BMW Bikes in India

In 1925, BMW Motorrad’s R 37 opened up the doors to motor racing. By then, the BMW Boxer concept was implemented with a high level of quality, based on reliable high-performance technology. This is the same technology that BMW had earlier used in building their aircraft. The BMW Boxer soon became the ideal starter model for professional racing. In 1939, German racer Georg Meier made headlines on the international scene. He became the first non-British foreign-built bike rider to win the legendary ‘Senior Tourist Trophy’ on the Isle of Man. He achieved this feat on a supercharged BMW RS 225 Kompressor.

In October 1945, the US military ordered the BMW two wheeler plants in Munich and Allach to be dismantled. This meant that the company lost the power of disposal over its assets until 1949. In Allach, this loss of control, in fact, lasted until 1955.

Then, after a major company rebuild, the first BMW motorcycle was the R 24 motorcycle, introduced in March 1948. It was an enhanced version of the pre-war R 23 model. However, shortage of materials and machinery delayed series production until December 1948. Despite this fact, the sales success of the R 24 exceeded all expectations in 1949 alone. 1944 units of the R 24 were sold that year.

While BMW Motorrad India was set up in 2006, it did not launch motorcycles in the Indian market until 2010. In December 2010, BMW Motorrad started selling and importing its flagship superbike, the S 1000 RR. After that, its other R and K series models also started to sell in India. This task was handled by two official importers, Deutsche Motoren in Delhi and Navnit Motors in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

BMW Motorrad officially launched its entire range of sports bikes in India under the BMW Bikes India Group in 2017. The bikes were still brought through the CBU route but their sales and service started happening through independent BMW dealerships. The first lot was set up in Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru.        

The range of BMW two-wheelers, ever sold in India, consists of the G 310 R, the G 310 GS, the F 750 GS, the F 850 GS, the R nineT, the R nineT Racer, the R nineT Scrambler, the R 1200 GS, the S 1000 XR, the R 1200 R, the S 1000 R, the K 1600 B, the K 1600 GTL, the R 1200 RT, the R 1200 RS, and the S 1000 RR, among others.