1929 BMW Ihle 600

This is a steel Ihle Typ 600 body on a 1929 Dixi 3/15 DA 2 chassis. In 1928, BMW acquired Automobilwerk Eisenach which had earlier secured rights from the Austin Motor Co. Ltd. to produce their cars as Dixis in Germany. From 1927 to 1929, BMW's first cars, were sold as Dixis. For the next three years they were sold as BMW's.

By 1933, Rudolf and Fritz Ihle seized upon the opportunity to supply open roadster bodies to replace the standard Dixi bodies. They removed the original body, stretched the frame, added a custom exhaust and then the new steel or aluminum bodywork. The resulting roadster was hundreds of pounds lighter and boasted a 20% increase in power.

All Typ 600's were finished in red with red upholstery. All were handbuilt and usually owner modified as well. No two were ever identical. Production numbers were not maintained and few cars survive with their original data plates. This car retains BMW emblems, rather than the Ihle badges factory cars wore, so it was likely an owner installed kit.

The first vehicle ever made by BMW was the Dixi. From 1904 on, Dixi was a car brand of Eisenach car factory that had difficulty selling its 6/24 and 9/40 models in the tough automotive economy of the 1920s. Eisenach was having trouble entering into the small car market so in 1927 they agreed to a licensing agreement with the Austin Motor Company to build a variation of their Austin 7. The agreement included a production level of 2,000 vehicles a year, and Dixi paid Austin a royalty on each vehicle that was produced. The initial 100 vehicles were supplied as kits, but by December 1927 the official Dixi-manufactured vehicles, the DA-1 3/25PS rolled off the production line. The 'DA' designation stood for Deutsche Ausführung, or ‘German version', while the 3/15 indicated the actual horsepower ratings and the taxation.

Virtually identical to the Austin, the Dixi nonetheless was left-hand drive and used metric fasteners. Available body styles were roadster, coupe, tourer, and sedan with a few chassis that went to external coachbuilders. The majority of the vehicles left the factory as tourers. BMW purchased the Automobilwerk Eisenach in 1928 and with it, the rights to build the Dixi vehicle. The vehicles were originally badged as BMW Dixi, but the Dixi name was dropped in 1929 and the DA-1 was replaced by a slightly updated version, the BMW 3/15 DA-2; the vehicle that allowed BMW to survive the Great Depression.
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The original Dixi's utilized an open room and were powered by a743cc 4 cylinder engine that produced 15 hp. With a top speed of 50 mph, the Dixi 3/15 PS was basically the same model as the US Bantam and the Japanese Datsun. The DA/2 was the new and improved version that featured an all-steel body, 4-wheel brakes. In 1930, Dixi scored its first wins in motor racing. Total production of the BMW Dixi was 18,976 units. This period of the Dixi production ended up being the best for BMW and was the beginning of all of the success that is BMW today.

By Jessica Donaldson