This yr marks the 140th birthday of BMW’s iconic rival, Mercedes-Benz. It’s a milestones that forces even die-hard BMW loyalists to pause and acknowledge the dimensions of historical past concerned. Love them or detest them, you’ve acquired to admire the truth that Mercedes virtually invented the automotive. No automaker can be the place they’re right this moment with out Karl Benz. And for BMW, whose identification has lengthy been cast in opposition to Stuttgart’s three-pointed star, Mercedes’ anniversary is as a lot about rivalry as it’s about reverence.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and How We Received Right here
The accepted start line for Mercedes’ story is 1886, when Karl Benz patented the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, extensively thought to be the world’s first true vehicle. BMW, by comparability, wouldn’t exist as for one more three many years. The model’s official beginnings hint again to 1910, earlier than a reorganization in 1916 and eventually turning into Bayerische Motoren Werke in 1922. It’s additionally price noting that vehicles weren’t BMW’s authentic bread and butter. It started as an plane engine producer earlier than pivoting to bikes and, ultimately, vehicles. That distinction in origin tales has formed each manufacturers ever since. Mercedes has all the time leaned on heritage, gravitas, and technical firsts. In the meantime, BMW constructed its popularity by difficult that institution. The model’s lighter, sharper, and extra driver-focused machines had been geared toward individuals who like to drive, not merely arrive. Later, it leaned into its aviation background, adopting cockpit-like lighting and buttons.
The philosophical divide turns into clear as you look at the manufacturers’ long-running chess match throughout the posh and efficiency spectrum. For many years, Mercedes outlined the benchmark for consolation, security, and engineering status. Anti-lock brakes, airbags, crumple zones — Mercedes was usually first. BMW responded not by copying, however by reframing the dialog. The E32 and E38 BMW 7 Collection didn’t out-S-Class the S-Class; they made government sedans thrilling.
Arguably, the rivalry hit full stride within the Eighties and Nineties, when BMW’s motorsport-bred ethos collided head-on with Mercedes’ rising efficiency ambitions. The E30 M3 ran circles round the whole lot in touring automotive racing, even besting Mercedes’ personal 190E 2.3-16 and later Evolution fashions. Stuttgart quietly took notes — it was their flip to reorient. AMG went from a skunkworks tuner to a factory-backed efficiency arm, and BMW M had a real adversary. The arms race that adopted — M5 versus E55 AMG, M3 versus C63 — outlined fashionable German efficiency vehicles and elevated each manufacturers within the course of.
The Finest is But to Come — For Each Manufacturers
At 140 years previous, Mercedes can be a reminder that BMW’s golden eras usually got here when it had one thing to push towards. With out rivals, together with Mercedes, because the foil, BMW’s “Final Driving Machine” mantra wouldn’t resonate almost as strongly. Even right this moment, as each manufacturers wrestle with electrification, software-defined autos, and more and more blurred mannequin traces, the dynamic stays acquainted. Mercedes leads with generally weird spectacle and tech-forward luxurious. BMW counters with chassis tuning, steadiness, and driver engagement — even when electrons exchange cylinders.
In fact Mercedes-Benz turning 140 deserves recognition. Not as a result of BMW followers immediately must wave a three-pointed star, however as a result of the model’s longevity underscores how important this rivalry has been to automotive progress. BMW grew up alongside and due to Mercedes-Benz. And because the subsequent period of mobility unfolds, one factor feels reassuringly fixed: Munich and Stuttgart will nonetheless be measuring themselves towards one another, simply as they’ve for effectively over a century.
