BMW has been around since the year 1916, but back then they didn't manufacture automobiles, they were actually focused on aviation and built airplanes since the war was breaking out. Since then, 106 years have surpassed, and they've grown into one of the largest automotive brands ever with Mini and Rolls-Royce under their ownership.
As you would have guessed, being in business for more than a century, there were bound to be some ups and downs regarding business, and BMW almost went bankrupt too, but luckily, the controversial Isetta saved the Beemer brand. Today we're here to look back at BMW's history and highlight their most exceptional automotive creations ever – ones we wish we could get behind the wheel of.
10 BMW 3.0 CSL
The BMW 3.0 CSL was a homologation special based on the E9 to allow BMW to enter their race car into the European Touring Car Championship. Just 1,265 examples thereof were built, and all inhabited a 3.2-liter naturally-aspirated straight-six that produced 203 hp and 211 lb-ft of torque.
It was also offered with an optional aerodynamics package, and this resulted in the car looking like the one above, and it's clear to see why it was nicknamed "The Batmobile."
9 BMW E92 M3
Usually, M3 models all come fitted with straight-six engines, whether it be naturally-aspirated or turbocharged, but the E92 M3 was built at a time when BMW went through its experimental phase. Therefore, instead of equipping a six-cylinder engine underneath its hood, BMW chose to use a naturally-aspirated 4.0-liter V8 engine.
But this wasn't just any ordinary V8, it had a power output of 420 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, but more importantly, it had a redline of 8,200 rpm, and when the E92 was fitted with a stickshift, you could make it sing all day long.
8 BMW E61 M5 Touring
Another one of BMW's experimental creations from the mid-2000s was the E60 M5. It was a V10-powered family saloon, but there was something even more special than it, the E61 M5.
For the most part, the E60 and E61 were mechanically identical; they both inhabited the same 500-hp 5.0-liter naturally-aspirated V10, but the E61 was just an estate version of the sedan. This car is even rarer than the aforementioned 3.0 CSL since just over 1,000 of these were ever manufactured.
7 BMW 850CSi
The original BMW 8-Series is perhaps the most forgotten-about Bavarian product ever, and the 850CSi is the closest BMW ever came to creating what we now know as the M8 Competition.
The 850CSi engulfed a monstrous 5.6-liter V12 with 375 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque which was translated to the rear wheels only, but somehow it managed to pull off a rather impressive 5.4-second 0-60 time. There's just something inexplicably cool about the Beemers from this era, and the fact that very few people know of the V12-powered 8-Series makes it so much cooler.
6 BMW M3 CSL
Here we are, back to the basics. The E46 M3 followed standard M3 procedures; straight-six, rear-wheel-drive, and standard transmission, but BMW wanted to make it even more special, so they evolved it into the M3 CSL.
Its naturally-aspirated 3.2-liter six-cylinder now produced 360 hp, which was just 17 more ponies than the normal E46 M3, and 4 lb-ft of torque more too (273 lb-ft), but it went on a ridiculous diet and lost 400 lbs, which meant it was lighter on its feet with a new curb weight of 3,053 lbs. This is the most engaging M3 ever built.
5 BMW M1
BMW has only ever built one supercar, and that's the M1 – well, that is if you don't consider the i8 to be a supercar of course. The M1 was designed by the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro hence its Italian styling, and instead of having its engine placed in the front, this Beemer got its powertrain placed right in the middle of its body.
Only 453 of these M supercars were ever built, and in all honesty, they weren't all too fast considering their 273-hp 3.5-liter inline-six could only allow the car to reach 60 mph from a stop in 5.8 seconds – still one of the coolest Beemers ever built though.
4 BMW Z3 M Coupe
Whether you love it or hate it, you can't deny that the BMW Z3 M Coupe, also known as "The Clownshoe", is one of the quirkiest cars ever built. The BMW Z3 was offered in a convertible variant too, but this hardtop version was a perfect mashup between a sports coupe and an estate car; the end result was of course this shooting brake.
In typical BMW fashion, it too was powered by the same engine found in the E46 M3; a naturally-aspirated 343-hp 3.2-liter inline-six that sent its might to the rear wheels.
3 BMW 507
Let's down things down a notch and move over from ludicrous driver-focused sports cars to something a bit more classy and sophisticated – the BMW 507. The BMW 507 was one of the cars BMW made during its downfall, and it actually got so bad that BMW was forced to sell the 507 without making an ounce of profit on them at a point in time.
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In 1956, a 507 would have cost you $10,500, which is about $116,000 in 2022. Of course, this was too expensive for the public to afford, and sales were low, but nowadays, these 507s fetch millions of dollars at auction – we mean, can you blame them? Just look at its beauty.
2 BMW E30 M3
Many Bimmer fans consider the E30 M3 to be the greatest BMW of all time, and some even go as far as to say it's the best handling car to ever roam public roads. Surprisingly though, the E30 M3 was powered by a smaller engine than some of the other E30 3-Series models, but that didn't mean it lacked any power though.
It had a crisp 2.3-liter four-banger that produced 215 hp and 170 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels, but because the M3 weighed less than 2,600 lbs, that was more than adequate. If that's not enough reason to want to drive one, we don't know what is.
1 BMW M4 CSL
We've saved the newest BMW for last, the M4 CSL. It's only been a few months since the M4 CSL was officially unveiled, but it's already unsettled the competition, after all, it is the fastest BMW to ever dash across The Green Hell.
It's powered by the same twin-turbocharged 30-liter inline-six found in the M4 Competition, only now, it has 40 more ponies to play with, which results in a total power output of 543 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. The only downside to this bewildering Beemer is that it won't come with a manual transmission, other than that, it's the perfect, modern driver-orientated BMW.