Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: When was BMW founded?
The company was founded in 1916 and has its headquarters in Munich, Bavaria. BMW produces motor vehicles in Germany, Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2015, BMW was the world's twelfth largest producer of motor vehicles, with 2,279,503 vehicles produced.[2] The Quandt family are long-term shareholders of the company, with the remaining shares owned by public float.
The BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMW MOA) is a motorcycle club for owners and admirers of BMW motorcycles. , it had 39,700 members.
BMW MOA was founded in 1972 in Chicago by five enthusiasts.
The M8 GTE is powered by a front-mid mounted BMW P63 turbocharged V8 engine, the motorsport variant of the S63 motor found in roadgoing BMW's such as the F90 M5, as well as the upcoming roadgoing BMW 8 Series (G14).
The BMW 700 is a small rear-engined car which was produced by BMW in various models from August 1959 to November 1965. It was the first BMW automobile with a monocoque structure. The 700 was a sales success at a time when BMW was close to financial ruin. The 700 was also successful in its class in motorsport, both in its stock form and as the basis of a racing special called the 700RS.
BMW de Mexico has two production facilities in Lerma, Toluca, Mexico State. In one, the company manufactures BMW motorcycles, and in the second, the company manufactured the BMW 3 series and BMW 5 series. ending in 2003 when BMW de Mexico ended local assembly.
BMW de Mexico was initially set up in 1994 as a joint venture between BMW AG of Germany and a group of Mexican investors to manufacture BMW 3 series vehicles for the local Mexican market as Mexican law at the time required all vehicles sold in the country to be assembled locally. Initially only the 3 series vehicles were manufactured by the joint venture from kits using both Mexican and German components while other vehicles simply used entire kits shipped from Germany. By 1996 all models had begun to use at least 50% Mexican components as Mexican law dictated.
The BMW GTP was an IMSA GTP sports racing car built by BMW in 1986. Four March 86Gs were rebuilt by BMW North America into the BMW GTP, and fitted with a Formula One-derived BMW M12/14 turbocharged straight-four engine. Like the F1 cars that used the M12 engine, the BMW GTPs were fragile, and often retired from races; however, when they did complete a race, the BMW GTP was usually classified in the overall top ten. For longevity purposes in endurance races, it usually ran around . However, in qualifying trim, was feasible; combined with the aerodynamics the 220+mph top speed was limited only by gearing. Contemporary car specifications at Le Mans with similar aerodynamics and far less power figures and were surpassing near 250 mph.
Team MTEK was founded in 2012 by Ernest Knoors. After a stint with the BMW Sauber squad Knoors, joined Scuderia Ferrari. With Ferrari the Dutchman was responsible for the customer engines supplied to Scuderia Toro Rosso, Sauber and other teams. He returned to BMW in 2012 forming Team MTEK, a BMW supported DTM entry. After BMW's return to DTM in 2012, Team MTEK joined in the 2013 season along with BMW factory supported entry's by Team RMG, Team RBM and Team Schnitzer.
The BMW P66 engine in the BMW M4 DTM generates approx. 480 bhp with the air restrictor specified in the technical regulations. It is made up of 800 different components, consisting of 3,900 individual parts. When designing the DTM drivetrain, BMW Motorsport took full advantage of the technological know-how within the BMW Group. The high-tech foundry connected to BMW Plant Landshut accounts for the large cast parts, such as the cylinder head and crankcase – just as it does in the production of the six-cylinder in-line engine for the BMW M4 Coupé. The cast parts are coated and given the necessary heat treatment within the appropriate departments in Munich. The BMW V8 for the DTM is both a sprinter and a marathon runner. It allows the BMW M4 DTM to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in about three seconds. Only ten engines are permitted for all eight BMWs over the course of the entire season. Therefore, reliability is a prerequisite to success.
After the war, BMW survived by making pots, pans, and bicycles until 1948, when it restarted motorcycle production. Meanwhile, BMW's factory in Eisenach fell in the Soviet occupation zone and the Soviets restarted production of pre-war BMW motorcycles and automobiles there. This continued until 1955, after which they concentrated on cars based on pre-war DKW designs. BMW began building cars in Bavaria in 1952 with the BMW 501 luxury saloon. Sales of their luxury saloons were too small to be profitable, so BMW supplemented this with building Isettas under licence. Slow sales of luxury cars and small profit margins from microcars caused the BMW board to consider selling the operation to Daimler-Benz. However, Herbert Quandt was convinced to purchase a controlling interest in BMW and to invest in its future.
