Serious engineering in fun driving machines

MUNICH, Germany—When you visit Germany to marvel at its feats of automotive engineering, then your road should ultimately lead you to Munich (German: Munchën), the capital City of Bavaria Germany. Why so? It’s just where the headquarters of BMW is located. And when Asian Carmakers Corp., BMW’s representative in the Philippines, invited this writer to Berlin, the highlight of the itinerary was just that.

Here at the “mecca” of Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works), motoring enthusiasts, journalists, and the public in general realize that BMW is dead serious in building a car that is a joy to drive and ride. The Munich “campus” is a must-see for any tourist: The BMW Welt, the museum, the production plant and the BMW world headquarters office building (which takes the form of a 331-foot-tall four-cylinder tower).

The BMW roundel, a white airplane propeller against a blue sky, is a reminder of the company’s roots as a former aircraft engine manufacturer. BMW has since gone more “down-to-earth” in its endeavors, but its standards of precision, perfection and performance are still sky-high. As auto journalist David Kiley remarked about BMW, the engineers here in Munich are obsessed about the balance of the rear drive setup, the power-to-weight ratio, and the ability to stop from 150 to 0 kph (because the real challenge would be to achieve control, not just speed).

One look at the BMW building, and you’ll know it means business. The historical skyscraper cylinders, and the Bowl adjacent to it (both designed by Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer), have been German landmarks since the 1960s. These structures were extensively written about by professor Frank R.Werner in his book “Coop Himmelb(l)au BMW Welt, Munchen.”

Just across the street is the BMW Welt where a giant double-cone glass structure of Munich twists like a solid hurricane, much like how BMW takes its loyal followers by storm every

time it rolls out new models. The double cone, with the whirlwind design structures, represents the speed, elegance and aesthetics of BMW. No less than 275 architecture firms submitted tenders for the BMW Welt, and the jury’s decision was unanimous.

According to the BMW Welt history, the winning design was by professor Wolf D. Prix and the Viennese architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au. As a student, Prix attended lectures by professor Karl Schwanzer, the architect of the four-cylinder BMW headquarters and the BMW Museum. On one occasion, Schwanzer’s lecture was interrupted by a call. When he came back he said to his students: “Today is like Christmas for me—I have won the BMW Tower!” Exactly 30 years later, as Prix was himself giving a lecture in Vienna, he was interrupted by a call—a call informing him that he “won the BMW Welt competition.”

In terms of function, the BMW Welt is something that Werner describes as a “modern hybrid.”

The Welt is 180 meters at its longest, 130 meters at its widest, and 28 meters at its highest. The in-house function book lists over 1,000 rooms. Turntables on the premier platform, which Werner describes as “presented like altars,” can accommodate up to 250 selected customers per day. These customers can collect their new cars there, then “glide away in it into the open air down a long, curving theatrically staged ramp.”

Customers are also introduced to the technology of their new vehicle in special simulation rooms, then taken down to the premier platform via a cascade of steps “that would not feel out of place in Hollywood.”

There’s also an auditorium, which has 28 segments, or floors, each seat and even the floors can be adjusted vertically. The auditorium can also be split into these segments. A 16-ton “curtain” prevents the spread of fire. A part of the structure has no air-conditioners, but has a metro ventilator and window façade.

The motorbike exhibit area shows the historic transition of BMW from an aircraft engine maker to land craft maker.

The pedestrian bridge that makes its way from the Welt to the BMW Tower and Museum is the longest cantilever bridge in the Bavarian area. Across the street from the Welt is the production plant, a massive machinery that creates the body of a BMW car. The production plant is 269 meters long and 790 meters at its highest.

Here is the heart and soul of the BMW Museum:

For motorbike enthusiasts, drool at the BMW bikes in all their glory suspended in mid-air. They can be seen from several floors hanging behind the glass walls, as visitors travel from

one level to the next. Behind the glass, the history of the BMW motorcycle that began in 1923 is depicted. Back then, company staffers who happened to be motorcycle enthusiasts convinced management that motorized two-wheelers offered great sales potential. Engineers and skilled personnel then transferred the high-quality standards they applied to the company’s aircraft engines to producing motorcycles, thus gaining BMW a deserved place in the premium segment of the market.

A place is also reserved to display the ancestry of BMW 7 series. As proponents of the 7 Series would later note, success in the luxury car class depended on styling supremacy and technical brilliance. The earliest ancestors of the BMW 7 Series took to the road in 1939, a mere 10 years after the first-ever BMW car rolled out. Since that time, the large cars of BMW have been noted for exclusive design and equipment, as well as for innovative, multifaceted and superior driveline technology.

In the elite circle of exclusive cars, BMW has always succeeded in maintaining its highly distinctive, driver-oriented character. In addition to top quality and luxury, every BMW 7 Series car offers what its engineers have striven to achieve: The proverbial “sheer driving pleasure” that customers have come to expect from a BMW.

Since the early 1970s, BMW 3, 5, 6 and 7 Series models have contributed to the company’s constantly growing success. BMW benefits from the extensive experience that its engineers and designers gained in earlier years from a large number of small, medium-sized and large cars. The model designations still in use today were introduced in 1972, when the first 5 series car broke into the market. Its new styling was adopted for the models that followed, with bold elements developed into an unmistakable formal idiom. Intelligent application of new technologies was common to all the versions in each model line, from compact saloons to luxury cars. Safety-conscious dynamics aroused the drivers’ emotions and inspired their confidence.

Later, the 1 and the 8 series and the M, X and Z models continued the same proud tradition, but at the same time opened up new dimensions. This sustainable model policy is a pioneering aspect of BMW brand culture.

Also on display, in a showroom for custom-made BMWs, is a BMW 760Li Individual, its body work and color specially designed to match the Steinway piano. The model has a massage function, heating, rear camera and side view mirror cam that gives a 270-degree view.

The museum also supports junior campus workshops to help children experience technology, dynamics and mobility. Activities in science, physics, mechanical engineering, and energy all happen in this museum.

An English-speaking tour guide disclosed that BMW is in the middle of making a fleet of hydrogen engines to be tried by politicians and celebrities. To further reinforce its environment thrusts, BMW has developed its efficient dynamics technology.

Indeed, BMW is obsessed with down-to-earth pursuits.

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TAGS: engineering, Motoring