- Production of the new 2012 BMW 3 Series was launched officially on Friday in Munich.
- BMW has poured $700 million into its Munich home plant to prepare for production of the new 3 Series.
- The Munich plant dates to 1922 and has built more than 8.5 million cars.
MUNICH, Germany — BMW said it has poured $700 million into its home plant here, where series production of the new 2012 3 Series was launched officially on Friday.
The Munich plant dates to 1922 and has built more than 8.5 million cars. Production of the previous-generation 3 Series here last year totaled nearly 206,000, and the plant is expected to build at least that many cars next year.
BMW's production boss Frank-Peter Arndt observed that the 3 Series "is the most important volume-produced model from the BMW Group, as well as the biggest-selling model in the entire premium segment."
Thus, the heavy investment in the updated production facilities, especially in "innovative production equipment and state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies," according to BMW. Among the upgraded hardware are new robots for such functions as welding, bonding and painting.
Munich is the lead plant worldwide for production of the sixth-generation 3 Series, which eventually will be assembled at various locations around the globe, including Russia, China, Mexico and South Africa.
Inside Line says: The automaker refers to the Munich home plant as "the birthplace of BMW."
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noautomatics says:
07:05 PM, 11/12/2011
aston_dbs: As an American who has worked in Germany (Motorola facilities in Flensburg) and who has seen these beer vending machines, I think they're great.
The Germans I worked with only drank sparingly at work (~1 beer per day at lunch or a break) and they were really smart, hard-working and productive.
I'm still amazed at the Puritannical legacy over the psychological hang-ups we have in the US about alcohol, where it's seen as more of a forbidden fruit rather than a part of everyday life. This leads to abuse.
coolb944 says:
10:16 AM, 10/31/2011
@carpaul1
Most, if not all, auto production facilities are actually quite clean and well organized.
I toured the Lamborghini and Maserati factories while I was in Italy, and while it's to be expected based on the price of the cars, the factories were actually very modern, very clean, and less noisy then you'd imagine a car factory to be, especially ones that build sports and exotic cars.
k55 says:
09:31 AM, 10/31/2011
now hopefully they will put the 2.0T in the 1 series .
aston_dbs says:
07:49 AM, 10/31/2011
"beer vending machines..."
Really?
I guess that's why sometimes they 'forget' to install a critical car component when they get back to work...
bobh7 says:
06:23 AM, 10/29/2011
I took a plant tour here back in 2005 (while on my honeymoon no less) and was very impressed. My new bride and I got a kick out of seeing beer vending machines in the break rooms. A few on the plant tour group were there to pick out there new 3 series to take back home to the states. Still waiting/wishing for mine someday!
cz_75 says:
08:05 PM, 10/28/2011
Please bone up on the electrical engineering courses, guys.
smallfield says:
04:28 PM, 10/28/2011
Do we get cars from here to the US? Most the 3 series I've seen here were from South Africa (except M cars)
northsparrow says:
04:17 PM, 10/28/2011
For those who did not know, the plant in the photos is located right beside Munich's world famous
Blue Pants District.
I have to laugh because otherwise I can only cry about the naturally aspirated, in line 6 engine going
out of production.
carpaul1 says:
04:12 PM, 10/28/2011
Those floors in the factory look pristine. It makes one feel good about a car being built in a factory where the floors are so clean and spiffy. The ultimate driving machine factory, well done BMW
says:
03:43 PM, 10/28/2011
if an alternator wasn't connected, it would definitely fail a pre-delivery inspection. it'd probably be something less noticeable during QC and PDI for a recall.
but I'm just waiting for the F3x (F32 if anything like the E9x) coupe to come out. Hoping that one looks more different.