Home Part 2: The Last 100 years 8: Car Manufacturers by Country 8.6 Germany 8.6.2. BMW History of BMW Motor Cars / Automobiles 8.6.2. BMW In 1928 the Bayrischen Motoren Werke Company acquired the Dixi factory and produced their first model, the BMW-Dixi 3/15, that year. Between about 1933 and 1939 BMW produced cars of their own design, including models 303, 327, 328 and the 335 sedan. The 501 model (1952-58) was the first car that the company produced after World War 2. Between 1955 and 1959 BMW also produced the Isetta, a single seat “bubble” car. The 697 cc 700 model was the most successful of the cars that BMW started producing in the 1950s, with nearly 190,000 being manufactured between 1959 and 1965. Other models produced during the 1950s include the 502, 503, 507 and the 600. In Soviet controlled East Germany BMWs factory was taken over and became known as the Eisenacher Motor-Werke EMW. Until 1951 EMW sold cars as  "BMWs" and then, until production ceased in 1955, as “EMWs”. Between 1960 and 1990 the company produced a range of models that inluded the 1500–2800 range, 528i, 628, 633, 635, 645Ci, 323i, M1, 528i, M5, M3, Z1 and the 750iL. Between 1977 and 2005 BMW produced over 9.5 million of their Series 3 cars. 2007 models include the 3, 5,6 & 7-Series, M5, M6, X3, X5 and Z4 cars.   [ Back ]