A Bimmer by any other name is still a respected rideĭespite the sky-high price of many of their higher-end vehicles and renowned unreliability, BMW remains one of the most popular luxury car brands on the road today. In Germany, the acronym BMW is less cumbersome to pronounce than in English-speaking countries, which may explain why the nicknames Beamer, Beemer, and Bimmer never caught on with most Bavarian locals. “Beamer” is simply an alternate spelling of “Beemer” and refers to motorcycles, not cars.Īs a nickname for Bavarian-born cars, “Bimmer” came about in the 1970s, explains BMW, although the shortened name is not generally used in the car maker’s homeland. According to BMW, the first two nicknames are ascribed to BMW motorcycles, and only the nickname Bimmer is used to describe four-wheel automobiles such as the BMW 325i and 328i models.īefore BMW started making cars, a UK-based manufacturer called the Birmingham Small Arms Company was already busy building cars, busses, and motorcycles that were affectionately referred to as “Beezers.” When German-made motorcycles arrived on the scene, quick-witted Britans called the BMW-made bikes “Beemers” to differentiate the two bike makers, BSA and BMW. Hence it is little surprise that the non enthusiast types out there incorrectly labeled BMW cars and their owners as 'beamers' or 'beemers'.Although pronounced roughly the same, the nicknames Beamer, Beemer, and Bimmer do not always refer to automobiles. Unfortunately, in the US and Canada, and perhaps other countries, there was a time (kind of still is) where for various reasons, a BMW owner was considered an upwardly mobile person, and of course due to the fun in driving their BMWs most all of them had big grins on their faces. So, of course for any true enthusiast, there is no way that a BMW car could be called a 'beemer', so they were called 'bimmers'. Well as things would have it, a track slang developed, and the BMWs were usually referred to as 'beemers' and the BSAs were referred to as 'beesers'. In those days, BMW motorcycles were quite active in racing, and one of their competitors at the track was often the BSA bikes. The answer in part lies in knowing some BMW history and what came first.Īll real BMW enthusiasts know that BMW got a big start on two wheels, what many call the real BMWs. So just why is a BMW car called a 'bimmer' not a 'beemer' or 'beamer'? You will hear this term used incorrectly by many people.īitter - Another German car. Most people don't know this.īeamer/Beemer - proper accepted slang for BMW motorcycles. More from the BMW Car Club of BC:īimmer - proper accepted slang for BMW cars. Urban Dictionary is wrong, "Beamer" is a motorcycle not a car! I would put more stock in what Bimmer Center and BMW CCA say than the "urban dictionary". One might say what about the Isetta? The Boston Chapter of the BMW CCA clears this up with this interesting article: Boston Chapter BMW CCA The BMW car enthusiasts wanted a new term to differentiate cars from motorcycles and coined the term Bimmer. As time went by, different people (who couldn't spell very well and didn't take the initiative o find out) started to use the term Beamer.īMW went on to design and manufacture cars which subsequently outshone their two-wheeled cousins. Since BSA motorcycles were known as Beesers, BMW fans decided to call BMW motorcycles Beemers. One of their biggest competitors at the racing track was BSA - which was also a big name in motorcycles then. Why all this different terms? BMW started big in motorcycles and was very active in motor sports back then. However, Bimmer is the proper term for BMW cars (vehicles with 4 wheels) while Beemer and Beamer are terms that are used for BMW vehicles that have less than 4 wheels (e.g. The truth is that all the terms refer to BMW vehicles. With so many terms being used it is quite easy to get confused. A search in Google for the keyword "BMW" yields results that use the terms - Bimmer, Beemer and Beamer.
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