This step was initiated by the Ministry of Aviation in order to disguise the planned rearmament of the Luftwaffe – as a standalone limited company the Flugmotorenbau GmbH had less strict disclosure requirements.

[3] Following the conclusion of the conflict in May 1945, American troops occupied the factory grounds in Allach, after which aircraft engine production was halted for ten years.

By 1959, BMW Triebwerkbau GmbH was engaged in the production under licence of the General Electric J79-11A turbojet engine for the German Air Force's Lockheed F-104 Starfighter fleet.

On 14 October 1969, BMW formalised its cooperation with both the British aero engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce and the Italian aerospace company FiatAvio through the foundation of Turbo-Union; this entity was established as a joint venture to develop and manufacture the Turbo-Union RB199, a military-grade turbofan engine that was primarily produced to power the Panavia Tornado, a swing-wing multirole combat aircraft adopted by various European nations, including Germany.

[12][13] The EJ200 engine combined the leading technologies from each of the four European companies, using advanced digital control and health monitoring; wide chord aerofoils and single crystal turbine blades; and a convergent / divergent exhaust nozzle to give excellent thrust-to-weight ratio, multimission capability, supercruise performance, low fuel consumption, low cost of ownership, modular construction and significant growth potential.

[17] During June 1989, another joint venture, MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce (MTR) was established as a part of the framework created on behalf of the French and West German governments to developed an advanced multirole battlefield helicopter, the Eurocopter Tiger.

[29] The company possesses numerous other locations around the globe, including Rocky Hill, Connecticut; Vancouver, British Columbia; Rzeszów, Poland; Zhu Hai, China and Dallas, Texas.

[citation needed] During December 2019, Safran and MTU announced an agreement to found a 50/50 joint venture to manage the development, production, and after-sales support activities of the new military aero engine intended to power the Future Combat Air System.