Original subtitles

(fast, rhythmic rock music)

- [Narrator] Ultra-modern and trailblazing technology,

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innovation, design, and driving pleasure.

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These are the driving factors

that have made the Bavarian manufacturer over 100 years

into what it is today; a global player

moving confidently into the future.

(rhythmic, upbeat music)

To get there, we need to go on a journey through time,

which begins in 1916.

(rhythmic, upbeat music)

Cars and motorbikes are the things

for which the BMW brand is known the world over,

but its origins lie in the air.

(slow, rhythmic music)

BMW was founded to manufacture aircraft engines.

As early as 1917 the 3A engine was developed and presented,

immediately proving to be a good seller.

The young manufacturer is investing in a new market

with massive business potential.

BMW historian, Manfred Grunert,

knows the background to this.

- [Translator] It also placed during World War I,

which meant there was a strong demand from the military,

and that helped BMW to achieve a prominent position

in the aircraft engine industry.

- [Narrator] These early BMW engines

are fitted on the Fokker D.VII Biplane fighter,

amongst others, a successor model to the famous

Fokker Dr.I, as flown by Manfred von Richthofen,

better known as The Red Barron.

For BMW, engines were the starting point,

the basis of its business, and today

they are still one of the key pillars of the company.

Aircraft engines not only form the foundations

of the engineering, but are also money-makers

in two world wars.

But engines also play a key role at BMW

during the interwar years.

In 1923, the company decides to build motorbikes,

equipped with a revolutionary power unit,

the boxer engine.

(peaceful piano music)

Ulrich Knieps is an expert

on historic BMW vehicles and engines.

- [Translator] The special aspect of these

two-cylinder flat twin boxer engines,

is that the crank shaft is in line

with the direction of travel,

so the force can be transferred directly

to the rear axle via cardan shaft,

and this principle has held firm up to today.

The most recent example is the GS 1200,

which continues to be based on this fundamental principle.

- [Narrator] Boxer engines are therefore

still very much in demand.

What started back then has continued up to the present,

whether it is an aircraft engine, a boxer,

a six-cylinder, or now, an electric engine,

researching and developing has been one of the pillars

in the company's history.

Part of the success story is the R32,

which is simultaneously the founding stone

of BMW motorbike engineering.

The Dutch designers Carole Baijings and Stefan Scholten

know the mood of the period.

- I think they come from very dark periods,

and somehow I think people in general, they came to life,

and that's what you celebrate in this decade.

The extravagance and showing your identity

with furniture, or with design, or with a car,

was new and done very expressive,

a beautiful time, actually.

- [Narrator] Aircraft engines, motorbikes,

but one element is still missing

in these early years; the car.

Today, BMW produces and sells cars all around the world,

but in the early 1920s this segment

still remained to be discovered as a business model.

- [Translator] The thing that BMW is best known for today

is actually the last product to be added to its portfolio.

The opportunity arose in 1928,

when the Gothaer Waggonfabrik company

was looking to sell its car production operations,

for example, the production facility in Eisenach.

- [Narrator] Along with the facilities in Eisenach,

BMW also acquires the license for cost-favorable

mass manufacture of an English small car.

Initially the car continues to be marketed

as the Dixi, and it is only from 1929 on

that it is badged as a BMW.

The car era has now definitely begun for the company,

and sales are good.

The company sells 27,000 vehicles,

a very high figure for that time.

Today BMW is a leading premium producer of cars.

The product range and sales are huge,

2.25 million cars were sold worldwide in 2015.

The early days of a few thousand cars sold per year

are far in the past.

- It's so nice to see this car,

the landscape, you wanna drive there,

but it looks so sensual and round.

- But it's still very, an important aspect

of the BMW brand in general I think is all about emotion,

the whole appearance, and that's the reason why

I said performance, how you get in the car

and out the car, how you look, how you dress,

everything should be matching,

and that's actually what it does, it brands,

and in choosing this type of car,

it's not stopping with the car.

- [Narrator] The 315 is not only sold as an everyday car,

but it is also used for racing.

It's a combination that will run through

the company's entire history like a golden thread.

From that time up to the present,

sporty performance has been written large.

Automotive historian Wolfgang Blaube

knows about the racing successes of these early BMWs.

- [Translator] Because it was very reliable

and very robust.

For example, the two-stroke DKW,

with its 600 cubic centimeter engine,

were clearly faster, but on the Nurburgring, for instance,

they were quite commonly stranded after two to three laps

with engine damage.

Whereas the BMW 315 Watbook continued to put in the laps

and masterfully won the 750 class time after time.

- [Narrator] It is records, and not just on the roads.

