What does BMW stand for?

Okay, this may sound incredibly stupid, but, what does BMW stand for? Anything?

bavarian motor vehicles (v=w sometimes in german)...lol good questions considering you have one im just kidding..

I always thought it stands for:

Bavarian
Motor
Works

Is this correct?

BMW = Bayerischen Motoren Werke
Of course, in English, this roughly translates to Bavarian Motor Works.

No,
B avarian
M otor
W works

in German- Bayerische Motoren Werke

lol Wow you guys are fast, as soon as I saw the post and tried to reply, there were 2 posts before me.

I thought it dated back to the purchase of Manhattan by the Dutch, but that it was still a relevant expression today: Bring More Wampum.

Originally Posted by bmwexecutive

Okay, this may sound incredibly stupid, but, what does BMW stand for? Anything?

Big Money Waster
Break My Windows
Bought My Wife
Bald Middle-aged Wanker
Blow My Weiner...


...Beautiful Mechanical Wonder

Originally Posted by jrp

Big Money Waster
Break My Windows
Bought My Wife
Bald Middle-aged Wanker
Blow My Weiner...


...Beautiful Mechanical Wonder

Bitch! Move! Watchout!
Brings Me Women
Bang My Wife

My boss tells me I am a BMW = Bitch, Moan and Whine

In english...

Bavarian Motor Works

Originally Posted by bmwtransport

In english...

Bavarian Motor Works

Somehow I don't think Herr Rapp decided to make BMW stand for something in German and English at the same time .

Strictly speaking "Bayerische Motoren Werke" stands for "Bavarian Engine Company". You can make it stand for "Bavarian Motor Works" if you like, but it's forcing it a bit.

According to a couple of friends, "Werke" is used to denote companies with primarily industrial operations, so "Industrial Company" is the closest translation. "Bavarian Engine Industrial Company" is a bit tautologous, at least to my ears!

"Werke" also means "works" by itself, but particularly in the artistic, musical or literary senses (Goethes Werke - Goethe's works).

Alex, John and co., any comments I can pass back to my local German colleagues?

What does the M stand for in M3?
I found the answer. Motorsport

Andy, the term 'Werk' (which is the singular form of Werke) means factory, where something is physically being manufactured. i.e raw material is being converted/assembled into a final product.

'Werke' is the plural form of 'Werk'. In this case, there is more than one shop required to manufacture a car, hence the plural form.

As stated in your post, the company that Mr Rapp established was called "Rapp Motorenwerke", which means Rapp Engine Factory. In 1917 they changed the name to BMW GmbH (GmbH is a trade form, which is the german equivalent of Ltd) and in 1918, they changed it to BMW AG (AG stands for Aktiengesellschaft, which means Corporation)

The history of the term Motorenwerke is quite interesting. As you may already know, Mr Rapp produced airplane engines until the end of the WWI. By the end of WW1, Germany lost the war, signed the Versailles Treaty, which banned Germany from any form of rearmament. So, manufacturing war planes and engines was history for BMW.

Until 1928, BMW manufactured agricultural equipment, generators and similar products to survive. The "boxer engines" that were developed to be used in the generators and watering pumps, were continued to be used in the motorbikes, which found their way until today and were the predecessors of todays famous boxer engines on modern BMW bikes.

The transition from an engine manufacturer to a car manufacturer came first with the acquisition of the Dixi Werke in Eisenach (in 1928)

Originally Posted by Alex Baumann

Until 1928, BMW manufactured agricultural equipment, generators and similar products to survive. The "boxer engines" that were developed to be used in the generators and watering pumps, were continued to be used in the motorbikes, which found their way until today and were the predecessors of todays famous boxer engines on modern BMW bikes.

Here is a rare 1961 R50S that I brought back to life, 1 of 1634 ever made.



The flat twin engine and shaft drive here go all that way back to the 1923 R32.



BMW proudly presented its first motorcycle on 28 September 1923 at the German Motor Show in the Kaiser-damm Fair Halls in Berlin. This pitched the Munich Company against no less than 132 other motorcycle manufacturers in Germany alone. The BMW received great praise for its unique technical concept as well as the aesthetic appeal of the new machine.

The BMW R 32 entered series production before the end of 1923 and the first motorcycles were sold to customers for 2,200 reichsmarks following the end of a period of rocketing inflation in Germany. Although the R 32 was one of the most expensive motorcycles on the market, sales were positive.

mullman, that's a helluva bike, excellent work. Kudos to you!

Originally Posted by mullman

The BMW R 32 entered series production before the end of 1923 and the first motorcycles were sold to customers for 2,200 reichsmarks following the end of a period of rocketing inflation in Germany. Although the R 32 was one of the most expensive motorcycles on the market, sales were positive.

