When you’ve learn my articles over the previous 5 years, you could have observed that I’ve a enormously BMW fanatic.

Whereas I am going to at all times fancy a 964 Porsche Turbo or a 1967 Shelby Mustang, I can not think about ever parting with my BMW to personal both. I bleed blue and white, plain and easy. So, it is just a little embarrassing to confess that I’ve waited 26 years to go to the holy grail of BMW fandom: BMW Welt.

Okay, perhaps not fairly 26, since BMW Welt solely got here into being after a design competitors in 2001. Building started in 2003, and the constructing was formally opened to the general public on October 17, 2007. Sitting simply throughout the highway from BMW’s headquarters and museum, it has been a Munich icon ever since.

For all intents and functions, BMW Welt is just a phenomenal BMW Group dealership. It’s dwelling to all of the manufacturers underneath the BMW umbrella: from BMW manufacturing automobiles to Rolls-Royce, MINI, BMW M, and even BMW Motorrad, their motorbike division.

That includes a dynamic show space – presently dwelling to our very personal Want for Velocity BMW M3 GTR – for themed occasions and particular occasions, BMW Welt appears to cowl all bases on the subject of offering BMW prospects with an entertaining expertise round their favourite model.

The area can also be used for exterior initiatives. For instance, a gymnasium put on advert marketing campaign was operating reverse the M3 GTR show once I visited.

However what actually units BMW Welt aside is the expertise it gives to prospects who accumulate their new automobiles. Relying on the mannequin and placement, BMW homeowners might select to gather their new automobiles from BMW Welt as an alternative of a ‘common’ seller.

For individuals who do, there’s the possibility for a manufacturing facility tour, a go to to the BMW Group Basic Centre, a meal within the unique BMW Group restaurant, and even a non-public inspection of their new automobile in a bespoke viewing space to get pleasure from

I’ve heard of BMW M homeowners flying in from the US to take their new automobiles on a European highway journey earlier than transport them again to the States.

Sadly, I wasn’t there to select up a model new M2, so as an alternative I used to be taken throughout the highway to the long-lasting BMW ‘4 cylinder’ construct…

…Or, extra particularly, the BMW museum beneath. 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 automobile like loopy.

Throughout my guided tour, led by one in every of BMW Welt’s advertising companions, I realized that the museum has rotating reveals, with some reveals altering seasonally or in accordance with a selected theme. The automobiles on show throughout my go to have been nothing in need of spectacular.

From the very first BMW automobile – a license-built model of the Austin Seven, the three/17 or ‘BMW Dixi’ – to Nick Heidfeld’s F1.08 displayed on the higher degree, the museum tells the story of the model which I like near my coronary heart

As a proud E38 7 Sequence proprietor, it was nice to see the prototype hydrogen powered 750hL on show – one thing I had solely seen in my childhood automobile encyclopedia and on-line

Jeff Koons’ lovely E92 M3 GT2, the primary, was additionally on show actual BMW Artwork Automobile since Jenny Holzer’s 1999 BMW V12 LMR.

I’d encourage any BMW fanatic to make the pilgrimage to Munich. My time at BMW Welt and the BMW Museum was an unforgettable expertise. And actually, I might return in a heartbeat – even when the reveals by no means change.

What a tremendous place to go to.

Mario Christou
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