BMW 700 - Development

Development

The first variant of the 700 to appear after the original coupe and saloon was the 700 Sport in August 1960. Available only as a coupe, the Sport used an uprated engine with a pair of Solex carburetors and a 9.0:1 compression ratio. This brought the power output to 40 horsepower (30 kW). The Sport also had a rear anti-roll bar. A ribbed oil pan was used to reduce the oil temperature of the more powerful engine. The 700 Sport was renamed the 700 CS in 1963.

The 700 Cabriolet was introduced shortly after the 700 Sport, and was available only with the Sport's 40 horsepower engine.. The convertible body was made by Karosserie Baur of Stuttgart. 2,592 convertibles were built.

A Saxomat semi-automatic transmission was offered as an option on 700s from September 1960.

The 700 Luxus replaced the original saloon in 1962. The wheelbase had been extended by 16 centimetres (6.3 in). The 700 LS, a simplified Luxus with a lower price, was introduced in 1963.

In February 1963, the size of the inlet valves in the 700's base engine was increased. This increased power to 32 horsepower (24 kW).

The final development of the 700 was the 700 LS Coupe of 1964. This was a long-wheelbase coupe with the Sport engine. 1,730 LS Coupes were built.

Production of the BMW 700 ended in November 1965. By that time, the successful New Class cars had established themselves in the marketplace. High demand for these larger cars with larger profit margins led BMW to stop making economy cars. BMW eventually returned to the economy car market in 2002 with the Mini.

An attempt to transfer the rights to body production and export markets of the 700 to Autocars Co. in Israel in 1965 fell through. E. Illin Industries had earlier tried to start an enterprise in assembling 700s in Israel, which resulted in four 700s being assembled there in April 1963.