Beautiful bikes. What does it mean - "sales were positive"? Better than "sales were negative" I suppose. But I would think sales would only be in one direction, otherwise they wouldn't be sales. Did you mean that "the public reaction to the bike was positive, as demonstrated by strong sales?"

Malibu-

The bottom line is that BMW enjoyed enough success even under the debilitating ToV & exponential inflation to sustain itself. Then came the second war and that was particularly good for business, war always is.

After the war BMW's facilities were leveled to the extent that all plans of prewar products were completely destroyed.

The first bikes produced after the war could only be made by disassembling prewar bikes and measuring everything from scratch creating new plans.

BMWs first products after the war were actually tea pots and bicycles!
I have a pic here somewhere of a BMW teapot circa 1947.

Originally Posted by bmwexecutive

Okay, this may sound incredibly stupid, but, what does BMW stand for? Anything?

Since I got my first BMW in December, I always ask the ladies if they want to ride on my Big Mexican Wiener..
I wonder why they walk away...
j/k


P.S. For those of you against Illegal immigrants, don't worry...my weiner is not illegal.

Originally Posted by Alex Baumann

Andy, the term 'Werk' (which is the singular form of Werke) means factory, where something is physically being manufactured. i.e raw material is being converted/assembled into a final product.

'Werke' is the plural form of 'Werk'. In this case, there is more than one shop required to manufacture a car, hence the plural form.

Ah OK, that makes more sense. The term "Werke" seems to be used as part of a company title ("Ford Werke", as I recall Ford calling itself in Cologne), more than it does in English-speaking countries (although "works", as in "ex-works", obviously came from this). American companies sometimes use the term "Industries". British companies don't, but that's probably because we don't make much of anything any more

We had a big group of family and friends over for Thanksgiving last year. Our ED trip in October was a big topic of discussion. My niece asks, "Where are BMWs made?" Before I can answer her boyfriend, smug with the opportunity to show off his vast depth of knowledge, proudly proclaims "England." He knew that the "B" in BMW stands for "British."

Originally Posted by Alex Baumann

Andy, the term 'Werk' (which is the singular form of Werke) means factory, where something is physically being manufactured. i.e raw material is being converted/assembled into a final product.

'Werke' is the plural form of 'Werk'. In this case, there is more than one shop required to manufacture a car, hence the plural form.

As stated in your post, the company that Mr Rapp established was called "Rapp Motorenwerke", which means Rapp Engine Factory. In 1917 they changed the name to BMW GmbH (GmbH is a trade form, which is the german equivalent of Ltd) and in 1918, they changed it to BMW AG (AG stands for Aktiengesellschaft, which means Corporation)

The history of the term Motorenwerke is quite interesting. As you may already know, Mr Rapp produced airplane engines until the end of the WWI. By the end of WW1, Germany lost the war, signed the Versailles Treaty, which banned Germany from any form of rearmament. So, manufacturing war planes and engines was history for BMW.

Until 1928, BMW manufactured agricultural equipment, generators and similar products to survive. The "boxer engines" that were developed to be used in the generators and watering pumps, were continued to be used in the motorbikes, which found their way until today and were the predecessors of todays famous boxer engines on modern BMW bikes.

The transition from an engine manufacturer to a car manufacturer came first with the acquisition of the Dixi Werke in Eisenach (in 1928)

Alex: I was led to believe that BMW built some aircraft engines for the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, in WW2. Was I mistaken??
BMW also stands for Big Money Wagon

Originally Posted by Bmwcat

Alex: I was led to believe that BMW built some aircraft engines for the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, in WW2. Was I mistaken??
BMW also stands for Big Money Wagon

BMW definitely made engines for the war effort and I have about a have dozen books full of photos. Can you read German? If so I will scan them.

BMW nearly mass produced JET engines during the waning days of the war...but we (the US) put a stop to that...three yrs later they were making bicycles and tea pots.

Originally Posted by mullman

BMW definitely made engines for the war effort and I have about a have dozen books full of photos. Can you read German? If so I will scan them.

BMW nearly mass produced JET engines during the waning days of the war...but we (the US) put a stop to that...three yrs later they were making bicycles and tea pots.

Thanks!! Perhaps you could post a few photos for everyone here.
Were the jet engines for the ME-262?

The Focke Wulf used a BMW engine. Basically many German radial engines were BMW, the liquid cooled V engines were Daimler (Me-109).

Originally Posted by mdsbuc

We had a big group of family and friends over for Thanksgiving last year. Our ED trip in October was a big topic of discussion. My niece asks, "Where are BMWs made?" Before I can answer her boyfriend, smug with the opportunity to show off his vast depth of knowledge, proudly proclaims "England." He knew that the "B" in BMW stands for "British."

Maybe he meant the ones with the Rolls Royce badges ?