In 1931, this rail zeppelin was powered by a BMW engine

on its record run, reaching a speed

of 230 kilometers an hour.

One year later this same engine powers this flying boat

on a flight around the world.

The plane covered over 44,000 kilometers

in 270 flying hours.

(video narrator speaking foreign language)

These successes also fueled the car construction segment.

The 328 launches in 1936.

It is to become a milestone in automotive history.

In 1940, Huschke von Hanstein and Walter Baumer

won the Millie Miglia in a 328.

Overall, four of the first six places in this race

are filled by teams racing the 328,

and BMW occupies a niche on the market.

As early as the 1930s, the company was selling

sports racing cars for everyday use on the roads,

and the success story continues.

- [Translator] There's a saying,

win on Sunday, sin on Monday.

It's the best advertising

you could possibly imagine in motorsports,

leaving the competition trailing in your wake.

- [Narrator] And the visual design too was groundbreaking,

as Professor Paolo Tumminelli acknowledges.

- [Translator] The quality of the 328

in the sports version, a car very much geared to efficiency,

was definitely that embellishment and superfluity

were dispensed with.

The focus is generally on developing a sports machine.

- [Narrator] The 328 is also the first instance

featuring the double kidney-shaped radiator open design.

Although it looked very different from how it does today,

it is nevertheless typical, and will remain

a defining style element.

Whether it's the 507, a design icon from the 1950s,

or today's i8, design has always been a pillar

of the company.

(grand string music)

(slow, noble music)

In 1933, the Nazis seized power.

Germany rearms and the military

becomes increasingly important.

It changes every aspect of economic life in Germany.

Rearmament projects offer many companies

a real commercial opportunity,

where they can profit and grow on a massive scale.

BMW too, leaps at the opportunity.

- [Translator] If you want an air force,

you need aircraft engines.

And one of the major aircraft engine manufacturers

at that time was BMW.

In other words, from the mid-1930s,

BMW becomes an integral part

in national socialist rearmament.

The Nazis did ask for rearmament,

but the company itself participated in it,

and had an economic interest in setting to the Luftwaffe,

which then if fact, it did.

(video narrator speaking foreign language)

- [Narrator] Aircraft engines are the specialist field

of Gerhard Filchner, aviation curator

at the Deutches Museum.

- [Translator] Well, the 132 was built from 1933 onwards

by BMW for the Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft,

and the Ju 52 was then also used

during the second World War as a transport aircraft.

The engine remained in production throughout the war,

in fact, right to the very end of the war.

(airplane engine whirring)

(video narrator speaking foreign language)

- [Narrator] Thanks to aircraft engine production

BMW grows very strongly,

but many of the predominantly male workforce

are called to the Front.

At first people try employing women

to cover the shortage of labor.

Only through using prisoners of war

is BMW able to maintain aircraft engine production,

and could even triple their production through to 1944.

- [Translator] Well, this engine served as the power unit

primarily in the Focke-Wulf 190 fighter.

When war broke out, the demand for aircraft engines

for military aircraft increased massively,

and these engines were then built in large numbers.

In the case of this BMW 801 engine,

over 20,000 units.

- [Narrator] It is a lucrative business,

and BMW can barely keep up with the demand.

Civil production is halted, but motorsports continue.

The motorsports team in Hitler's Germany, the NSKK,

or Nationalsozialistische Kraftfahrkorps, uses BMW cars,

which are also serviced in the company's racing department.

The Bavarian car manufacturer took a fairly critical view

of this arrangement.

- [Translator] Because the Nazis often did not

pay their invoices, or only paid after a long delay,

in the BMW racing department, a kind of,

what I would call a creditor boycott came about,

in that people said to themselves, okay,

but then the lads just won't be racing quite as fast.

We simply adjust the carburetor to burn a bit leaner,

put the valves a little looser, and then the car

simply won't have the performance.

- [Narrator] As the work progresses, BMW also launches

its first jet engines, which power fighter

and reconnaissance aircraft.

But the growing production of goods for the war effort

can only be attained with more additional workers.

From 1942 onwards, concentration camp inmates

were used in German industry, and also at BMW.

- [Translator] And the key point I see

in judging BMW during this period,

is the recruitment of forced labor

and concentration camp inmates,

people who were obliged to serve the Regime.

- [Narrator] Dr. Andreas Heusler is co-author

of the standard work on the use of forced labor

in German industry.

- [Translator] It wasn't as if the SS, or the state,

or the Labor Exchange came and said, please BMW,

we have these workers available.

It was an idea which arose within BMW itself

due to the shortage of labor,

which had become a major threat to production.

