If you have been following along with us on social media, you know that we are building our new shop here at Race German, and the shop has my very own office/waiting room. No office is complete without some cognac-colored leather chairs, a beautiful wood table, and the perfect BMW coffee book to go on top.
My search started all over the internet, looking at sources from BMW CCA, to recommendations from fellow enthusiasts, to scouring the endless titles on Amazon. I finally ran across this alluring hardcover titled “BMW M: 50 Years of the Ultimate Driving Machines” written by Tony Lewin.
I think every BMW enthusiast first gravitated to the brand through their M division. If you had a poster on your wall, or you saw one at a car show, or maybe even played one in a video game, there is no denying the lust we showed for these types of cars.
The “50 years of the Ultimate Driving Machines” is not only a beautiful looking hardcover coffee book filled with elegant high-resolution photos, but it packs a punch of knowledge as well.
Let’s take a quick dive into this book to see what it all goes through.
Tony Lewin states he is a lifelong automotive commentator and industry analyst spending most of his career testing cars and reporting the ups and the downs they have to offer.
“It is often asserted, not least by BMW itself, that M is the most powerful letter in the world.”
The book starts out with a brief history of BMWs Motorsport bloodline. There is no doubt, BMW is rich in history, ranging from motorcycles to touring cars, F1, and even Le Mans. BMW didn’t start out rich in the racing game though, in fact it wasn’t until May of 1972 that BMW Motorsport GmbH was formed. This was their racing division, but they did not want this as an internal department to BMW, they wanted it as a separate company. From here 35 employees were put on the payroll and BMW M was born.
The next seven chapters of the book go over all the M cars by decade, starting with the state-of-the-art M1 supercar, leading through the current G8x M3 and F90 M5 CS. Each page delivers striking photographs, with a description and full data sheets going over the statistics of each car. Not only is this fun to look at, but it makes it easy to quickly lookup pertinent figures about these cars.
Getting past the bedroom poster cars, the book dives into their X division which has become one of the most profitable sides of the business in the last 10 years. These SUVs (or SAVs as BMW likes to call them; Sport Activity Vehicle) have become so popular, that people not only wanted to take their kids to school or pick up the groceries but do it fast. It didn’t take long after the release of BMWs first SAV, the E53 X5, that they shoved a P75 V12 engine in it from the 1999 Le Mans winning BMW V12 LMR. Although this vehicle was never available to the public it paved the way for the next generation of X vehicles to receive the M treatment, and oh did people like it.
The last part of the book talks about BMWs M future of electric cars and a unique look inside their design studio of how the Motorsport story is shaping the future.
The book is absolutely gorgeous to look at, packing a ton of knowledge, and makes the perfect coffee table book for you or a gift.
If you would like to purchase this book through Amazon, please click the link below.
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