engine and drivetrain Bimmer/Beemer

[richdnyc]

From today's Wall Street Journal "Me & My Car" column, which is authored by a former 02 owner.

"Q: I've always heard it pronounced "Beemer" and you're the only person I know who spells it "Bimmer."

-- Mike Grandin,

San Francisco

A: When I became familiar with BMW vehicles in the 1970s, people who rode BMW motorcycles (my father included) called their machines Beemers while BMW drivers called their cars Bimmers. It was a way of telling people whether you were a car or motorcycle person. Today "Beemer" has come to represent any BMW for certain people in general conversation. But longtime BMW drivers and riders still prefer to differentiate. And many view interchanging the words as an error worthy of serious chiding."

Personally, I think "beemer," while apparently incorrect, just sounds cooler, and "bimmer" conjures up images of non-02-owning jackasses.

A link to the following page from the Boston CCA newsletter was then embedded in the item:

"Bimmer vs. Beemer

updated June 2003

It has come up time and again in the BMW CCA Roundel and all over the planet. We gotta keep covering this issue till the world gets straightened out.

It's a simple, painless lesson. Learn now and avoid embarrassing yourself in front of other car enthusiasts.

It its history, BMW has made cars, motorcycles, and aircraft engines. There is no confusion surrounding the aircraft engines, so lets move on to the cars.

This is a BIMMER. I don't have to tell you that this 2004 M Coupe features FOUR wheels. (Photo coutresy BMW NA)

Bimmer

BMW cars are called Bimmers. Say BIM-mer. If you are a New England native or want to sound like one, say BIM-mah.

That's what this club is about, BMW cars. Bimmers.

Bimmer is also is the official name of the Newsletter of the Boston Chapter. It has been published continuously since 1970. From sometime in the 1990s to March 2000 the newsletter was called BIMMER (all uppercase). Justin Hughes, the current Editor in Chief changed the name back to Bimmer. Then Suzin Koehler became the Editor and changed the name to Boston Bimmer.

Bimmer Magazine is based in California and has nothing to do with the Boston Chapter, even though it is a very nice magazine.

But wait, here's the important part.

This is a BEEMER. BMW Motorcycles have two wheels. (photo courtesy BMW Motorcycles USA)

Beemer or Beamer

BMW motorcycles are called one thing but it is spelled two ways. Beemers or Beamers, you just say BEAM-er. Or maybe BEAM-uh.

This is very simple. Motorcycles have two wheels. Beemers have two wheels.

In that photo to the right, how many wheels do you see? Two wheels? It's a Beemer.

There is no Grey Area

Now some smart guy in the audience always says "What about a motorcycle with a sidecar?" The sidecar has one wheel. The motorcycle still has two wheels. It's a motorcycle with a sidecar.

What about some guy on a motorcycle pulling a trailer? Same thing: motorcycle has two wheels, trailer has one wheel. Just like a car pulling a trailer. The car still has four wheels, and the trailer has some non-zero number of wheels.

Mini and Rolls Royce

Now some new Mini owners have gone around saying that they own a "Bimmer". This is probably because the Boston Chapter lets the Minis run in the BMW autocross classes. (So far, nobody has wanted to autocross their Rolls-Royce. I wonder if a Rover produced in the BMW Group rules would be allowed into the BMW classes?)

A MINI is not a BMW. Look at the hood. Is the spinning blue-and-white propeller there? No sir. It isn't a Bimmer, Beemer, or Beamer. But it is made by BMW, so lots of people consider it a BMW. But it's still a MINI.

This is an Isetta. It was a car made by BMW. It is not a motorcycle. Look carefully and you can count 1, 2, 3, 4 wheels. Yep, Isettas are really Bimmers.

The Isetta

What about the BMW Isetta? No the Isetta really had four wheels, not three wheels. Legend has it that the Isetta saved BMW from bankruptcy during some very lean years in the 1950s.

Isettas are goofy looking small cars, not goofy looking big motorcycles. Look at the photo: four wheels. Therefore they are Bimmers.

Where did this come from?

Why are the bikes called Beemer and the cars called Bimmer? A Very Highly Placed BMW Spokesperson sent me the following (reproduced here with permission).

While I can't point to any official document that supports this, my understanding of the origins are as follows.

The term Beemer was first used with motorcycles. Back when British bikes dominated the market and BSA was a well-known marque, riders referred to them as Beezers -- a way to say the letters BSA as if it were a word.

BMW riders said Beemer as a way of saying BMW as a word. This was long before the popularity of BMW cars, so whenever the term Beemer was spoken, it referred to the motorcycle. In theory, one could apply Beemer to either cars or bikes since it is only a reference to the name BMW. In fact some folks do call BMW cars Beemers.