- [Narrator] The concentration camp inmates working at BMW

lived in a camp that was closely supervised

under inhuman conditions.

The camps were specifically built for the needs

of the large Munich companies.

- [Translator] In the Munich camp

people got up at 4:30 a.m. and went to bed at 10 p.m.

In between these hours it was simply roll calls and work.

The living conditions were catastrophic,

particularly the hygiene conditions,

and of course the work itself too.

- [Narrator] Max Mannheimer was forced to experience

this physically exhausting work himself.

- [Translator] Certainly the work was such

that we had to undertake manual labor

like carrying metal reinforcing rods by the bundle,

which was so heavy they took three of us to carry them.

We had nothing to protect our shoulders,

no padding or anything like that.

It was heavy work, we unloaded cement,

so it was hard physical labor.

- [Narrator] Max Mannheimer is just one of many people

who were compelled to perform inhuman work

as a forced laborer.

After the end of the war for a long time,

BMW did not speak about this dark chapter in its history.

Although during the war years thousands of forced laborers

were employed in the company, it was only in the 1980s

that the company began to deal with the issue.

In the early 1990s a foundation was set up

to compensate the victims, and the company's past

was subjected to historical analysis.

(slow, noble music)

Following the end of the war in 1945,

Germany is divided up into four occupation zones.

Economic life has collapsed, the war has left its mark

and destroyed businesses and infrastructure.

That damage also extends to BMW.

At BMW Munich, there is an initial ban of production

of automobiles from 1945 on,

due to American Forces pressure.

The aircraft engine works are closed,

and there are not enough machines to start in

on more large scale commercial manufacturing of products

for civilian use.

- [Translator] Initially it was emergency production

that was permitted by the Americans.

In Munich we saw the manufactured products

such as BMW saucepans and dough-making machines,

everything imaginable.

They even manufactured bicycles there.

- [Narrator] But at that time,

BMW has two manufacturing sites;

Munich, which was under American occupation,

and Eisenach in the east, which is under Soviet occupation.

- [Translator] Well after the war, the situation was

that Germany was divided, and BMW's previous

automotive manufacturing operations

had been located in Eisenach.

Munich was home to the development department,

so BMW was split in two in terms of

automotive construction and design,

and it seemed to make a lot of sense

to continue with that twin track approach.

- [Narrator] Eisenach continues to build pre-war car models.

Following many legal disputes,

the Eisenach plant is renamed,

and the blue and white BMWs become red and white EMWs.

(light, upbeat music)

In the years that follow,

East Germany increasingly shuts itself off,

and BMWs are rarely seen on East German roads.

Olympic figure skating champion Katarina Witt recalls.

- [Translator] Growing up in East Germany,

cars were also in short supply and accompanied luxury.

But because I was an Olympic champion,

I had the privilege of being allowed to buy a car

relatively quickly, so I didn't have to wait 10 years or so.

- [Narrator] The year 1948, finally Munich is again allowed

to build production facilities.

(video narrator speaking foreign language)

And the market for it is there,

because following the war, the population in Germany

needs an economical means of getting around.

The BMW motorbikes are a real hit for sales,

but the company also hankers after a reentry

into the car market.

Since in poor post-war Germany

practically no one can afford a mid-range car,

BMW initially aims at building a car

targeted for wealthy customers and for export,

thus promising high profit margins.

(upbeat music)

The 501 is a true luxury car.

Featuring a V8 light alloy engine,

the car is ahead of its time in terms of engineering.

BMW is looking to make a name for itself

in the luxury segment with the 501.

The plan is to use the profits later on

to fund construction of a mid-range model.

- [Translator] So BMW comes up with a design hybrid,

a car that actually could be modern,

but where the company cannot forgo a design

featuring sweeping, romantic curves.

- [Narrator] The romantic curves are dated,

and are not well-received by the public.

The car does not sell well

since it has an old-fashioned look.

Despite the conservative times in which it launches,

only a few customers can afford it.

That said, the few Baroque Angels have a strong reputation.

- [Translator] The shape of the radiator grill

caused the car to emit a high whistling sound

at high speeds.

And at BMW, that evolved into a kind of image factor,

the car that goes so fast that it starts to whistle.

So if a Mercedes driver heard that whistle, he knew,

look out, here comes a BMW, that pacey Baroque Angel,

so I'd better move into the slow lane.

- [Narrator] But the group of purchasers of luxury cars

is simply too small, and in post-war Germany

BMW only appeals to a rich minority with its Baroque Angel.

- People were in need of a lot of products,

so it was not a time about okay, I wanna make a statement,

I want products, I want good products,

because I need to build up a new life,

or I want to come up with a new environment setting.

