Trip 53

April 16, 2026

The U-Bahn station, Olympiapark, brings you to BMW Welt, Museum and on the other side of the highway), accessible by pedestrian walkways, Olympiapark (was constructed for the 1972 Summer Olympics) .

I’d been to the BMW museum once, decades ago, but only one of us had been to the Oympiapark, so we decided to make it our excursion for the day.

I don’t think BMW Welt (BMW World) was in existence when I visited the museum, but it’s a combination of a showcase for their new models, the new vehicle delivery center and gift shop. We bought a BMW 325e in 1986 and took European delivery as part of our trip that year, but the new delivery experience looks vastly different (nicer) than ours, 40 years later.

When we arrived in Munich in 1986, it was at the old airport; we took a taxi to the delivery center and then had lunch while we waited for them to bring out our new car. We got a brief once over on the operation of our (5 speed manual transmission) car and then the three of us – me, my wife and a 20 month old child (who instantly discovered the electric window button for the rear passenger windows), and off we went. No in-car navigation (we had to stop at a petrol station to buy a paper map) for our trip through Germany, Switzerland, and France, while having faster Mercedes and BMWs blow past me on the Autobahn.

On the ground level there are displays of some of their new models (iX3)

The ground level is also where you come to register for your delivery , and a gift shop. There is an elevator up to the second level, where there is a connection and walkway to the museum.

Our son and I had (some years later) been to the museum, but I don’t have a lot of recollection about all that we saw then. The ticketing is at a automated kiosk and you can buy either just the entrance ticket or one with an audio guide.

The interior of the building is a series of ~22 different exhibit rooms that are essentially on an upward sloping series of ramps. The exhibits chronicle the founding of BMW, and the iteration of their engines, motorcycles, race cars, sedans, concept cars.

Elvis’ car was “lost” after his return from the Army in 1958, but rediscovered in 2008 and restored by BMW.

We left the museum to walk over the bridge to the Olympiapark, with its iconic tensile roof design.

There is a concert tonight with the pop star Louis Tomlinson (one of my wife’s favorites) and the band had just started their sound check rehearsal when we arrived. We found a place to sit and listen while we watched the fans begin to stream in for the concert that will start in about four hours. We’ll be attending a concert stateside, later this summer.

Of course, there’s a “merch” tent nearby and fans dress up in different themes related to his music.

Louis is a humble artist (greatly appreciative of his fans) who, despite his success as part of One Direction, has really only recently received the recognition, come into his own as a solo artist, in the last few years.

By the time we left, the stream of fans coming in over the bridge was constant.