10 February 2020

Although rediscovering an old flame after decades is a hot favourite for novels and films, real life is a different matter altogether. Unless the “ex” happens to be an iconic sports car, and the parting of the ways was for purely practical reasons. This was the case with Tino Laub from Munich and his BMW M3 convertible from the first generation graced with the serial number 558 (out of a total of 786 cars manufactured). He actually purchased his beloved automobile twice: In 1998 as an 18-year-old apprentice and then a second time round just a few weeks ago. What was the problem between the two? You can find out in the short story featured in the classic#heart blog.

Munich singer Kaled is a musical crossover. He’s German Egyptian and likes singing in the Bavarian dialect. The sound coming out of a mix of different styles is distinctive and cool – and he also has good taste when it comes to cars. A BMW 1800 TI plays a starring role in the video accompanying his hit “Kennst mi no” – “Do you still know me” (2018). And BMW Group Classic provided a BMW 3.0 CSL as a co-star in his new music video “Letzte Nacht” – “Last Night”. Kaled specifically requested these classic cars.

Just over three months to go until the glittering Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2020 (22 to 24 May 2020 in Cernobbio on the shores of Lake Como). Just the moment to take a look at the beautiful rare gems on two wheels. This is already the tenth anniversary for the Concorso di Motociclette held under the auspices of the beauty contest for historic vehicles. The organisers have defined six award classes, including “Boxers of the early 1920s” (the era when BMW was one of the manufacturers committed to this method of engine construction for the first time) and “American Greats” from the early days of motorcycle manufacture on the other side of the pond. The rubber of all these beauties will hit the road in the spectacular Street Run held on public roads.

The market for this product is truly exclusive: in fact, a maximum of 399 units, because this was the total number of BMW M1 production cars built for use on the road. It never stopped BMW Group Classic from supplying replacement parts – from headlamps to car jacks – to the quality of the original manufacturer. For example, the new edition of the starter motor manufactured in collaboration with Bosch to launch the world’s fastest sports car at the time. The motor to power up the 3.5 litre, 277 hp inline six-cylinder engine for the series version was created by means of reverse engineering. Development, testing and production of the starter were carried out with newly designed sprockets and parts from series production of BMW. The new edition of the generator was produced in a similar approach, and it is also supplied in quality to match the original for the BMW M1.