pg

I would like to visit one of them during my trip to Germany. Which one is the best?
Thanks

Patrick

I can only vouch for the BMW museum, which is a spiral (ala Guggenheim in New York) and filled with hands on, interesting exhibits -- an excellent museum. It is as much about modern transportation as it is about BMW's.

Queenie

Patrick, I'm surprised at your comments on the BMW museum - you mean the one in Munich? I have heard such negative comments about how dated it is. I have a girlfriend that works at BMW there and she tells people its closed for repairs as she feels its an embarassment.

I have never been there, and am not a car buff, so I can't judge - just passing along comments I've heard.

rex

I guess a museum can seem dated - - I have never been to the BMW museum either, but of course, it IS a museum. Not supposed to be like a showroom of current and recent BMW engineering.

Where I have been is to Porsche. The "museum is about the size of a two lane bowling alley, and barely worth the time UNLESS - - UNLESS you also have procred a reservation to go on the factory tour (limit 10 per day, generally only available to owners and serious prospective buyers). In that case, it is SO, SO worthwhile. Worth a drive halfway across Germany if you can get in on the factory tour, which is SO cool.

Best wishes,

Rex
[email protected]

P.S. I have never been an owner nor a serious prospective buyer, but I went with one such couple once.

Patrick

Well, it all honesty it has been seven years (that surprised me until I looked it up -- my how time flies) since we were at the BMW museum, so I suppose some of those "technology" displays would be a little dated today. But I have still never seen in operation many of the systems they were showing development of in fascinating detail -- such as the strips in the streets that report to your car which way to go to bypass traffic jams, or warning you that you are too close to the car in front of you for the speed you are traveling.
And certainly none of the "historical" exhibits showing development of the cars and motorcycles would ever be out of date.
But if they didn't keep up with repairs of the exhibits -- many of them video and button pressing options, then I can see how the museum would need some work.

mj

pg,
As a car nut, I've managed to talk my SO into stopping at MB, BMW and Audi museums during our "road trips". We skipped Porsche due to friends comments (echos Rex's comments) that the museum is somewhat disappointing but the (difficult to get) plant tour is great - then again, I hear they all are.

Here's some info/impressions from our visits:

If you want a plant tour (in English) in conjuction w/a museum visit, it must be pre-arranged.

MB museum is closed mondays - wished I had know that.

MB is on 3 floors and is great exhibition of the history of the marque. It has more cars than Audi or BMW. The audio system for the exhibits is a nice touch. Note though, MB are building a new museum as part of a plant complex upgrade so I don't know if this is/will impact existing museum exhibits, opening times, etc.

Audi museum, Ingolstadt, is new (2000) w/sub level theater and 4 (large) exhibit floors. It's part of the plant complex that includes separate new car delivery pavillion and sales buildings - MB is upgrading their complex to a similar setup. Audi does not have MB's history but they do a great job nonetheless. We were there just after the opening so they were still working the kinks out. There's no audio system but they have free, postcard sized handouts at most exhibits.

BMW museum. Spiral walkways take you thru 4? levels showing the history of the marque including aviation and motorcycle exhibits. Top floor exhibit showcases BMW technology and there's a nice interactive exhibit about how BMWs are built. Yes, it's a bit dated but still very interesting.

IMHO, Audi currently has the most impressive (overall) site. If you hang around the outside of the museums, you might get some suprises as we did:
- Williams F1 car being pushed thru the front doors of BMW HQ's building (adjacent to museum).
- Audi's R8s' (LeMans cars) being loaded into trailers.

Any of the museums are worth the stop. Even my SO got "into" the visits and cars aren't on her "fun to see/do" radar.

Last comment, if you're biased towards "racing iron", Audi had more on display.
hth,

RDN

If you are near Mulhouse, France, south of Strasbourg, and close to the German border, visit the French National Automobile Museum. I am not a car buff, but it is astounding, and I mean that - well-laid out, immaculate, great exhibits, roomy, great variety, hand-held oral guides, etc. It is definitely a must-see if you are interested in cars.

rex

I quite agree with RDN - - very cool - - primarily for 1900-1950.