- [Narrator] In dire straights, BMW buys up

the license for the Isetta, an Italian bubble car.

The Bavarian constructors modify the Isetta

and install the reliable motorbike engine into it.

Over time, the design also slightly changes.

(video narrator speaking foreign language)

- [Translator] The Italians didn't like the car at all.

For them it was ridiculous.

Rather have an attractive motorbike than half a car,

and here you can see German culture in play

with quite different values; common sense, function,

and basically practical values.

Hence BMW fitting BMW engines into the Isetta,

improving their chassis design

and producing a car which was a Germany-wide success.

- [Narrator] It's hard to believe,

but the Isetta is even used in some races,

barely imaginable today

given it's 85-kilometers-an-hour top speed

delivered by the 250 CC motorbike engine.

(slow, noble music)

One very special car in the 100-year history of BMW

is the 507.

Following the sales flop of the somewhat old-fashioned

501 Baroque Angel, it was a massive leap

towards the future of the automobile.

Today, the car is a design legend.

- [Translator] The 507 is a unique car.

Unique because somehow being born out of adversity,

it was intended to have incredible symbolic value,

and it still does so today because of the way it looks.

- [Narrator] Racing driver Hans-Joachim Stuck

loves the 507 too.

His father owned one of the few late models.

- [Translator] For me as a young lad of eight or nine,

the 507 was an absolute highlight back in the day.

The car was mega-cool, ahead of its time,

and I associate a very special history with this car.

When my father was touring in his 507 we met Elvis Presley.

If only we'd known what a superstar he would become,

we would definitely have asked him for his autograph,

though sadly we missed the opportunity.

- [Narrator] Elvis was just as excited by the 507

as Strietzel was about Elvis.

He bought the car from Strietzel's father then and there,

and took it away with him back to the USA.

But where is the 507 today?

In the Sunshine State, a big discovery is made

on a small farm.

In this barn there is a huge piece of BMW history.

Vintage car collector Jack Castor

tells about the day he bought the mangled car.

- That was a good feeling.

At least even if the car was a mess,

at least I was into it, the car.

- [Narrator] This vintage car looks

as if it's come from the scrapyard, which is not surprising,

since it has a long history behind it.

It belonged to the racing driver legend Hans Stuck,

and then Elvis Presley, before being forgotten about.

- It's more special to me that Hans Stuck drove the car

than that Elvis had his hands on it.

I have a lot of respect for Hans Stuck.

- [Narrator] But the car didn't look like this back then.

It was in poor condition.

The engine was missing and there was rust everywhere.

- I had a choice not to keep it,

but I wanna see this car restored,

and all of 'em really,

and I can't afford to do it.

And so I'm happy about that,

it's what's good for the car, is very important.

- [Narrator] Jack asked BMW for help, and he gets it.

The barn find is set to be restored to its former glory.

The 507 with the unique history's collected

and taken to Germany for restoration.

(light Hawaiian guitar music)

(playful music)

Arriving in Germany, the car is restored from the bottom up,

and the first step is to remove the paint

because originally the car was not red at all.

When Elvis Presley was stationed in Germany

as a soldier and bought it, the 507 was still white.

But as he became increasingly famous,

he had the car repainted.

The reason? Too many female fans

were leaving red lipstick marks on the white vehicle.

Now the car is to be restored to its original condition,

and soon the iconic car will have

all of its former glamor and appeal restored.

The BMW 507 was, and is, a legend.

One reason for this back then

was the advanced engineering.

The 507 was already fitted with a V8 light alloy engine,

offering 150 horsepower, but its looks

are still delighting designers today.

- Imagining yourself with this car,

you suddenly imagine a totally different way of living,

and I think this freedom and this look and feel

is really what of course everyone would aim for,

if they could afford it.

So I think that's a great, yeah,

a really new step ahead in car design.

- [Narrator] The 507 also attracts the film industry.

In the film Gluck und Liebe in Monaco

at the end of the 1950s,

the car found its way onto the big screen,

magnetically drawing envious eyes to it.

(women speaking foreign language)

(light 50's rock music)

- [Translator] The 507 was built to ride relatively high

on classic 50's narrow tall tires,

and then you had this shape, which was really much too short

at the front and the rear.

Somehow you could see from underneath

and see how the chassis combines with the bodywork.

I'd say that's the case particularly from behind,

a bit like a woman wearing a proper miniskirt

even before there were any miniskirts.

So you have the impression you can catch a glimpse

of the underwear, and that makes the car

so incredibly sexy.

