Back again: Revisiting the BMW Museum

With most shops in town closed on Sundays, there isn’t usually a whole lot to do in Munich besides visiting the local biergartens. And since I’d already done that the day before, it only made sense to use our free time to drop by the BMW Welt and Museum once again for a bit of exploring.

There was a particular exhibit I was keen to check out, but before we get to that, let’s take a quick look around the museum and see what’s new!

For repeat visitors, most of the exhibits remain more or less the same, though there were a few new additions to the displays this time around to keep things engaging, like the regularly rotating display of art cars just before one enters the paid area. This time., it was a Z1 painted by German artist, A.R. Penck. Adorned with various symbols and images including the artist’s own iconic stick figures.

Having already visited the museum a few times already, I skipped most of the familiar sights.

A little history lesson here, his unusual-looking vintage racer is the BMW 328 Fachsenfeld Streamline. Built as a prototype based on the aerodynamic principles of Paul Jaray, its final form was shaped by Baron Reinhard Koenig-Fachsenfeld, with Helmut Schwandner of Wendler refining the design to include front cut-outs for the radiator. The result was a remarkably efficient car for its time, achieving a drag coefficient of just 0.38 Cd and a top speed of 175 km/h. Not too shabby for 1937!

One of the biggest changes this time was the repurposing of what used to be a 3 Series showcase, featuring every generation from the earliest to the most recent, into a new exhibit dedicated to the 5 Series, displayed in a similar chronological layout.

I don’t think there ever was a bad looking 5er.

This E34 Touring looked absolutely fantastic, finished in what appears to be Amethyst Metallic, which would make it an Individual-spec car. Very rare indeed!

That stack of cars used to be a stack of 7s!

This is another BMW that has always intrigued me, the 700, also known as the LS. Small, rear-engined, and really small! I’ve always found its shape fascinating, and the idea of a rear-engined BMW just feels so unique. And it wasn’t just a quirky experiment either, the 700 turned out to be a real success, both on the sales floor and on the racetrack!

Fun little story, did you know that this tiny car actually played a part in saving BMW as a company? And not in the way you might expect!

Ultimately, it came down to a bit of dodgy accounting. While the 700 was a hit at the 1959 Frankfurt Motor Show, BMW’s finances remained precarious. Daimler-Benz planned to acquire the company, but management allegedly tried to push the deal through by hiding a crucial detail: the 700’s development costs, which should have been spread over time, were all expensed in 1959, making the company look far worse than it actually was. Shareholders, unions, and dealers opposed the takeover, and the dealers’ attorney successfully delayed the decision, effectively killing the deal.

Impressed by the loyalty of BMW’s workers and dealers, the Quandt family backed an independent BMW, recapitalizing the company to fulfill 700 orders and fund the Neue Klasse, the model that would ultimately shape BMW into the brand we know today. Crazy right?

I was genuinely thrilled to see this, an E36 Coupe sitting proudly in the museum all on its own. I really do miss mine.

From the looks of it, this Avus Blue example looks to be a 328is.

And what would be sitting across? Well if it isn’t an 02! Yes, this had some feels for me.

In another timeline (ie: one without COEs) I would most certainly still have both of them together.

I do like the Isetta but I don’t think it suits me very much.

And then we move into the M-Powered hall of course, with a beautifully curated collection of M-cars. This E30 is an Evolution II and it looked fabulous!

I’m old enough to remember when you could still pick up an E30 M3 for very reasonable money! Even halfcuts! Now just the engine alone will set you back 5-figures easy.

M535, meet M5. I’d love to have them both.

That engine’s a proper riot past 5.5k rpms. Trust me.

When the E92 M3 GTS first hit the scene, everyone said it was too expensive and “not worth” the premium. Unsurprisingly, that premium only grew as the car aged. A couple of units used to live in Singapore, but the last one was packed up and shipped off to Australia a few years back, now enjoying life far from the clutches of the LTA.

Legends, all of them.

And before we get to the main reason I stopped by the museum, did you know that 2025 isn’t just celebrating 50 years of the 3 Series? It also marks the 50th anniversary of the BMW Art Cars, a project that began back in 1975 with Alexander Calder’s iconic CSL!

Stay tuned for the next update!