Did you know what BMW’s first all-wheel drive car was?

Did you know that the E30-generation 325ix was not the first all-wheel drive car made by BMW? In the late 1930’s, the German military needed an off-road and rugged vehicle for the purposes of transporting supplies and troops. Though the war fights actually began in 1939, the Nazis were already preparing for it long before so they started asking German auto manufacturers to develop rugged vehicles for them. This includes the 1937 BMW 325.

The German military only gave a few requirements for the development of these vehicles. Emblems were not allowed, they had to have permanent all-wheel drive, four limited-slip differentials, and selectable, spindle-linked, four-wheel steering. The BMW 325 met all of these requirements. From 1937 to 1940 BMW created about 3,200 of this kind.

The vehicle ended up not being very useful for the military though. Its extremely short wheelbase, made even shorter by rear-wheel steering, complicated mechanics and poor power-to-weight ratio rendered it pretty useless. It also only developed 50 hp, which wasn’t terrible for 1937, but not sufficient to support the heavy weight of the vehicle plus military equipment.

The range of a full tank was only 150 miles. It became clear that it wasn’t what the military needed after a few years. Thus, the production was halted.

Nonetheless, it still had both four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering in 1937. That makes the BMW Integral Active Steering on the current 5 Series nothing new.

Photo source: “BMW” by Rainer W. Schlegelmilch