With the BMW acquisition of the Glas business, the GT was refitted to accommodate the 1,573 cc BMW engine already fitted in the BMW 1600. The BMW “new class” models introduced in 1962 had attracted press comment concerning the fact that the engine was canted over at an angle of 30 degrees from the vertical plane, permitting a lower bonnet/hood line, and this feature was retained when the engine was fitted in the Glas GT body to create what was now branded as the BMW 1600GT. By using the BMW engine the car also acquired a further increase in power output, now up to 77 kW (105 PS). Handling was improved by applying the BMW's relatively sophisticated semi-trailing arm rear axle with coil springs in place of the more old fashioned rigid rear axle and leaf spring configuration previously employed by the Glas GT. BMW also took the opportunity to fit “new” round rear lights – being those that from 1966 also featured on the BMW 1602, and to reconfigure the front grill to incorporate the BMW “twin kidney” grill
The BMW i is a sub-brand of BMW founded in 2011 to design and manufacture plug-in electric vehicles.[56][57] The sub-brand initial plans called for the release of two vehicles; series production of the BMW i3 all-electric car began in September 2013,[58] and the market launch took place in November 2013 with the first retail deliveries in Germany.[59] The BMW i8 sports plug-in hybrid car was launched in Germany in June 2014.[60]
Paul Rosche (1 April 1934 – 15 November 2016) was a German engineer known for his work at BMW. He is notable for designing the engines of a number of BMW's high-performance models, including the M31 found in the BMW 2002 Turbo, the S14 for the E30 M3, the M12 for the 320i Turbo and the Brabham BT52, the M88 in the M1 and the S70/2 found in the V12 LMR and the McLaren F1.
The BMW Championship is a professional golf tournament which is the third of four FedEx Cup playoff events on the PGA Tour schedule. Introduced in 2007, the BMW Championship was previously known as the Western Open. The Western Golf Association, which founded and ran the Western Open, runs the BMW Championship. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, the PGA Tour named the BMW Championship its Tournament of the Year.
In 2007, BMW Motorrad announced its entry to the 2009 Superbike World Championship season, where it is racing the BMW S1000RR. The 2009 season factory team was known as Team Alpha BMW and includes Spanish rider Ruben Xaus and Australian rider Troy Corser. In the 2010 season, Xaus and Corser were joined on the track by Team Reitwagen BMW riders Andrew Pitt and Roland Resch, also riding the S1000RR.
In recent years BMW Motorrad have enjoyed renewed success at the Isle of Man TT Races. Prior to 2014, the last success in the solo categories at the event was in 1939, when Georg Meier won the Senior TT. After 75 years BMW again took top spot on the rostrum at the 2014 Isle of Man TT when Michael Dunlop piloted a BMW S1000RR to first place in the opening Superbike race. Michael Dunlop then rounded off the week with victory in the Senior TT.
Starting the season at Sebring, the BMWs suddenly found themselves facing new competition, with Audi debuting their second generation R8 Le Mans prototype. The BMWs found themselves qualified in 5th and 6th, behind both the Audis as well as both Panoz LMPs. During the race, the BMWs were able to outlast the Panozes, but struggled with the Audis. BMW was forced to settle for 3rd and 4th behind both Audis.
The venture was not successful. Already struggling after years of industrial disputes, Rover had a poor reputation but in trying to improve its image it would become a rival to the BMW market segment. BMW found it difficult to reposition the English automaker alongside its own products and the Rover division was faced with endless changes in its marketing strategy. In the six years under BMW, Rover was positioned as a premium automaker, a mass-market automaker, a division of BMW and an independent unit. A five-part BBC documentary, "When Rover Met BMW" (1996), gave some insight into the difficulties faced by the two firms.
The BMW 3/15 was BMW's first car, produced in its first version as a "Dixi" between 1927 and 1929 and then, following BMW's acquisition of the Dixi business in October 1928, in three subsequent versions as BMWs from July 1929 till March 1932, when BMW gave up the licence under which the Austin designed cars were produced.
9,307 Dixi 3/15s were manufactured between 1927 and 1929, which was almost as many cars as all the earlier Dixi models together.
18,976 BMW 3/15s were manufactured between 1929 and 1932.
The BMW Bank GmbH is a finance service and a company of the BMW Group. The company known under BMW Group Financial Services was founded in 1971 in Munich. In 1973 the BMW Leasing GmbH was added – also situated Munich. The fabricated products are BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Worldwide BMW Group Financial Services are represented in 53 countries with 26 companies and 27 corporations.
BMWs have been assembled in South Africa since 1968,[150] when Praetor Monteerders’ plant was opened in Rosslyn, near Pretoria. BMW initially bought shares in the company, before fully acquiring it in 1975; in so doing, the company became BMW South Africa, the first wholly owned subsidiary of BMW to be established outside Germany. Unlike United States manufacturers, such as Ford and GM, which divested from the country in the 1980s, BMW retained full ownership of its operations in South Africa.
