The first part of BMW ended unhappily. The Second World War left behind not only a destroyed main plant, but also the loss of the car factory in Eisenach and the plants in Berlin and Dürrerhof. It was only after the currency reform in 1948 that the production and sale of motorcycles up to 250 cm³ was possible again.

The R24 was initially the only product that sold splendidly. Two-cylinder boxer engines were added later with the R51 types. With this, BMW even defied the looming crisis from 1955 at the latest. TThe project of a scooter from 1953 was not even realized in view of the expected bad registration figures for two-wheelers.

The offer of an emphatically classic luxury car from 1951 turned into a disaster. The in-line six-cylinder too weak and fragile, the following V8 probably too late, the coupés and convertibles partly beautiful, but almost not for sale. A motor coupé licensed from Italy, the Isetta, brought some relief.

After all, each a certain motorcycle engine fit into this and the successors. But the 600 was only successful in the first year and the 700 was only produced in its first year on December 9, 1959. Concepts for the urgently needed so-called 'middle car' were in place; the financing alone was not guaranteed due to negotiations with banks and government agencies that had lasted longer than planned.

In 1955 the Americans moved out of Allach, which lost important income. Parts of it were sold there and the balance sheet was kept fairly clean. But in principle one lived on your own reserves for the next three to four years. Basically everything indicated that at the fateful day one could be happy to be taken over by Daimler-Benz.

There were two participants who were of importance to the progress of BMW history, lawyer Dr. Friedrich Matern and the shareholder Dr. Herbert Quandt. The former proved to the Board of Management that he had not done everything to save BMW's independence and is so successful with the second vote that the meeting was closed after 9 hours and Daimler's offer was rejected.

And then there was Herbert Quandt. He and his half-brother Harald were children of the entrepreneur Günther Quandt, who was very successful in the pre-war and war times, e.g. with the accumulator factory under the current name 'Varta'. In Wikipedia, under 'Günther Quandt', you can read about the accusations made against the father and Herbert, who was born in 1911, among others.

After the death of their father, the two brothers inherited company stocks in Daimler-Benz and BMW, among others. It was somewhat surprising that Herbert Quandt had significantly increased his BMW package by that meeting in 1959. It is believed that he hoped to have a greater say here than at Mercedes, where Friedrich Karl Flick played a much more decisive role because of his significantly higher stock options.

It is said that at the beginning of the meeting, Quandt saw the better solution in Flick's reorganization concept of the capital increase and at the same time Mercedes' 75 percent stake in BMW. Only his doubts as to whether the name 'BMW' would live on in some form or even in a new model must have increased in the course of the meeting.

Quandt gradually proved to be the most essential support in the regaining strength of BMW. You couldn't believe in other players at first because the situation remained as it was. Even the ministries, always willing for Bavarian companies, had doubts as to whether they would ever see the money that had been put into the company again.

At least the Bavarian Franz-Josef Strauss, at that time still Federal Defense Minister, got involved to establish the production of engines for the Starfighter in Allach. MAN also proved to be a great support, not only taking part in this project, but also taking over the remainder of Allach, which belonged to BMW, for 54 million DM in 1965.

In 1959, Matern had assumed still 30 million. Sales of the BMW 700 also got off to a splendid start. After a capital reduction, this was increased significantly and this time could also be acquired by the previous shareholders. The use of subscription rights shows how much one generally believes in success at BMW.

Behind all these actions was Herbert Quandt, who remained a member of the supervisory board until his death in 1982, and from 1974 to 1980 even its chairman. With the start of the restructuring, Deutsche Bank also gave up its influence on BMW, which it had exercised with great success for decades.