Despite the crisis in the German motorcycle market since the mid-1950s, BMW presented an entirely new model alongside a revised product range at the Frankfurt International Bicycle and Motorcycle Exhibition in 1960. The BMW R 50 S was the first sporty BMW in the 500 cc class after the war. However, since ambitious customers preferred to have the BMW R 69 S with bigger capacity and stronger power output, the BMW R 50 S was not a major economic success. Production was discontinued in 1962 after just 1,634 motorcycles had been manufactured.