The BMW R75 stands out by its integral two-wheel drive design, with drive shafts to both its rear wheel and the third side-car wheel, from a locking differential, as well as a transfer case offering both road and off-road gear ratios, through which all forward and reverse gears worked.

In August 1942 Zündapp and BMW, on the urging of the Army, agreed upon standardization of parts for both machines, with a view of eventually creating a Zündapp-BMW hybrid (designated the BW 43), in which a BMW 286/1 side-car would be grafted onto a Zündapp KS 750 motorcycle.

These vehicles are still highly desirable as collector's items because of their elaborate and durable technology, and are correspondingly expensive.

In 1954 a small number of modified R75 models were produced at Eisenach (then in Soviet-controlled East Germany) for testing under the designation AWO 700, but were not put into full production.

In 1940 People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union acknowledged the lag in motorized vehicles and decided to choose a foreign platform to build upon.