahem, let's draw a discreet veil over that…
Then you get into the post-war classics (the Baroque Angel models of the 501 series and the later, lower sleeker 503) and even the dinky little Isetta bubble cars before you get to the first ‘Neue Klasse’ of 1959, which leads into 1602 and 2002 and then into the first E21 3 Series… See what I mean about lost hours?
The archive, for the moment, covers the years 1928 to 2008, so basically from that first Dixi to the E467 3 Series. Six hundred fourteen data sets and 524 images were processed, and there are handy little pop-out information panels on each individual model. There are also links to further reading, including publications such as brochures, workshop literature, onboard literature, and specialist books (someone please take my credit card away from me…). This includes access to the gorgeous BMW Journal customer magazine, which goes all the way back to 1963 (it helps if you can read German at this point, however). There’s even truly arcane stuff such as wiring diagrams for the 1980s E30 3 Series.
What else can I find in here?
The opening of this online archive follows on from similar work done with Mini and BMW Motorrad (motorbikes) back in 2021. Why has BMW done this? Simply because there’s a great history to be explored, and it’s something for “media, enthusiasts and fans.”
Katrin Gfrörer, Head of BMW Group Archives and Historic Vehicle Collection, said: “By making our complete historical model overviews available online, we meet a high external demand for historical product information that has existed for many years and maximises customer satisfaction with another digital tool. In addition, most of the database in our online archive is publicly available on the BMW Group Archive website and can be used for information and research purposes. These measures impressively underline BMW Group Classic's digitisation strategy.”
If you happen to have a LOT of spare time today, the BMW archive can be found HERE, while the Motorrad archive is HERE and the Mini archive is HERE. Enjoy. We’ll see you in a couple of months.