With 30 minutes to spare at the tail-end of the new BMW 760Li launch in Munich last Friday, I couldn't resist a quick spin round the recently revamped BMW museum while waiting for a lift to the airport.
The museum is housed in a very stylish building opposite BMW Welt, itself a spectacular and palatial homage to the BMW brand, where customers can go to soak up the company's brand and technology values before driving off in their own new car at a dedicated handover facility. (We picked up 'our' 760Li at BMW Welt, and the serried ranks of white test cars certainly looked imposing inside the massive glass showroom area.)
The museum is a real treat, and well worth an hour or two of your time if you find yourself in Munich. I could have lingered much longer drooling over the assorted machinery on two- and four-wheels were it not for the rush to get back to the airport. (Only to find our flight delayed for an hour and a half - oh well!)
More than 90 years of BMW history is covered, so there's pretty much something for everyone. The M Power and Motorsport areas were my favourite, for obvious reasons, especially the room where you could listen to half a dozen different M engines on headphones.
Apologies for the quality of the piccies - as ever the combination of brightly-lit exhibition stands and a digital happy snapper leaves much to be desired. Keep that in mind if you make the trip, and take a proper camera. It costs about €12 Euros to get in, I believe, but I'm not exactly sure because I blagged my way in with a media card!
More info and proper pictures here