An Auto-Otaku in Munich 2022: Back in the Welt and its shop

With our quick tour through the BMW museum over and done with, it was naturally time to cross over to the BMW Welt for some additional automotive sightseeing and shopping at the BMW Welt store.

Unfortunately for us though, we stepped into the store just as it was about to close for the evening, but with a couple of days set aside for my own exploration around town after our drives through the beautiful roads of Bavaria, It only made sense to hop onto a quick U-Bahn train back for another visit!

Unlike the museum which had remained relatively unchanged since my last trip, the Welt has now added a new section featuring their “i” cars. With the number of BMW i models steadily increasing, this makes total sense.

It also gave me a chance to take a look at their i Vision Circular concept. With it’s radical shape and very compact dimensions, do you think this is a precursor to the car that will replace the BMW i3?

Another interesting point to ponder is what will the i3’s replacement now be called given that the i3 name will next be seen the new 3-series’ EV variant. i1 perhaps? Or simple just “i” given how the wheelcaps have been designed?

Of course, these beautiful ICE cars just cannot be ignored. Having just driven an M850i through the Bavarian country roads a day before has given me a newfound appreciation for these beautiful GTs. Just like the car we drove, this one is wearing the lovely limited-edition 50th anniversary Heritage roundels.

With almost 90 more horses than the already very quick car we drove, this M8 must be a monster of a machine on the derestricted stretches of the autobahn.

Towards the rear of the building were a lineup of M Performance equipped cars on show, all clad in white with black accents, very Storm Trooper-y.

While they were all interesting to look at, the one that got my most attention was the M240i, though the M5 did stop me in my tracks for a very short moment.

I’ve always felt that fully M performance parts-equipped cars are somewhat of a visual hit and miss, and on the M240i, that still seems to be the case.

I’m not that big a fan of the side skirts, lower front splitter and shouty decals but everything else works for me. What do you think?

Having spent enough time ogling at the M240i, it was time to pop into the shop.

Unlike the museum store, the main lifestyle shop at the Welt is huge with plenty of souvenirs, apparel, accessories, scale models, toys and other knick-knacks to encourage fans of the marque to part with their hard-earned euros.

I never did do a run-through of the shop before so considering it might be a while (hopefully not that long) until my next visit, I took plenty of photos to share with you dear readers. What I should have also done was pick up that black t-shirt above.

There’s literally something for everyone.

Fans of BMW Motorrad are also well catered for. The only issue being that some of the merchandise prices might seem a little steep. Visa and Mastercard might have you covered though.

Yes, there is also a dedicated area for fans of Mini.

And then I saw this. A 1:18 scale BMW Art Car on display, and available in stock! I had to do a double-take, these aren’t that easy to come by and are only available from BMW dealerships, that is, if you can even find them in the first place because they don’t show up very often and the only other place to buy any is through resellers online with their ridiculously jacked up prices.

How much was it in the Welt? 210 euros. An extremely fair price even before claiming a VAT refund and I had to have it. While I did entertain thoughts of buying a second to sell on, those thoughts quickly dissipated when I imagined myself having to lug two big boxes to the tax refund office and to the airport on public transport along with my luggage in tow. Didn’t seem very fun.

In addition to this beautiful model, I also picked up a BMW Welt t-shirt and a BMW Heritage keychain I had been eyeing for quite some time, put off by its price tag, this time though, I bit the bullet and bought it. So overall, it wasn’t too bad a shopping trip.