The First of the Line: BMW’s E9/R1 and the Birth of M

Some cars feel inevitable the moment you learn their story, as if history had been quietly building toward them. BMW’s E9/R1, the very first car produced by BMW Motorsport GmbH, is one of those. It’s the prototype that birthed 'M Power,' the testbed that shaped the CSL 'Batmobile,' and the car that set BMW’s course for the next fifty years. E9/R1 is now being offered for sale publicly for the first time ever.

BMW’s roots stretch back to 1916, when the young Bavarian firm was building aircraft engines rather than sports cars. But it didn’t take long for the company’s engineering brilliance to seek out speed on land. Their first motorcycle appeared in 1923, and their first motorcar in 1928. By the 1930s, BMW had already earned its motorsport credentials. Works rider Ernst Henne shattered no fewer than seventy-six land speed records between 1929 and 1937, while the elegant 328 Sports Car conquered some of Europe’s toughest races; the RAC TT, the Alpine Rally, Le Mans, and even the 1940 Mille Miglia.

Racing as Identity

Fast forward to the 1960s and early ’70s, and the spirit of competition was alive and well, this time in the hands of privateers. Names like Alpina and Schnitzer became synonymous with BMW success on track, often beating better-funded rivals through clever engineering and relentless determination. Their achievements didn’t go unnoticed in Munich.

Enter Bob Lutz, the energetic new Sales and Marketing Director who joined BMW in 1972. Lutz understood that racing could be a brand builder. “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” became the strategy, and so he pushed for a dedicated motorsport division that would elevate BMW from a respected manufacturer to a true performance marque.

To lead it, Lutz recruited Jochen Neerpasch, a former Porsche works driver then heading Ford’s racing programme in Cologne. Neerpasch brought with him Martin Braungart, Ford’s technical ace, and together they established a new division — BMW Motorsport GmbH. Few could have predicted it then, but this small team would go on to define an entire era of performance motoring.

E9/R1: The Genesis of M

The first fruit of their labour was this car, E9/R1, built in 1972. It was the foundation of BMW’s motorsport future. The first 'M' car. The first CSL racer. The test platform for what would become one of the most distinctive silhouettes in touring car history; the Batmobile.

At the time, Ford’s Capris were the cars to beat in European touring car racing. BMW’s response was the CSL — short for Coupé Sport Leichtbau — a lighter, more powerful evolution of the already handsome E9 coupé. E9/R1 was built as the test and development car, pounding around Paul Ricard and Hockenheim in the winter of ’72–’73 under the hands of Hans Stuck and Harald Menzel.

At first, the CSLs ran clean-bodied, without the now-famous aero appendages. FIA rules required BMW to build 1,000 road-going CSLs before the wilder aerodynamic 'Batmobile' package could be homologated. The green light finally came on July 1st 1973, and in true motorsport fashion, BMW cut it fine.

On the eve of the Mainz-Finthen DRM round, homologation came through at midnight. The engineers drove the works cars to a nearby BMW dealership and worked through the night, bolting on the new high-downforce wings, fins, and the 3.5-litre engines. One mechanic famously drove E9/R1 back to the track on public roads just as dawn broke, the ultimate definition of just in time.

From Development Car to Race Winner

The newly transformed CSL was immediately competitive. While Stuck’s car retired at Mainz with a water pump failure, Harald Menzel soon took E9/R1 to victory at the Nürburgring during the German Grand Prix support race, and followed it with wins at Kassel-Calden and the ADAC 500km Eifelpokalrennen. The legend of the CSL had begun.

When the 1973 season drew to a close, BMW sold E9/R1 and its sister car to the American Hurtig Team Libra for the following year’s IMSA campaign. The invoice, for DM 99,000, still accompanies the car today. Driven by John Buffum and Andy Petery, the CSLs made an impression on the American scene and helped convince BMW to return in 1975 as a full factory entrant.

Later, both cars passed into private hands in Mexico, retiring from competition before resurfacing decades later. In the 1980s, E9/R1 joined the collection of BMW enthusiast Richard Conway, and in the mid-1990s found its way to its current custodian, one of the world’s foremost authorities on BMW’s racing history.

Restoration and Recognition

Over the past decade, E9/R1 has been lovingly restored, with authenticity and originality as the guiding principles. In 2021, after three decades out of the public eye, it returned to the spotlight at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it ran up the hill in its original 1973 pre-homologation guise.

Then, in August 2025, it made its concours debut at Salon Privé at Blenheim Palace. Shown in full Batmobile specification, it took home the ‘Most Iconic Car’ award.

The Holy Grail of BMW Motorcars

It’s difficult to overstate what this car represents. E9/R1 is the very first BMW Motorsport car, the first of the 21 works CSLs, and one of just 11 raced by the factory. It is the foundation of BMW’s motorsport identity.

The data and lessons gleaned from this single chassis laid the groundwork for six European Touring Car Championship titles, a Le Mans class win, and even the birth of the BMW Art Car series.

To call it the 'holy grail' of BMWs isn’t hyperbole; it’s simple fact. E9/R1 is where M began. And now it's for sale publicly for the first time ever, brought to market by Custodian's Partner Dealer, Dylan Miles, and available to view now on The Showroom.