- [Narrator] And so cinema superstar Alandra Lon,

motor racing legend John Surtees,

and Bond Girl Ursula Andress

are all found driving a 507.

- [Translator] When I was nine years old

my mother made me be an altar boy.

Dad and I weren't interested at all,

but he picked me up on the dot of seven

when the mass had ended, outside the church,

in the 507, sounding the horn.

That irritated the priest so much that he chucked me out,

and that was the end of being an altar boy,

and you could say that our wishes were granted.

That's a memory I think I'll never forget.

(slow, mysterious music)

(slow, noble music)

- [Narrator] At the end of the 1950s,

BMW's lacking one thing; above all, a mid-range car.

Because up until then, the Isetta was only able to service

the bottom price segment,

with the Baroque Angel and the 507 satisfying demand

from its wealthiest clientele.

Commercially, BMW was in deep trouble.

- [Translator] Well, the crisis at BMW really starts

with the downturn in the motorbike market.

It signifies the last of the key money-maker,

and the car division cannot make up for the loss.

- [Narrator] That is also the view taken in 1959,

there is criticism from all sides.

(speaking foreign language)

Daimler doesn't suffer from these problems

because the brand benefited significantly

from the economic miracle, and is now even set to expand.

The banks put up a proposed deal;

Daimler should take over BMW.

The company's locations offer advantages due to proximity,

and the plant is attractive

because it was only recently rebuilt

and staffed with trained specialists.

The decision on the sale to Daimler

was to be made at the general meeting in 1959.

The executive and supervisory board present the plan

to the shareholders.

(bell ringing)

(speaking foreign language)

- [Translator] I believe it's quite unique

in the history of the German Stock Corporation Act,

and such a proposal did not result in the sale.

The dealer representatives and small shareholders

brazenly blocked it.

- [Narrator] The decision is deferred,

and following this general meeting

Daimler loses interest in the acquisition.

But it means that the future remains uncertain.

It is only with the entry of the industrialist

Herbert Quandt that a solution appears.

He invests, and becomes the main shareholder,

in the company.

It marks the definitive end of the takeover.

(speaking foreign language)

But what would the automotive world look like today

if these small shareholders had not held out

and Quandt and not stepped in?

- [Translator] The automobile world

would have certainly been much the poorer for it.

I also believe that the competitive fight

between Mercedes-Benz and BMW,

conducted over decades in a fair sporting rivalry,

albeit with a fierceness which should not be underestimated,

has resulted in many innovations, many new developments,

and better development overall.

- [Translator] As in sport,

competition simply moves you forward,

so there's always someone who wants to be first

with an innovation of some special creativity,

and the competition is also definitely about

who is the quickest to market.

- [Narrator] BMW is now saved, but there has been no change

in the difficult economic situation.

The profit-generating mid-range car was still missing.

The first step in that direction is taken in 1959

with the BMW 700, which despite having only

a two-cylinder boxer engine,

can still deliver high performance.

(video narrator speaking foreign language)

- [Translator] That's the legendary BMW 700 Sport,

which my father became king of the mountains in 1960.

It's not the original car,

but I do have Dad's original steering wheel,

and I'm very proud to have it.

- [Narrator] With 40 horsepower and weighing 650 kilos,

this small car achieves driving performance

comparable to a Mercedes 190,

which has an engine twice that size

but consequently weighs much more.

As a result, the 700 emerges as a true talent

on the racetrack.

- [Translator] 20 seconds from not to 100

kilometers per hour, back then, that was a real statement,

and it meant that the car was very much in demand.

It was highly successful in motor sports,

and was used by per-fet-teers,

including many running with special body work.

- [Translator] I did my first laps in the Nurburgring

in the BMW 700, age 13 I should add,

while Dad was sitting next to me.

But of course he was terrified about it,

he was a dreadful passenger, just as I am today.

- [Narrator] The BMW 700 could be produced

at relatively low cost, sells well,

and brings in good profits for the manufacturer.

BMW is able to reinvest the profits made.

- [Translator] And they decided to use the proceeds

from the BMW 700 to market the New Class.

And this model went down very well with the market,

and effectively saved BMW

from actually going into insolvency.

- [Narrator] In 1961, the 1500 is unveiled

at the IAE International Automotive Trade fair

in Frankfurt, taking BMW out of this crisis situation.

Now the Munich-based manufacturer

finally has a sporty mid-range car.

Just five years after this near-bankruptcy,

BMW pays its shareholders a dividend of 6%.

Following this success, the company launches

further mid-range cars;

the 1600, 1800, and 2000 models are introduced.

They are known collectively as the New Class.

In 1965 the 100,000th car rolls off the production line.

