Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeyV
I'm pretty interested in this, I've got a couple of books on BMW history, none mention this military jeep, do you have any more information and some photos?
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It's only mentioned in one of books, but I did once find some text online
Quote:
BMW 325
While in 1937 military production throughout
German industry had already achieved
a very high level, the responsible authorities
in Berlin directed BMW to produce a
jeep-like vehicle in Eisenach. The design of
this vehicle, classified as “light standardized
passenger car”, came from the Army
Weapons Office (Heereswaffenamt). This
office defined the standardized chassis, with
a steel under-cover and the body design.
Similar production orders were awarded
to Hanomag in Hanover and to Stoewer in
Stettin. The only difference among these
three vehicles was in the drive-train, as
each company used its own engine, without
being allowed to identify such with a company
logo. The jeep out of Eisenach was
internally designated as BMW 325.
The specialty of the 325 was that it had allwheel-
drive and all-wheel-steering. These
features were intended to assure superior
all-terrain drivability and good maneuverability
(turning circle of 21.3 ft [6.5 m]). In
order to avoid bottoming in rough terrain,
some of these vehicles were equipped with
two small free-running extra wheels in the
area of the doors.
The engine used in this vehicle was the 2 ltr.
6-cylinder, 50 HP motor used in the BMW
326, with the only modification being an oil
pan of aluminum.
The gear box had 5 forward and one
reverse gear. In first gear on firm ground,
the BMW 325 could handle slopes of up
to 60%. The minimum long-term speed of
the vehicle was 4 k/h (2.5 mph) and the
top speed was 90 k/h (56 mph). With a fuel
consumption of 17 ltr./100 km (14 mpg) the
range of the BMW 325 was limited to 350
km (219 miles).
Before a member of the Army Weapons
Office could take delivery of a BMW 325
each vehicle was test-drive for about 80
km (50 miles) by a member of BMW’s test
team. As can be seen on the picture, the
vehicles at this stage did not have the rear
body assembly mounted on the chassis. To
compensate a weight was attached to the
chassis, to get to the design weight of 2,200
kg (4,840 lbs).
Following the successful test drive, the
vehicles were driven to a body-shop in
near-by Waltershausen, where the body
assembly was completed. Only after this
assembly were these vehicles subjected to
the final inspection by a representative of
the Army Weapons Office. During use of the
BMW 325 by the German army it turned out
that these vehicles did not perform according
to expectations. Apart from the problem
with the high weight the complicated design
made the vehicles unreliable so that production
was stopped in 1940, and instead
BMW Eisenach was ordered to produce
an all-terrain motorcycle / sidecar unit by
use of the army. In the period between April
1, 1937 and July 31, 1940 a total of 3,225
BMW 325s left the production facilities of
BMW Eisenach.
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Got it from a PDF, don't have the original link
edit:
This is the book I have which it is mentioned in:
http://www.google.co.uk/products/cat...0CGwQ8wIwBDgo#
... but I guess people like me arn't enthusiasts because we don't hate the 5GT!
