Posted on 5/30/2025
BMW is a name that’s become synonymous with performance, precision, and luxury. But long before the brand was building sporty sedans and powerful M models, its roots were tied to a completely different kind of machine—aircraft engines. The story of BMW isn’t just a tale of automotive engineering. It’s a story of transformation—from warplanes to race cars, from survival to success—and how the company’s past still shapes the way their vehicles are built today. It Started With Aircraft Engines BMW—short for Bayerische Motoren Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works—was founded in 1916, not as a car company, but as an aircraft engine manufacturer. In fact, the company’s first major success came with the production of a high-altitude aircraft engine during World War I. After the war, the Treaty of Versailles banned German companies from producing aircraft engines. So BMW pivoted, first to motorcycles and eventually to a ... read more