When Rover Met BMW is a 5-part documentary series produced by the BBC in 1996. German motor company BMW had bought Rover in 1994 and the series follows the sometimes fraught relationship between the two. Episode one, "Don't Mention The War", covers the launch of the Rover 200, analyses the press coverage this generated and also shows the reaction to BMW's appointment of a new chairman for Rover. The title of the first episode is a Basil Fawlty quote from the comedy series Fawlty Towers. By the final episode, "Undercover Operations", Rover's chief executive, John Towers, has resigned and BMW have reshuffled the Rover board.
After becoming famous in the last year of World War I through their production of the liquid-cooled BMW IIIa aviation engine of straight-six layout — itself a massive gasoline-fueled engine of some 19 litres (1,164 cu. in.) displacement, BMW introduced its first straight 6-cylinder automotive engine in 1933: the Fritz Fiedler-designed, 30 hp, 50 lb-ft, M78. BMW developed straight-six engines for the post-World War II era by adding two cylinders to its M10 four-cylinder design. In 1968, it introduced a M30 straight-six design with the same 30° slant, overhead camshaft layout, and 100 mm bore spacing as the four. It originally intended to follow up with a V8 engine line in the early 1970s, but when the 1973 oil crisis hit, BMW canceled its V8 plans and concentrated on refining and enlarging its straight-six lineup. These included a smaller straight-six in displacements (the BMW M20), versions of the larger BMW M30 up to (the S38B38); and beginning in 1983, a series of M21 straight-six diesel engines. In 1986, BMW introduced the M70 V12 which was essentially two straight-sixes on the same crankshaft. In the mid-90s, they produced a series of straight-6s based on the M50 architecture, the ultimate of which was the 330-360 hp S54, used up to 2008. BMW offered a straight-six for their following line up BMW 1 Series, BMW 3 Series, BMW 4 Series, BMW 5 Series, BMW 6 Series, BMW 7 Series, BMW X1, BMW X3, BMW X5, BMW X6, the retired Z3, and current BMW Z4. The BMW B58 3-liter turbocharged inline 6-cylinder, (installed in the M240i) topped Ward's 10 Best Engines of 2017 list. The B58 is rated at 335 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque, while achieving 26 mpg. 
The race was won by Australian drivers Allan Moffat and John Harvey, driving a V8 powered Holden VL Commodore SS Group A, after the BMW M3s of Schnitzer Motorsport, CiBiEmme Sport and Bigazzi (all running under the BMW Motorsport banner) which had finished in the top six positions on the road were disqualified for being approximately underweight through the use of kevlar body panels. The M3s had initially passed through post race scrutineering, but a privateer BMW team protested when their M3, which had been built by BMW Motorsport, was found to be 50 kg heavier than the works cars.
At the time of launch, BMW Motorrad claimed that the K1200R was the world's most powerful naked bike. This was exceeded when Suzuki launched the Suzuki B-King. British magazine "RiDE" tested the B-King and K1200R together and found that despite the extra power of the B-King, the K1200R was faster accelerating and had a higher top speed.
The BMW E53 is the first-generation BMW X5 mid-sized luxury crossover SUV. It was produced from 1999-2006 and was replaced by the BMW E70. The E53 was developed at a time when BMW still owned Land Rover and as such shares many components and designs with both the Land Rover Range Rover L322 model (specifically the Hill Descent System and Off Road Engine Management system) and the BMW E39 5 Series (specifically engines and electronic systems). The entire in-car entertainment system (Radio Function, Navigation System, Television and Telecommunications systems) are shared with other BMWs and L322.
In the mid-1970s, while Lamborghini was under the management of Georges-Henri Rossetti, Lamborghini entered into an agreement with BMW to develop, then manufacture 400 cars for BMW in order to meet Group 4 homologation requirements. BMW lacked experience developing a mid-engined vehicle and believed that Lamborghini's experience in that area would make Lamborghini an ideal choice of partner. Due to Lamborghini's shaky finances, Lamborghini fell behind schedule developing the car's structure and running gear. When Lamborghini failed to deliver working prototypes on time, BMW took the program in house, finishing development without Lamborghini. BMW contracted with Baur to produce the car, which BMW named the M1, delivering the first vehicle in October 1978.
In 1985, Lamborghini's British importer developed the Countach QVX, in conjunction with Spice Engineering, for the 1986 Group C championship season. One car was built, but lack of sponsorship caused it to miss the season. The QVX competed in only one race, the non-championship 1986 Southern Suns 500 km race at Kyalami in South Africa, driven by Tiff Needell. Despite the car finishing better than it started, sponsorship could once again not be found and the programme was cancelled.