On 28 October, 1913, a German technical designer named Karl Rapp founded Rapp-Motoren-werke. He started off with manufacturing aircraft engines. However, the engines were not efficient enough. Karl Rapp’s financial struggles began there.
During the First World War, Karl Rapp got an order of 600 airplane engines from the Prussian army which put him back in business. He eventually formed a partnership with business owner Fran-Josef Popp who appointed new engineers to modify the engines. The effort was not in vain. The engine performance became better and by 1917, the company was renamed as Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW).
By 1923, BMW started experimenting with new designs and branched out to producing motor cycles. They also began building the whole vehicle instead of engines alone. For a company in its infancy, this was a huge step.
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