The Gartlerstuberl really brightened up our afternoon after our somber morning and fortified us for the rest of our explorations: On to the BMW museum we go. After we navigate the dirt lane and one-way bridge, the rest of the drive to BMW is pretty easy and seamless. 

We find the parking lot easily and deposit the car somewhere in the massive underground garage (taking a picture of the location for later reference).  Then take the elevator up into the BMW Welt, the company’s “futuristic distribution center & exhibition hall.”  We have time to kill before our 3pm ticket time at the museum, so we figure we’ll just wander around here – here being this bizarre 2 story exhibition of cars, robotic coffee machines, pay to enter clubs and restaurants.  Sort of like a weird mall of the future with only BMW shops.   Totally weird, but interesting. The cars are cool, the robotic coffee things are really wild to watch, and the people watching is even better.

After we exhaust everything here, we are still really early for the museum, but figure we’ll still head over there and try to get in.  There is a walkway that connects the Welt to the museum, open air, that spans the road.  It has been pouring rain, but as we make our way there, the rain lightens up and we speed walk over with a minimum amount of wetness.  Once inside, we go to the ticket guy, and he lets us in 30 minutes early.  Thank you ticket guy!  And we are off on an exploration of all things BMW.

After depositing our coats and backpack in a locker, we start off in an exploration of old cars, engines and seaplanes in what we will forever remember as the WORST laid out and designed museum EVER! For a company that prides itself on engineering and the Ultimate Driving Experience, this place is the Ultimate Dead End Experience.  I mean seriously – there are dead ends everywhere.  Displays and exhibits that lead you through these small narrow spaces that then dead end. With lines waiting to get to the Dead End, which isn’t even very interesting.  Argh!

The cars are cool though, and it is definitely a walk down memory lane for Ed. He’s pointing out all the cars he and his brother Jay owned, all the ones he doesn’t recognize, the different versions of models.  It is wonderful just following him around….until we hit a dead end, that is!  But, regardless, we do spend a nice few hours looking at old cars, new cars, futuristic cars and a great Remembrance Exhibit detailing how BMW was conscribed during the war and the forced labor used in their plants.  Nice they give voice that ugly part of their history.

Some of the most interesting displays were the timeline model, listing models by years in a fabulous hanging, almost mobile like, creation; the car models by year, stacked on one on top of each other;  Elvis’ BMW; and the Art Cars.  These were great – different artists over the years who painted BMWs.  There were 3 real-life cars, and 18 models from different artists. Really amazing work.

The last part of the museum focused on Italian designers, explaining that from the earliest days, BMW was always inspired by the Italian “coachbuilding” culture.  Who knew?

Completing our explorations, we headed back over the bridge, retrieved the car and made our way back into Munich without incident.  A nice walk back to the hotel and we were in for the evening, feasting on Aldi and Lidl cold cut sandwiches and oh yeah Kartoffelsalat!  So, so good!

Another great day in Munich complete.