BMW’s Classic Centre at its headquarters in Germany serves two functions: firstly it operates as a service centre to maintain, service, repair, and restore customers’ vintage vehicles from BMW’s more than 100 years of automotive history.
Secondly, it acts as a museum showcasing dozens of models from the carmaker’s historic line-up, as well as units and trinkets from Mini and Rolls-Royce.
What’s inside
A tour of the facility begins with a small room housing a collection of smaller items from BMW’s past, including advertisements and owner’s manuals for models dating back to the early 20th century.
It also holds a collection of seemingly mundane items like pots and pans – a reminder of when the automaker was contracted to produce various necessities during World War Two.
Moving on, you pass a workshop where employees are hard at work bringing customers’ classic cars to a gleaming showroom condition, before entering the museum portion of the premises.
It’s an impressive site for any automotive fan, with colourful models stretching out across a large showroom floor all bearing the same blue and white badge.
Among the first cars you’ll notice are a BMW F1 car and an M1 from 1978, both decked out in the manufacturer’s M racing colours of blue, violet, and red.
Also in the collection are a number of iconic models such as the M3 Coupe, the 325i convertible, and even a 3.0-litre CSL in a striking yellow paint scheme.
Older vehicles then consisted of a number of 328s going back to the 1930s, and a taxi from the 1950s.
In an abrupt shift from the 20th to the 21st century, BMW also had a hydrogen-powered car on display, sitting on a raised platform above the showroom.
Further down the line was a collection of Minis, including one that had been modified for rally stages, and which still bore marks of dirt as a sign of authenticity.
Perhaps the most surprising entry in the museum, however, was none other than the bright green Mini used by Mr. Bean, still wearing a lounge chair tied to its roof just like it was in the show.
The one on display at the Classic Museum is the real deal, proven by the fact that the hood bears Rowan Atkinson’s signature from when he visited it in 2018, and a nearby glass case even holds Mr. Bean’s teddy bear.
In addition to the many cars on view to the public, the centre also has a number of motorcycles as well as various glass displays showcasing the finer details of its vehicles.
One such cabinet housed the many iterations of the iconic Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy that sits on the front of all of its cars, while another catalogued the changes made to BMW’s signature kidney grille over the years.
Rounding off the tour is a series of engines in pristine condition, including a 12-cylinder Rolls-Royce unit which had its horsepower simply listed as “sufficient” on its placard.
BMW Classic Centre Munich
Keyword: Photos from BMW’s Classic Centre in Munich – Including the original Mr. Bean Mini