Here's more info from a an excerpt of a previous post:

Author: Rex
Date: 04/14/2002, 04:41 pm

Message: Jeri,

I have previously cited this wrong as being in Colmar, when it's actually in nearby Mulhouse - - on avenue de Colmar!

Very cool, all the same.

http://www.tourisme68.asso.fr/musees/fr/mus3.1.html

The National Musee de l'Automobile - - also known as the Schlumpf collection.

92, avenue de Colmar
68100 Mulhouse

OUVERTURE
Du 1er avril au 31 octobre : de 9h à 18 h (18h30 en juillet et août).
Du 1er novembre au 31 mars 2002 : de 10h à 18h.

PRIX par PERSONNE
Adultes plein tarif : 65 FF
De 7 à 17 ans : 29 FF
Gratuit pour les enfants de moins de 7 ans.

Visites guidées pour groupes en français, allemand et anglais, sur réservation au musée.

INFORMATION et RÉSERVATION
Tél. musée : (33) 03 89 33 23 23
Tél. réservation / animation : (33) 03 89 33 23 30
Fax : (33) 03 89 32 08 09.

Hiroshi

If you like cars, you will probably like all of the museums. I have been to the BMW and Mercedes museums.

The Mercedes musuems seem to have more cars, particularly older ones. They have the gullwing 300SL which a die hard fan may visit to see even if that were the only car.

The BMW museum has more exhibits about car companies in general (like safety, steering, etc.)

The BMW Musuem in Greenville, SC is not quite as big as the Munich museum. It's worth a stop if you are close by as it is next to the highway.

Patrick

RDN and Rex, we're actually planning two nights in Basel simply to allow a day to go to the museum in Mulhouse. I'm hoping we can do it easily by train and bus as we won't have a car then.

dsieve

I went to the BMW museum in Munich a couple of years ago, I/m a car buff so I enjoyed it, but I'm sure sure we went through it in an hour and a half. If you do go to Munich the Deutsches Museum (a GREAT Museum)has an interesting automobile exibit. Of course most of the cars there are european so it was different from what I see in the states.

rex

Hmm... the highly mythologized "ate my post"! - - wasn't even there with the use of the "back" button!

Trying again...

Of course, I am not the right person to ask about public transport, since I so prefer having a car - - but perhaps this will help:

http://www.euroairport.com/FR/voyageurs.php?PAGEID=4&PAGEDYNID=2

I would think that 1.5 to 2.5 hours would be an average visit. Your own attention span may vary, and real afficionados of this period in automotive history could easily spend double that. They have something like 500 vehicles, with a total floor area about 10 times the size of a basketball court, as I recall.

Patrick

Uh-thanks a lot, Rex. As the other half of a real "automobile fanatic" traveling duo, looks like we'd better allow a couple days in Mulhouse!! It remains one of the few car museums in Europe we seem to have missed. The very small, but wonderful car museum in Verona took us nearly three hours last year. Most people seemed to come and go in less than a hour.

Riffic

If you're an automobile buff, then I'd highly recommend taking the BMW production plant tour, which is given in English on Fri and Mon.

For us BMW owners, this is the best thing BMW has to offer. It's like watching your baby being born. It's really an amazing tour, approx 2 hours long. The only sticky part is getting tickets (which are free). You must call to reserve ahead of time (4-6 weeks) to ensure a spot, as space is rather limited.


Avoid the actual BMW museum. It is so outdated, it's pathetic. To give you an example, I first visited it in 1997 (was not very impressed), and there were no noticeable upgrades as of 2002, when I last visited.

Patrick

The BMW factory tour is already part of our plan. Last time in Munich we were mid week, and it wouldn't work out, but this time not only will it be a Monday, but it will happen to be my car-fanatic partner's birthday. He's a BMW driver and has already made arrangements through his dealer for the tour. Except that he currently drives a Z-3 made in Spartanburg, South Carolina -- but no matter!

_jinx_

A rousing endorsement for the Musee National de L'Automobile in Mulhouse, France. Allow a good half-day because there are hundreds of rare, beautiful automobiles, including a priceless Bugatti collection. I'd go again in an instant.

Regards,

Jinx Hoover