Should you’ve been studying my articles for the previous 5 years, you may need observed that I’m an monumental BMW fanatic.
Whereas I’ll all the time lust after a 964 Porsche Turbo or a 1967 Shelby Mustang, I can’t think about ever parting with my BMW to personal both. I bleed blue and white, plain and easy. So, it’s a bit embarrassing to confess that I waited 26 years to go to the holy grail of BMW fandom: BMW Welt.
Okay, possibly not fairly 26, since BMW Welt solely got here into existence after a design competitors in 2001. Development started in 2003, and the constructing was formally opened to the general public on October seventeenth, 2007. Sitting simply throughout the street from BMW’s headquarters and museum, it has been a Munich icon ever since.
For all intents and functions, BMW Welt is solely a fantastic BMW Group dealership. It’s house to all of the manufacturers underneath the BMW umbrella: from BMW manufacturing vehicles to Rolls-Royce, MINI, BMW M, and even BMW Motorrad, their bike division.
With a dynamic show space – at present house to our very personal Want for Velocity BMW M3 GTR – for themed occasions and particular events, BMW Welt appears to cowl all bases with regards to offering BMW clients with an entertaining expertise surrounding their favorite model.
The area can also be used for exterior initiatives. For instance, a gymnasium put on promoting marketing campaign was occurring throughout from the M3 GTR show once I visited.
However what actually units BMW Welt aside is the expertise it affords to clients gathering their new vehicles. Relying on the mannequin and placement, BMW house owners can decide to take supply of their new autos at BMW Welt as a substitute of at a ‘common’ dealership.
For many who do, there’s the possibility to get pleasure from a manufacturing unit tour, a go to to BMW Group Traditional Heart, a meal within the unique BMW Group restaurant, and even a non-public inspection of their new automotive in a bespoke viewing space.
I’ve heard of BMW M house owners flying in from the US to take their new vehicles on a European street journey earlier than delivery them again to the States.
Sadly, I wasn’t there to choose up a model new M2, so I headed throughout the street to the long-lasting BMW ‘four-cylinder’ constructing as a substitute…
…Or, extra particularly, the BMW Museum beneath it. However I’ve to confess, the sight of an Inca Orange E12 parked underneath a Christmas tree stopped me in my tracks for some time. I used to personal an E12, and I miss that automotive like loopy.
Throughout my guided tour, led by certainly one of BMW Welt’s advertising and marketing companions, I realized that the museum options rotating reveals, with some shows altering seasonally or in keeping with a selected theme. The vehicles on present throughout my go to have been nothing wanting spectacular.
From the very first BMW car – a license-built model of the Austin Seven, the three/17 or ‘BMW Dixi’ – to Nick Heidfeld’s F1.08 displayed on the higher stage, the museum tells the story of the model I maintain so expensive to my coronary heart.
As a proud E38 7 Sequence proprietor, it was superior to see the prototype hydrogen-powered 750hL on show – one thing I’d solely ever seen in my childhood automotive encyclopedia and on-line
Additionally on show was Jeff Koons’ gorgeous E92 M3 GT2, the primary actual BMW Artwork Automotive since Jenny Holzer’s 1999 BMW V12 LMR.
I’d encourage any BMW lovers to make the pilgrimage to Munich. My time at BMW Welt and the BMW Museum was an unforgettable expertise. And truthfully, I’d return in a heartbeat – even when the reveals by no means change.
What an unbelievable place to go to.
Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn, mariochristou.world
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