(video narrator speaking foreign language)

But the BMW engineers develop the New Class further,

giving birth to the 02 series.

Thanks to its favorable construction costs

and high sales figures, it is probably the most important

car in the brand's survival.

(light, upbeat music)

- [Translator] Imagine, 47 years ago,

that was my first racing car, how fabulous is that?

- [Narrator] A BMW tuner discovers the talent

of the young Stuck and wants to see him

on the racing circuit.

- [Translator] And that was a very difficult decision

for my father.

He only has to say yes once and I'm hooked.

So then I'm driving my first race at 18

in a Kaufen BMW 2002 TI,

over 300 kilometers at the Nurburgring.

I did pretty well there, finishing third,

laying the foundation for a very long

and successful career, you could say.

- [Narrator] As so often at BMW,

success on the racing circuit boosts sales

to private customers.

(slow, noble music)

In 1972, the Summer Olympics come to Munich,

an event that turns the whole city upside down.

- [Translator] It means that the whole city

once again experiences a massive push for development

in just a few years.

And the Munich we know and love today

would really have been unimaginable without this

Olympic Games project.

- [Narrator] BMW too contributes significantly

to this urban development.

Towards the end of the 1960s, construction begins

on the BMW Tower, also known as the Four Cylinder,

on account of its shape.

Later it will become the company's headquarters,

which it remains to this day.

But BMW wants to attract attention

during the Olympic Games in other ways too,

and arouse the curiosity of an international audience.

It succeeds in this by building a car,

which for that time, is truly unusual.

- [Translator] We converted a BMW 1600 into an electric car.

It was packed with lead batteries,

and there were very simple reasons for this;

the car guided the marathon runners around the course,

and because it had no exhaust gases

it meant it was very sensible

to use an electric car for this.

- [Narrator] And the bright orange car fits perfectly

with this Flower Power era in which the hip youth

wants to enjoy life and have fun,

but is also starting to think for the first time

about a clean future.

In the 1970s, the company's employees were however

concerned with quite different things.

In 1970 there are changes on the executive board,

and the new chairman, Eberhard von Kuenheim,

sees himself facing a number of challenges.

- [Translator] That was a special time,

it was a time of expansion.

Today the whole world is open to us,

and in business terms, we can go anywhere.

But back then we were still just an upper Bavarian company,

and we needed to grow beyond the constraints

of being an upper Bavarian company.

- [Narrator] One challenge lies in differentiating

the groups of vehicles more clearly,

and in establishing a new order.

Just three numbers and everyone understands

which class and engines are involved.

It's an arrangement which has prevailed

through to the present.

- [Translator] There was always a clear orientation,

we know right from the beginning where this car fits in.

On one hand in terms of size, but naturally,

also in terms of price.

This system has therefore proved

to be highly future-proofed, and as a result,

we have maintained very clear positioning of our cars

through to today.

- [Narrator] The design language

that BMW has already instilled with the New Class

now develops into a homogenous cross-series concept,

and most elements can still be found today

in BMW's typical design.

- [Translator] Fundamentally it's the first time

that an automotive product is given something

like a corporate design.

And the power of that idea was massive

because suddenly people were talking about a brand

in a completely different sense,

and it was understood immediately.

- [Narrator] 1972 marks the first appearance of the 520,

the first 5 Series BMW, and thus the first car

using the new numerical naming system.

Three years after this, the 3 Series follows.

- [Translator] The 3 Series

is really the heart of the brand.

It stands for a truly compact sports saloon

with plenty of performance, up to 125 horsepowers

packaged in such a small saloon.

It was extremely successful.

- [Narrator] BMW made the breakthrough

with the second model in the 3 Series.

It made its market launch in the early 1980s.

Internally BMW calls the new 3 Series car the E30.

With the new 3 Series the company looks to offer

a range of models, and accordingly the cars available,

with many different engine options.

It's a principle which continues to be further refined,

in which makes the 3 Series the most popular car

from BMW up to the present.

The latest generation of the 3 Series

sees BMW continuing its success story.

(grand, noble music)

With numerous triumphs during the 1930s,

BMW established its reputation as a manufacturer

of sports vehicles.

The company re-engaged with this reputation

in the mid-1960s, and succeeded in breaking through

in touring car sports.

In 1972, BMW therefore brought all motor sports activities

together into one operation.

The limited liability company,

BMW Motorsport GmbH, was formed,

and Jochen Neerpasch joined the company

as Head of Motor Sports.

- [Translator] Jochen Neerpasch was really the first person

to recognize that fitness and concentration

are very closely related,

that you need to be healthy and fit for that,

which we achieved through altitude training

in Saint Maurice with elements such as cross-country skiing,

endurance training, and power training.

