BMW Welt - 7 things to know before you go

What to expect at Munich's BMW Welt (World)

MORE: Our full BMW Welt guide, with opening times, BMW Museum prices and the four-cylinder tower.

It’s one of the world’s most famous brands with a reputation for luxury and engineering brilliance. And Munich’s BMW Welt is a fitting tribute to the vaunted ‘ultimate driving machine’.
The huge centre is one of Bavaria’s most-visited attractions, drawing in more than two million visitors a year - nearly twice as many as Neuschwanstein Castle.
Even if cars don’t get your motor running, the building alone is worth the trip.
Here are seven fast facts about Munich’s famous temple of technology.
The stunning double helix is a highlight of BMW Welt's design. Picture: WikiCommons/Pankratov-p

1. Its roof is one massive powerplant. BMW Welt’s roof is completely flat and designed to resemble a cloud. It’s topped with 3,660 solar panels spread over about 16,500 square metres, good for more than 800 kW in full sun, which produces enough juice to power around 560 apartments.

2. It’s part of something bigger. BMW Welt is just one part of the company’s massive Munich campus, which also comprises the BMW Museum - the squat, circular building - and the BMW Headquarters - the skyscraper designed to look like a car engine’s four cylinders.
If you’re keen on learning more about the cars and bikes, it’s well worth shelling out €17 for a ticket to the BMW Museum (€9 reduced, and under-10s go free).

The building's interior is a sight to behold. Picture: www.diephotodesigner.de

3. You can pick up your new car there. If you’re someone for whom getting a new pair of wheels is akin to giving birth you can treat yourself to a luxury ‘collection experience’ after your perfect BMW has been made up to your tastes.
There’s a BMW expert standing next to you in the huge, glass-walled space, going through how much work and detail has gone into your new wheels.
Then the car rises up from below in a glass lift and turns to face you on a rotating platform, before you drive it off down the ramp into your new life.

There are workshops and things to do. Picture: Daniel Kraus

4. BMW Welt is free to visit. There are changing exhibits where you can see, touch and sit in some of BMW’s newest, strangest, and most classic designs - including Rolls Royce and Mini.
Some of these are in the main hall area and others to be found in the helix metal swirly thing. It’s totally free to wander around BMW Welt and a big part of the fun is exploring such an architectural marvel close up.

5. It’s a short subway ride away from the centre. BMW Welt is in Munich’s north-west, about a five-minute walk from the Olympiazentrum U-Bahn station on the U3 line.
It’s just across the road from Munich’s Olympic Park, where you can explore the wonderfully futuristic arenas and stadiums of the 1972 games. The park is also home to a beer garden and Munich’s Sea Life aquarium.

BMW Welt is part of a larger campus including the BMW Museum and headquarters building.

6. There’s a shop. You may still have a way to go before you can afford one of BMW’s top-of-the-line M cars but you can still take home a slice of ‘sheer driving pleasure’ at BMW Welt’s shop. It stocks postcards, books, models, vintage signs, teddy bears and more.

7. It’s open every day. BMW Welt is open 7.30am to midnight from Monday to Saturday and from 9am to midnight on Sunday. The exhibitions, however, are only open 9am-6pm, every day. It only closes between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, and again between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Find more info on our guide page here, or on the BMW Welt website here.

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