*** New BMW Museum - Colin's Report, Part 2 ****

[Colin]

Moving on, we came to a most incredible construction. Representatives of the entire range from the 1970s were stacked up, one above another, giving us more than a few photography challenges. E21, E12, E24 and E23 - all so elegant, and so clearly related with that timeless style that BMW introduced with the 1972 5 series.





This construction was no easier to photograph from the ground floor, either!





A tantalising glimpse through an open doorway..........



.......... turned out to be a hall dedicated to the most prestige models from over the years. A 337 model from the 1930s, a 502 "Baroque Angel" from the 1950s, a 3.3Li from 1974 and three successive generations of 7 series, E23, E32 and E38. Each of these last was a landmark car, with the first being a 745i, the first turbo-charged large BMW, the E32 model being a 750i, so the first 12 cylinder car, and the E38 being a 730d, the first diesel engined 7 series. What really appealed was the simple display: no barriers, good lighting and plenty of space around the cars. How museums should do, but so few do!

































Throughout the museum, great imagination had been applied in the displays. This montage of badges from a wider variety of models was just one example of this:



The museum also makes maximum use of the height and dividing walls in place, allowing for great shots for the photographer. I liked this one!



Continuing with the theme of variety, we found this clay styling buck for the 1 series Coupe:





In the next room, there was a display of engines from over the years. With the exception of the very earliest, which was a 1200cc 6 cylinder engine from the 315, all the engines were 2 litres, and yet the physical size of the complete engine had massively increased from something quite simple that even I would be able to understand, to an example of todays electronically controlled marvel of modern engineering:



By this time, we had reached the ground floor, and could get close to the Z8, and the other cars that had tantalised from up above. What a show!