#letstalkaboutcars History Of BMW South Africa

By Albert Schuurman (AS Brokers #letstalkaboutcars blogpost)

Our first competition for car enthusiasts kicked off with a three series BMW the winner was Candice Nel.

I chose BMW because the brand made a huge impression on me since childhood. Our competition was great fun we made some mistakes but had a very good response. Everybody in our office participated in the Zoom meeting where we had the wheel spin to choose a winner. Our new competition is going live today 11/05/2020 here is a link.

Especially for BMW fans.

My mom told me that I started identifying cars from a very young age, I didn't know the names of the vehicles, but I called out the names of people that I know own the cars like uncle Fred. Playing car identifying games were my favourite. For many years my pocket money was the same as the price of a new matchbox car and shopping for it took weeks. Prepared me for shopping for cars as an adult, I presume.

Growing up in a small town, not many people drove BMW cars, but being a car enthusiast, I read about them in CAR Magazine and WIEL. I studied those magazines from front to back. Collected them had stacks of magazines.

One of the people that stood out for me was Eddie Keizan because he won races with 530 and later 535 BMW's. My best friend in schools father was involved with cross country racing and Eddie Keizan at the time was competing in the South African Championship in a Ford F100, and he was very competitive we liked and admired him. He came to my friend's parents farm with a 530 similar to my main post picture. Since then, I loved BMW cars and dreamed of owning a 530 and later a 535, M5 etc. Any car enthusiast must have a BMW somewhere on his bucket list. Go and read about Eddie Keizan and Team Gunston it is fascinating car history. Eddie became a giant in business with the Tiger Wheel and Tyre Brand. He bought the company in 1972 for R14000. The car on the photograph is an M1 the very first BMW that came out with stripes that are so familiar on the 530 main picture on my blog.

BMW introduced the M division in 1972 but the MI only saw the light in 1978 and the first road car available to the bigger public was the M5. BMW had great success all over the world in race events with the 5 series and they became known as a sports brand. They adopted the saying win on Sunday and sell on Monday very well. Got this picture of a 1970s icon from Gearpatrol its nickname was Batmobile.

Unable to find a 1970s 30csl for sale in South Africa but found this 1981 635 CSI model on gumtree

When I was in grade 7 my brother was in matric he had a friend Piesang a nickname I never knew the real name he came to visit my brother with his fathers 3.0 CSL. It was a rare car then and I am certain they must be very rare now.

The Three series started with the First generation (E21; 1975–1983) we never saw it in South Africa.

The Three series were introduced in South Africa 1983 or 1984 could not find the exact date online. This was South Africa's first introduction to the 3 Series called the E30. Working for Old Mutual one of our managers drove a 323i the top of the range at the time, and it was such a beautiful car for me. A couple of years later, one of my colleagues when working for Santam bought himself a brand new 325!, I was so jealous. If you own a 325!, Alpina or a 333! hold on to it it is going to become valuable. See the one for sale by Dadas on Auto Trader. We never saw the M3 version in South Africa. The 325s BMW got a cult following in South Africa and there is a nickname for them Gushese.

It is actually unfair for one car manufacturer to get so much exposure to their brand as what BMW are getting from 30 to 40-year-old car. Many up and coming young South Africans aspire to the brand because of the popularity of the car in the sport that is so unique to South Africa. Photo from a The Bravado article I found online.

Some interesting facts about the BMW logo, they started as an aircraft engine manufacturer and rumour has it that originated as a spinning propellor. The truth is actually an interesting read.

Next came the E36 from 1990 to 2000 and we got all the variants in South Africa also the M3. I was fortunate to own a 325TDi drove it for a couple of years. The first high-speed diesel saloon car before the real diesel revolution started. The only thing I did not like it was a manual, a powerful diesel car need an automatic gearbox to change the gears at the perfect moment. This e36 series became very popular in South Africa and still many on the road today. If you own an excellent example of an M3 hold on to it could be a future classic.

BMW started manufacturing cars in South Africa in 1968 by Praetor Monteerders in Rosslyn. In 1970, BMW bought shares in Praetor Monteerders to completely took it over in 1975, BMW South Africa was also the first BMW plant outside of Germany.

Next came the fourth generation E46 1997 to 2006, and the model that stands out for me is the 320 diesel. Also, the 330 diesel was high on my bucket list for many years. The M3 remained a straight-six until the next generation the fifth-generation E90 2004 to 2013 introduced a V8 in the M3 in 2007. The 5th generation was in production from 2004 to 2013.

Reading and looking at BMWs history in Formula 1 is also very interesting and finding that a BMW four-cylinder engine called the M10 block was in production for 20 years and they build more than 3.5 million units. This engine was used in formula 1 with huge turbos and became very successful. Read this interesting story and go find this history on Youtube

After an investment of 3.5 billion Rand at the beginning of the new millennium, the Rosslyn plant became the most modern automobile plant in the southern hemisphere.

I was unable to find out what the value of BMW South Africa is but found the following interesting information. BMW Group's commitment to our country and its people continues after 45 years of operation. More than 45 000 people, directly and indirectly, benefiting from BMW Group operations in the country. BMW Group Werke. If you search the number of people working for BMW on LinkedIn I found more than 1000 people. This number may vary because people do not always update their profile.

The 6th generation F30, 3 Series was in production from 2011 to 2019. To me, this is a beautiful car, especially the rear end. 

In 2011 BMW South Africa exported three courters of the three series production to other countries in the world. Production of the three series ended in 2018 in Rosslyn after building 1,191,604 copies and five model generations. Not bad for a country on the tip of Africa. 

BMW models have already been named Car of the Year by the South African Motor Journalists Association (SAGMJ) seven times.

• 1988: BMW 735i
• 1990: BMW 525i
• 1993: BMW 316i
• 1997: BMW 528i
• 2001: BMW 320d
• 2006: BMW 3 Series
• 2011: BMW 530d

Today Rosslyn is dedicated to building X3 cars. 

I have seen a video of the seventh generation three series. Called the G20 introduced 2018 and since I started my research for this article I saw one at our local shopping centre. It's interesting how some cars need time to grow on you. Certain it's going to be the case with this one as well.

Here are some of the people that impressed me over the years in motorsport except for Eddie Keizan driving BMW"s. The first one is Tony Viana and thinks car enthusiasts would remember him driving the big 7 series also in the Winfield colours. The seven series were more impressive but I liked this picture of the 5 series more. He won races in three, five and seven series cars.

My favourite motorsport is offroad or cross country racing, and two X3 diesel cars were competing and dominated the scene for a while. Privateers took them over, Hannes Grobler ended his legendary racing career in one of them. The diesel engines were later changed to V8 petrol engines and were very impressive. The Minis competing in the Dakar originates from those racing X3"s 

The youngest South African Contestant in a BMW is Sheldon Van Der Linde. The Van Der Linde family entertained our motorsport fans for the last 30 years.

My second BMW I still owe, it is an RT1200 motorcycle, but that is a story for another day. 

If you got some time go and visit a BMW car dealer and admire some of the great cars and the part it played in South African car history.

Albert Schuurman represents AS Brokers cc as sales director in Gauteng. AS Brokers cc market a unique car policy for car enthusiasts that solves a big problem with motor insurance in South Africa. Find out how we can add value and to cover your BMW properly.

Our Competition for this week, exciting one its getting a bit more difficult.