If you look at today's Formula One drivers

or WC rally drivers, every one of them

has his own personal trainer, and nutritionist, and so on.

That was effectively invented back in the day

by Jochen Neerpasch and by BMW.

- [Narrator] Under Jochen Neerpasch,

Motorsport BMW was organized on a more professional footing,

and also with a more international outlook.

At the same time, the 3.0 CSL was being developed.

The L stands for lightweight.

- [Translator] In the 1960s, lightweight construction

was in principally, a simple concept,

and just meant losing weight.

To that extent, the thinking was limited.

The distinctive and key aspects of the CSL

were the aerodynamic elements, such as the spoilers,

which also gave the car its famous nickname Batman,

the Batmobile.

- [Narrator] Stuck becomes a works driver

and starts in the 3.0 CSL in races all over the world.

But what was his fondest memory from this period?

- [Translator] I was 24 when BMW decided to go to America

to show the people over there that BMW

was not British Motor Works, but Bavarian Motor Works.

And setting off at 24 for a year in the U.S.

was a massive step into the wider world,

and what we experienced during these two years

was legendary.

- [Narrator] Legendary is another idea

coming from Jochen Neerpasch.

BMW is the first team to set up a junior team

for motorsports.

Young drivers like Manfred Winkelhock, Marc Surer,

and Eddie Cheever helped to build their cars themselves,

and are taught how to train.

This early support and encouragement pays off;

they all become successful racing drivers.

(engines whirring)

In 1978 the first in the line of M-models arrives, BM1,

a racing car that can also be driven on regular roads.

With a futuristic design, somewhat unusual

for a company which is otherwise known

for its modest looks.

The shape is so different

that BMW is faced with a challenge.

- [Translator] The question was where to put

the BMW emblem so that I could show off

its brand allegiance.

Maybe no one wanted to argue with (speaks foreign language),

but the shape needed to be adjusted,

and for that reason, two badges were used,

to right and left at the rear of these wings,

which is naturally a curious way to badge a vehicle.

- [Narrator] However, the innovative concept of the M1

initially puts customers off,

and BMW attempts to create an incentive to purchase.

The M1 Procar series comes about.

Active touring car drivers

and current Formula One professionals

race against one another.

You can then see who is the best driver

because no one can point to the car as an excuse,

every driver starts in an M1.

It is a brand trophy which is the stuff of legends,

even today.

- [Translator] And these races, just a car with its exhaust,

six exhausts roaring as one, the sound in Monte Carlo,

you can't imagine it.

Even today it gives me goosebumps.

If I managed to defeat a Mr. Lauder or a Mr. Regazzoni,

that was absolutely the greatest thing ever,

beating those guys.

All that combined with good prize money

met in a one-time show which hasn't been matched since.

(race car engines whirring)

I won the Procar Series once, in the privity classification,

but I had to share the first prize,

which was a BMW M1, with the team boss Manfred Cassani,

because I didn't have the 50,000 Deutsch Marks

I would have needed to pay him,

but that was a serious mistake, I still regret it.

- [Narrator] The M1 is followed by the M3.

With a two-liter, four-cylinder engine,

the M3 becomes the most successful BMW touring car.

(video narrator speaking foreign language)

- [Translator] So the fan out there in the stands

at the Nurburgring, he sees the bodywork,

he's M3, or he's M1, or he's Coupe,

putting your laps down on the track.

I believe it was very important for the brand,

and that's why BMW is so successful today,

because motorsports effectively committed the fans

to these cars, which also drive on regular roads,

and that positively influenced the development

of the BMW brand.

- [Narrator] And in other areas too,

BMW Motorsport proves to be outstandingly successful.

The year 1983 marks the high point

of this period of success.

The Brabham BMW BT52 is fitted with a turbo engine.

Nelson Piquet drives it in Formula One

and wins the World Championship.

(grand, noble music)

Its success is ongoing.

The company is no longer a small manufacturer

based in Bavaria, but a global player.

In the early 1970s, BMW opens its first foreign plant

in South Africa, and that is just a first step.

- [Translator] And that's how you start to make plans,

where can we build?

Ultimately, it proves to be in Spartanburg,

in South Carolina.

It's an incredibly important step for BMW.

- [Narrator] The U.S. plant opens in 1994.

It is the first plant outside Germany

where BMW manufactures the product itself,

from the first screw through to the paint work.

Nowadays, Spartanburg is BMW's biggest production plant.

Since the 1950s, the BMW product range

has also featured top end models.

In 1986 BMW unveils its new 7 Series car,

setting new standards in luxury class,

above all with the 12-cylinder engine.

(loud, upbeat rock music)

In 1997 the successful James Bond film

Tomorrow Never Dies is filmed.

And in the starring role, not only is there Pierce Brosnan,

but also the third generation of the BMW 7 Series.

In the film the car exhibits truly magical powers.

It drives as if by magic, but a glimpse behind the scenes

reveals what is actually going on.

(upbeat music)

But what was simply a vision back then

becomes a reality only a few years later.

Latest generation BMWs keep in lane

without the driver intervening, avoid collisions,

maintain a safe distance, and brake independently.

The current 7 Series BMW can park itself

at the press of a button, no driver required.

The James Bond vision has become a reality.

Commercially too there are visions during the 1990s.

In 1994 BMW acquires the Rover Group,

and with it, brands such as Land Rover, MINI,

Triumph, MG, and Rover.

The aim for BMW is to service the mass market better.

At first the collaboration with Rover Group develops well,

but it is not sustained for long.

- [Translator] After taking over the Rover Group,

BMW realized fairly quickly that it had negotiated its way

into a disastrous situation, and to that extent

the company did well to fend it off again.

- [Narrator] At the same time however,

BMW keeps the MINI brand.

Automotive experts initially take a critical view

of that decision, but the Bavarian owners

succeed in moving the cult of the old MINI into a new age.

The failure with Rover cost billions,

and at first looks like a major crisis.

But BMW finds the answer to this challenge.

At the structural level in 1999, the BMW Group is formed,

from which now on will plan and manage

all of its brands centrally.

The picture is rounded off with the purchase

of Rolls Royce and the launch of the X Series, the BMW SUVs.

At the start of 2000, BMW is a firmly-established presence

practically all over the world,

and only the Asian market is lagging behind.

In 2003 they start a joint venture

with the Chinese manufacture Brilliance,

and start car assembly operations in China.

And the next challenge lies in wait,

progress is needed on environmental protection.

- [Translator] If you want to position yourself credibly

within the electric car project,

you have to show it a new car.

The idea of taking a Golf and installing an electric engine

and batteries, it may work from the technical point of view,

but it's not the car of tomorrow.

It's like taking a carriage 100 years ago,

ditching the horses, and sticking an engine onto it.

So now a new design was needed.

- [Narrator] The answer to this is the i3 and i8.

The electric BMWs are mainly manufactured

using carbon fiber materials,

thus revolutionizing automotive construction.

Sustainability begins right from the start

of the manufacturing process.

A carbon plant in the north of the USA

manufactures the high tech material.

It is much lighter and more stable

than the iron or aluminum sheeting

conventionally used in car construction.

Carbon is used for the bodywork or for individual components

on a growing number of models.

Two hydroelectricity stations provide the power

for carbon production.

And in Germany too, there is a strong emphasis

on protecting the environment at the works in Leipzig.

Here all the energy needed to produce the electric BMWs

is generated using wind turbines.

As a result, annual CO2 emissions are being reduced

by some 210,000 tons.

- [Translator] I also think

that this is the right direction,

that there is consistency in looking to market

an electric car and an eco-friendly car.

That there's a solid basis behind it,

and from the smallest screw to the end product

the manufacturing process is right for it.

- [Narrator] Over its lifecycle, the i3

uses up to 50% less energy

than a comparable conventional car.

And the customer wants even more change in mobility,

the answer lies in carsharing.

Personal cars are increasingly being replaced

by mobility concepts.

These technical and social innovations

are also a major theme for the General Director

of the Deutsche Museum.

- [Translator] Well, people are often saying

that young people don't value ownership

of a vehicle these days, but rather the use of it.

Which means you also have to create models,

social models ultimately, at BMW that address mobility,

preferences, and the aspirations of young people,

and people in general, for the future.

- [Narrator] The i3 features

in the carsharing fleet DriveNow.

This is a hire car project

whereby people can spontaneously

hire a car on the street.

The billing is on a minute-by-minute basis.

Another forward-looking mobility concept is the i8.

- [Translator] The i8 was developed at the same time.

This sports car, which is not a pure electric car,

but a plug-in hybrid, so it has a three-cylinder

combustion engine on the one hand,

along with very powerful electric drives.

And that produces this work of art, which is called i8,

combined with a highly futuristic design,

which is clearly the route we are taking

as we head into the future.

- [Narrator] To be able to continue

as a successful global player in the future,

BMW needs to capitalize on the experience it has gained

in over 100 years of history.

No one knows what the next 100 years will look like,

but the Munich-based global group

has already set down a marker fueled by its vision.

(slow, rhythmic rock music)