When the cars became popular, many people referred to them as Bimmers as well as Beemers. I don't know why this was adopted instead of simply using the existing Beemers.

But generally speaking, one calls the bikes Beemers and the cars Bimmers. While it would be ok to refer to a car as a Beemer, it doesn't seem appropriate to refer to a bike as a Bimmer.

Well I don't think its OK to call a car a Beemer. Wouldn't that be confusing? What if we called a knife a fork? A nuclear bomb a toothbrush? A politician honest? Or a car a motorcycle? Confusion. Anarchy. What next? A total breakdown of communication. Possibly the end of civilization or even nuclear holocaust.

Where was I? Oh yeah, other than letting people call stuff the wrong name, this BMW spokesperson is right on.

To sum up and in order to avoid confusion, let's just say that Beemer is the label for BMW motorcycles, and that makes Bimmer the preferred label for BMW cars.

It's Simple

Here's all you have to remember. If it has fewer than four wheels it is considered a Beemer (or a Beamer).

Then all you gotta do is think to yourself: how many wheels does my BMW have? Four wheels? Yep! Bimmer.

Unfortunately, there is at least one BMW CCA Chapter with the word Beamer in the title of their Chapter Newsletter. How this came to pass and why it hasn't been corrected is a mystery. All we know is that the chapter is located in California, which may be explanation enough.

Now You Know

So, now that you know, what do you do with all that knowledge?

Look carefully at the cover of the official Boston Chapter BMW CCA publication at the right. See that word in red at the bottom?

Please say BIM-MER or perhaps BIM-MAH.

If somebody calls your car a Beamer, you may want to correct them if you care at all about how foolish they appear to be... I mean I'm sure I would want to be told if i was confusing a car with a motorcycle or I had a sesame seed stuck between my front teeth or something.

If you decide to try to correct someone else less in the know than yourself, please be gentle. Remember, they don't have to call your car a Bimmer.

This issue can be very sensitive to some people who will absolutely insist that they drive a four wheeled Beemer. If you get into an argument with somebody... from let's say California... just let it go, say "let's agree to disagree" or something like that, and be secure in the knowledge that you will never embarass yourself again by calling a Bimmer a Beemer.

Thank you for your support."

_______________________

[H_Krix]

I was under the impression that early (or even prototype?) Isetta's has 3 wheels... is that incorrect?

I use to hate it back when I drove my 02 in highschool (coming up on a decade ago now) and these teeny-bopper-trust-fund girls with their brand-new 2000 e46's would say "omygawd! I have a beemer too! but how did you get a 2002?! Mine's only a 2000...."

ugh.

[SteveJ]

Mercedes had the same problem.

For their cars, they called it a Benz.

For their trucks, they called it a Truck.

It's all in how you pronounce it.

Honda had less problems, as there was very little power or handling difference in their early cars and motorcycles. Yamaha, however, had issues with the wrong technicians being sent out to tune pianos. Hence some baby grands are equipped with electric starters.

[Mike Self]

I know for a fact that Isettas built by Iso (not BMW) and other licensees were also built as three wheelers for markets where that would allow 'em to be licensed as motorcycles--England and Ireland come to mind.

What I don't remember if BMW ever built a 3 wheeled version for these markets. Anyone out there? RIMSPOKE, you surely should know that!

mike

[SteveJ]

Another handy chart to keep-

Beemer- BMW K1000 motorcycle

Bimmer- BMW 2002

Bummer- A crunched BMW 2002

Boomer- A nuclear submarine

Bopper- Teeny or big, take your pick

Beaner- less than PC, or a bad pitch

[conkitchen]

Very well put rant!

Only exception to the misplaced origination to California for saying Beemer. I speculate it is just the coming of age for an new generation of BMW owners who heard Bimmer referenced once and figured they meant Beemer cause there is a "B" in BMW, Uh Duh?

I applaud you; or is that ye if you're from the East, or maybe if you're from the South then it would be y’all for the clarification.

It has always been Bimmer to me.

And if you care, I remember the days when you would get a flash of the high beams, or should it be High bims when you approached another Bimmer on the road.

[DavidLMM]

While Iso licensed BMW, Velam, and several others to produce the Isetta for other non-Italian markets, AFAIK only the UK received 3 wheeled BMW Isettas. Maybe Spain, but I'm not sure. From Wikipedia, at your own risk - "Isetta of Britain produced about 30,000 cars. Just 1750 three-wheelers were built."

David

[Arizona02]

Here in the southwestern states, Beaner is a Mexican immigrant farm worker who pick the beans .