Not everybody knows that BMW started as a manufacturer of aircraft engines. In October

1913 Karl Friedrich Rapp establishes “Rapp-Motorenwerke” in a former bicycle factory near

 Munich. Rapp was an engineer who arises through the Daimler system and “Rapp-

Motorenwerke” was set up as a subsidiary of “Flugwerk”, an airplane maker. He starts

manufacturing his own aircraft engines but unfortunately they suffered from problems with

vibrations. In 1917, BMW’s first aircraft engine, the Type IIIa, goes into production. It is a

water-cooled six-cylinder inline engine, it features a unique “high-altitude carburetor” developed

by chief engineer Max Friz that allows it to develop full power at altitude. Max Friz was a grand

engineering mind who would dominate BMW’s product development culture on into the 1960’s.

After the armistice was signed, the Allies prohibited German military to produce aircraft engines.

Therefor BMW turned to boat and truck engines and farming equipment. Meanwhile, in secret,

Popp continued to work with his engineering director Friz on aircraft engines. The tough

business climate at the end of WW1 made Castiglioni to sell his holdings for 28 million

Reichsmarks to the chief executive of Knorr Bremsen AG. With only a few aircraft engines on

order, BMW was struggling and started to manufacture brake systems for railway cars, office

furniture, and workbenches, as well as cut-down aviation engines for marine and industrial use.

Throughout its history, BMW faced several crisis, among that the First World War, the second

World War and a takeover endeavor by Daimler Benz, but it managed to evolve into one of the

most renowned and famous carmakers in the world today. BMW entered the American market in

the late 1960s with the BMW 2002 sports model. It was a new apparition on the US streets, as it

was extremely flexible and it offered good fuel consumption. The BMW 2002 was among the 1st

sports sedans on the American market. In the mid-1970s BMW introduced the 3 Series, only 2

months after it has first launched the model in Europe. The 3 Series was a big success in the US,

as Yank managed to buy an affordable medium sized sports sedan, a car with a fantastic handling

and stability at that point.