Ludwig Wilhelm was born at Schloss Tegernsee, the eldest son of Duke Karl Theodor in Bavaria and his second wife Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal.

[1] However the Prince was only 14 years old and today remains one of the youngest Grand Cordons in Belgian History.

[2] He married Princess Eleonore Anna Lucie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, widow of Otto Victor Fürst (Prince) von Schönburg (1882 – killed at Rheims, 14 September 1914) and daughter of Prince Franz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Countess Julia Cavalcanti d'Albuquerque de Villeneuve, on 19 March 1917 in Kreuth.

After the death of his wife on 20 February 1965, he adopted the grandson of his sister Marie Gabrielle, Max Emanuel.

Ludwig Wilhelm died on 5 November 1968 in Wildbad Kreuth, a spa he owned and had converted into a modern sanatorium in 1957.