The BMW R 100 was BMW’s 1000-class air-cooled boxer road model in the final years of the company’s classic two-valve R-series era. BMW’s own classic model history places production from 1980 to 1984, with the name R 100 emerging from the earlier R 100 T designation after the 1981 model revision. In that update, BMW dropped the “T” badge and gave the model a modest power increase, along with chassis and braking refinements such as wider cast-alloy wheels and a more advanced front brake.
As the highest-profile roadgoing boxer in the range, the R 100 sat near the top of BMW’s traditional motorcycle lineup and was positioned as the sportier, faster-feeling alternative to the more touring-oriented variants in the family. It remained visually and mechanically tied to BMW’s long-running opposed-twin formula, which is a major part of the brand’s identity and enthusiast appeal.
The R 100 belongs to the last phase of BMW’s classic air-cooled two-valve boxer motorcycles before the company moved toward a new generation of bikes in the mid-1980s. In that sense, it is remembered less as a radical reinvention than as a polished final evolution of BMW’s traditional boxer roadster concept. Among BMW fans, it has become a representative example of the marque’s durable, characterful big-twin era.