CarBrandLogos archive · BMW · 1952

BMW501

A large luxury saloon for a country that could not afford one.

Photo: Stahlkocher · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in BMW history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the BMW 501, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

BMW emerged from the war with a bombed factory in Munich, its main car plant at Eisenach in the Soviet zone, and no model to build. What it chose as its first postwar car, launched in October 1952, was the 501: a large, softly rounded saloon that the German press nicknamed the Barockengel, the baroque angel. Its engine was the pre-war 326's two-litre six, which was nowhere near enough for the weight, and early cars were slow.

Emw340-2-bild2 · Harald Spiegel · Public domain

Design and engineering

In 1954 the 502 added a light-alloy V8, the first postwar German V8, and the cars became genuinely fast and rather fine. They also cost more to build than they could be sold for. The bodies were expensive, volumes were tiny, and the buyers who might once have chosen a big BMW were buying Mercedes instead.

BMW 502 - Baur-Cabriolet in Montabaur · Lothar Spurzem / Spurzem · CC BY-SA 2.0 de

In production

At the other end of the range BMW was licence-building the Isetta bubble car and selling large numbers of it, with absolutely nothing in between the two extremes. By 1959 the losses had brought the company to the brink. At a famously bad-tempered shareholders' meeting, a proposed rescue by Daimler-Benz was rejected, and Herbert Quandt instead increased his stake and backed the development of a mid-size car. The 501 family limped on until 1962 while that replacement did the actual saving.

BMW 502 - Baur-Cabriolet Cockpit · Lothar Spurzem · CC BY-SA 2.0 de

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1952–1962

Engine

1971&nbsp

Designer

Peter Szymanowski

Body

sedan

Technical specification

The 501, in detail.

Production: October 1952–1962
Class: Luxury car
Body style: sedan (car); 4-door sedan/saloon; Cabriolet (automobile); 2-door cabriolet; coupé; 2-door coupé
Layout: FR layout
Engine: 1971 cc BMW M337; M337/1 Straight-six engine; I6 (501); 1971 cc BMW M337; M337/2 I6 (501A/501B); 2077 cc BMW M337; M337/3 I6 (501/3); 2580 cc BMW OHV V8 engine#M502/1; M502/1 V8 engine; V8 (501 V8/2.6
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Designer: Peter Szymanowski
Manufacturer: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW)