The Best BMW of Every Decade

1916-1920: IIIa aircraft engine

Hey , we ’ve all got ta get down somewhere . When BFW / BMW first formed it include Rapp Motorenwerke , which made aircraft engines . Notably it developed what was know as the IIIa engine to improve upon the Fokker D.VII paladin . Even if you ’ve never hear of Fokker or the D.VII , you know its most illustrious pilot , the Red Baron . He never flew the IIIa - enhanced Fokker , though , having died in short before the BMW engine ’s arrival .

1921-1930: R32 motorcycle

The first motorcycle from BMW set the guide the company would use for decades to survey . Not only did it feature an melodic phrase - chill boxer engine ( pugilist = plunger flat opposed to one another , so it look like they ’re boxing ) , but the rear wheel was n’t chain - driven like most bikes . Look carefully and you ’ll see a ride irradiation – it ’s a broken discriminator that would by and by feature prominently during World War II .

1931-1940: 328 Roadster

The 328 was n’t BMW ’s first sports car , but from the outset it was highly , extremely successful in motorsport . Class win everywhere from the Nurburgring , to Le Mans , to the Mille Miglia set up BMW as a manufacturer capable of rightfully splendid automobiles . Some of the company ’s best motorcycles may have been from the same era , but the 328 ’s overall impingement can not be abnegate .

1941-1950: R24 motorcycle

TheR75is doubtless the more rugged motorcycle , but the military automobile only reached its prime when used with a combination of parts from another producer . The R24 , on the other hand , was BMW ’s first raid back into manufacturinganythingafter the war .

1951-1960: The Isetta

The holy trinity of sexy , glamourous , and fast gives way to quirky , efficient , and , um , did I advert kinky ? Originally the Isetta was n’t even a BMW – it was designed by Italy ’s Iso . But after buying the right in the mid-’50s , engine driver went to work fitting a motorcycle locomotive and retool virtually every mechanically skillful part on the car . sale were just as with child as thatfrontdoor is uncanny . Ultimately , the fact that a good - status Isetta can go for about the same price as anewBMW is understanding enough to give it the nod overElvis ' automobile of selection .

1961-1970: The Neue Klasse cars

The so - called New Class railway car , set forth with the 1600 , and eventually headline by the legendary 2002 , were comparatively modest and light-headed , and can justly be listed among the cars that truly gave rise to the term " fun sedan . " Every morsel as important to BMW ’s account , this was the family of cars that introduced the brand to consumers stateside .

1971-1980: M1

For all the great and important cars that BMW develop in the 1970s , the M1 really is the only answer here . contrive by the great Giugiaro ( Lotus Esprit , DeLorean DMC-12 , et al ) , and originally gestate as a joint BMW - Lamborghini project , BMW had its first bona - fide supercar once Lamborghini displume out . Coachmaker Baur make closely with BMW to construct the shape , and the end event was full of all the spectacular - cape you ’d bear from the patriarch of BMW ’s entire M sectionalization .

1981-1990: E30 M3

The construct behind the first M3 is the epitome of elegance in simplicity : take an already good second - generation 3 Series ( the E30 ) , slightly tweak just about everything , and rule the motorsport vista . The incredible proportionality and light weight of the original M3 interpret into what is often turn over the perfect equipment driver ’s car . With more victories in international competition than any other single gondola , its bequest is fairly safe .

1991-2000: 850 CSi

Let ’s make it interesting here . The 850 CSi is n’t justany8 Series BMW , which even in its most ho - hum trim is Bruce Wayne ’s Bavarian chariot . Simply put , the CSi variant is the ultimate autobahn - Mobile River . Tweaked aerodynamics and break make an already good railway car even better , but the political party piece is under the hood . A specially tweaked version of the " normal " 850 ’s V-12 at last had so much potency , BMW tweaked it just a little minute further and dropped it straight into the McLaren F1 , thereby creatingthe world ’s fastest carfor eld .

2001-2010: E46 M3 CSL

The one - yr - only ( 2004 ) Coupe Sport Lightweight variant of the third - generation M3 exude a extra sorting of crazy . The untrained eye might not notice the revise bodywork , but anyone not struggling with advanced earshot loss can note the lightweight aspects : aside from some atomic number 6 - character components , much of the lightweighting comes via removing sound - deadening insularity … and the radio , and the air conditioning , etc . With only 1,400 originals built and none sell novel in America , the chance of this railroad car being remotely affordable by the meter it ’s effectual to spell ( 2029 ! ) are , give or take , zero .

2011-Today: 1 Series M Coupe

The new M2 garner its share of tending as BMW ’s preeminent partisan - mobile , while the i8 represents the stigma ’s first foray into the electrified future of high performance . They both lose out here , because the 1 Series M Coupe ( BMW would n’t dare touch the M1 moniker ; just call it a 1 M and we ’ll be good ) is more like the driveway project every enthusiast would progress , apply uncounted monetary fund , time , and skill . Essentially it was a side project , put together in a timeframe that would cause most engineers to take a nates on a therapist ’s couch . BMW ’s M class reached deep into the parts bin , and come out with something much more than a souped - up 135i : it ’s already a modernistic classic .

Want more of the globe ’s best elevator car delivered flat to your inbox?Click here to sign up for our daily email .

Aaron Milleris theCarseditor for Thrillist , and can befound on Twitter . He ’s confident that the insulation he ’s wearing will hold up to the firestorm . Hopefully .

BMW M1 Art Car by Andy Warhol