So this past weekend, my brother and I decided to take a trip to see where the BMW marque came from. We both drive them so we decided to see where the "genius" comes from and hopefully find a way to explain the countless scars both he and I have on our hands from the repairs they seem to quite often need.
To say this place is amazing is an understatement. After seeing how it seemed to maze all around a huge parcel of land in Munich; it made me wonder the amazement I'd see if (and when) I visit Woking, England to see where McLaren's are born.
When you walk in the entrance and walk to the counter to pay the entrance fee you can look left and the first thing to came to my mind was the M. C. Escher painting,
Relativity. There are multiple suspended walkways mazing their way through the complex.
Of course the first thing to catch you eye is the awe-inspiring 1999 BMW LMV12. The LeMans racer that won and is just an amazing car with breathtaking beauty in the prototype world before it's time.
Now this car has a special place in the foyer of the museum, as it holds on it an incredibly difficult and frankly mind-boggling puzzle which BMW says hides clues to the "Mystery Car". This is some type of puzzle/competition designed by the author of the world's most difficult puzzles. BMW will award you some very cool prize if you can figure it out... I tried, but it just dosen't make sense to me. (There will be a link at the bottom of the page that holds pictures of all the angles of the car if you want to try your hand).
All of BMW's history (as expected) is drawn out in cool exhibits all around, starting from the very first of their vehicular production run with a cool old car that was built entirely by hand... by one person.
You see an entire history of their motorcycles all in one enclosure on one wall, a very cool sight indeed.
You see where they began experimenting with exotic materials and implementing them into their competition history. Magnesium, carbon fiber, titanium and so fourth.
I can't help but wonder where they got the design for their early 3 series competition car...
It's not everyday you get to walk up to and touch a Formula 1 car, not to mention generations of them.
Followed by a display of their racing engines on pedestals for our visual pleasure, starting with the greatest engine of my youth the 3.0 Litre V10.
Got Boost?
Velocity stacks are glorious.
We spent upwards of 4 hours wandering from room to room, satiating ourselves with awesome sights and sounds. If you ever get up one day and decide, "I'm going to go to Munich this weekend to have some beer, and visit a museum", do it. If you're in to cars (and you are because you read this) put it on your list.
