BMW was/is closely linked to the German war machine of WW1 and WWII. I don't think they make vehicles for any military application. Daimler and mercedes does but i don't think bmw does.
ugly history. I went to Dachau and learned about the connection to BMW there.
WWI
BMW's first product was produced for fighter aircraft of the
Luftstreitkräfte. It was a straight-six aircraft engine called the
BMW IIIa, designed in the spring of 1917 by engineer
Max Friz. Following the end of World War I, BMW remained in business by producing motorcycle engines, agricultural equipment, household items, and railway brakes.
During the weimar republic
A large investment in BMW after WW! by
Herbert Quandt and
Harald Quandt resulted in the company surviving as a separate entity.
Günther Quandt, was a well-known German industrialist, joined the
Nazi party in 1933 and made a fortune arming the German Wehrmacht, manufacturing weapons and batteries.
Many of his enterprises were appropriated from Jewish owners under duress with minimal compensation. At least three of his enterprises made extensive use of slave laborers, as many as 50,000 in all. One of his battery factories had its own on-site concentration camp, complete with gallows. Life expectancy for laborers was six month
WWII
Aircraft engines, motorcycles, and automobiles would be BMW's main products until World War II. During the war, BMW concentrated on the
BMW 801 aircraft engine using as many as 40,000 slave laborers. These consisted primarily of prisoners from
Nazi concentration camps, most prominently
Dachau. Motorcycles remained as a side-line and automobile manufacture ceased altogether.
Post WWII
BMW's factories were heavily bombed during the war and its remaining West German facilities were banned from producing motor vehicles or aircraft after the war. Again, the company survived by making pots, pans, and bicycles. In 1948, BMW restarted motorcycle production. BMW resumed car production in Bavaria in 1952 with the
BMW 501 luxury saloon.
