Heritage - 40 Years of BMW Motorcycle Production
What started in 1969 with 400 employees and 30 units of the new BMW /5 model series built per day, had however already contributed through efficient production to the success of the BMW Group in the three preceding decades.
Berlin-Spandau became a BMW AG production plant back in 1939. The 100,000th BMW built in Berlin-Spandau came off the production line in January 1975, the famous BMW Boxer flat-twins reaching a new level of development just one year later marked by the introduction of the /7 model series.
The 250,000th BMW motorcycle built in Berlin came off the production line in 1980 - a special machine built for the palace motorcycle escort of King Hussein of Jordan.
Another milestone in the history of the plant was the introduction of the new BMW K Series with its water-cooled straight-four power unit fitted flat within the frame and featuring fuel injection for the first time. This new machine also marked the start of the new Assembly Line and the new Machining Shop.
In 1991 the 1,000,000th BMW motorcycle came off the production line. The introduction of a fundamentally new design and construction principle marked the 70th birthday of the BMW Boxer in 1993, the 90hp BMW R 1100 RS made its debut with a top speed of 215 km/h.
The last BMW with the "old" flat-twin engine came off the production line in 1996, the R 80 GS Basic concluding the highly successful chapter of BMW's two-valve Boxers after 27 years of production.
With the F 650 GS, BMW Motorrad introduced its third model series in 1999, supplementing the Boxer and the K Series. In all the Company invested DM 4.5 million in the expansion of the new Assembly Line for this single-cylinder built in Berlin-Spandau, with more models to follow in future.
With the success of BMW Motorrad and BMW Plant Berlin continuing unabated, the foundation stone for a new Production Hall, Building 7 completed just two years later,was laid in May 2001.
The first version of BMW Motorrad's new, fourth model series - the F 800 GS - came off the production line for the first time in 2006, featuring a water-cooled straight-two power unit (the parallel-twin) and setting the foundation for future models with this drive concept.
The 500,000 BMW bearing the famous model designation "GS", a BMW R 1200 GS, came off the production line on 12 May 2009, with production of the new BMW S 1000 RR, the first supersports from BMW Motorrad, also starting this year.
