Bavarian Motor Works AG is a German luxury car brand that manufactures cars and motorcycles, among others. It started off in 1916 with the manufacture of aircraft engines, before the first automobile in 1928.

BMW is part of a group that also includes the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands. The group is among the world’s top twenty largest car makers. Today, the BMW range includes saloons, hatchbacks, and the SUV range, BMW X1 to BMW X7. The BMW M range is the motorsport version. The saloon range runs from Series 1 to 8.

BMW cars have been assembled in South Africa since 1968. BMW vehicles with a VIN starting with "NC0" are manufactured in South Africa.

The brand is one of the most desired in the Zimbabwean motor space. Traditionally, the choice has always been either a BMW or Mercedes for a luxury vehicle brand among Zimbabweans. The “Beemer”, though, seems to appeal to the young or young at heart generation. The cars are loved for their sleek sporty looks and performance on the road.

Unfortunately, the sophisticated engineering has sometimes worked against the brand. Despite being represented by Quest as a dealer over many years, and being readily available as a grey import, the cost of ownership and maintenance remain prohibitive for the brand’s many adoring fans.

The BMW technology seems a bit too complicated for our lone ranger mechanics, and quite a number were abandoned after a few adventurous excursions on Zimbabwe’s unforgiving roads. They became, like most luxury used cars, too expensive to run or repair.

Somehow, in the last few years, BMW seems to be making a comeback, as the mechanics seem to have now found a way to deal with the service and repair of the much loved brand, with the help of diagnostics technology.

In terms of maintenance, most BMW vehicles recommend a service interval of up to 25 000km. This, however, has to be taken within the parameters of driving conditions, where city driving requires a shortening of the service intervals. Autoheads also recommends that high quality service parts be used, including high quality synthetics, to meet the service intervals.