History of BMW: From Aircraft Engines to Luxury Icons
A Humble Beginning in the Skies (1916-1920s) The story of BMW starts not on the road, but in the air. In 1916, two companies-Rapp Motorenwerke and Gustav Otto’s aircraft engine business-merged to form Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG. Just a few years later, in 1917, the name we now recognize was officially adopted: Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, or BMW. BMW’s first major products weren’t cars-they were aircraft engines. During World War I, their powerful inline-six engine, the