[kind3r]

It is truly amazing ..... and I must say I love the new design

[rodgerdodger]

BMW FTW!!!

[ORIGIN M.]

That is funny.

Originally Posted by funftouring

Hey, I didn't know Chris Harris worked for BMW?

I'm sure that was him putting the roundel on the trunk...

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by SamS

Barely any. I have been to the Munich plant, and Spartanburg SC, and seen cars leave final assembly to the transporter.

At Munich, the 3 series get an alignment, then a systems check on a rolling tester to make sure all electronics work. Then they are driven a short distance (a few hundred meters) to the transporter. You can pick up a new car at the Welt with <.2 miles. However, my M3 from Regensburg had 2 miles upon pickup.

The Spartanburg factory for X3/5/6 is almost the same. After final assembly, the vehicles drive 30m or so over some simulated rough terrain (this is all indoors) to check for rattles. Then, driven straight to a transporter. This has to be less than .5 miles.

The extra 1-2 miles you see on top of this are from loading on the ship, customs, VPC, and additional transportation. In short, there is no "testing" once the car is assembled, it's straight off to final destination.

All 3 Series produced in South Africa get wheel balancing and light alignment.
Then go for a computerized Dyno test to over 100mph before a final quality inspection.

After teh inspection they go through a water tunnel to test for water leaks and then drive a simulated rough terrain course to test for rattles.

After that they drive about 4 miles to the distribution center to wait for their truck or train that will take them to their destination country.

Many miles are put on the cars.


The Odometer is not 0 when the car leaves the factory floor and is in a special factory mode.
When the car is finally prepared by the receiving countries VDC the odometer is set to 0 .

Thast why some car can be delivered with just 2 or 3 miles on it, mostly put on by the dealer.



Every day a certain amount of cars are pulled off the factory line at different points for much more intense inspections and tests to ensure quality.

A couple bodies a month are even pulled before paint to test their welds to destruction for quality purposes.

[Walee]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

All 3 Series produced in South Africa get wheel balancing and light alignment.
Then go for a computerized Dyno test to over 100mph before a final quality inspection.

After teh inspection they go through a water tunnel to test for water leaks and then drive a simulated rough terrain course to test for rattles.

After that they drive about 4 miles to the distribution center to wait for their truck or train that will take them to their destination country.

Many miles are put on the cars.


The Odometer is not 0 when the car leaves the factory floor and is in a special factory mode.
When the car is finally prepared by the receiving countries VDC the odometer is set to 0 .

Thast why some car can be delivered with just 2 or 3 miles on it, mostly put on by the dealer.



Every day a certain amount of cars are pulled off the factory line at different points for much more intense inspections and tests to ensure quality.

A couple bodies a month are even pulled before paint to test their welds to destruction for quality purposes.

So you think BMW made in SA are better built quality than the ones made in US and Germany? After all there are more tests in place than US and Germany? Cheap labour perhaps to do all this?

[SamS]

Originally Posted by Walee

So you think BMW made in SA are better built quality than the ones made in US and Germany? After all there are more tests in place than US and Germany? Cheap labour perhaps to do all this?

No, I dont think so. I didn't see the water test or rough terrain in Munich, but that could have been steps after the rolling test and between the transporter.

At the factory, you get to see all the steps (I think), but you can't follow one car from start to finish.

[candyflipper]

They say, Maseratti is built fully by hand - hence it has a soul.
These super machines are also engineered by minds & built by hand - hence, super accuracy for minor detail,,, which has a better outcome than a human factor.

[Black Flagged]

awesome, amazing to watch them start with a piece of sheet metal and then turn it into something worth 45 grand! cool.....

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by SamS

No, I dont think so. I didn't see the water test or rough terrain in Munich, but that could have been steps after the rolling test and between the transporter.

At the factory, you get to see all the steps (I think), but you can't follow one car from start to finish.

The last steps are not usually shown on the tours.

I would be very surprised if Munich didnt do it. I am pretty sure ive seen pictures of the same test zones at Regensburg.

Will have to check with Google earth if we can see the test track for Munich.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by candyflipper

They say, Maseratti is built fully by hand - hence it has a soul.
These super machines are also engineered by minds & built by hand - hence, super accuracy for minor detail,,, which has a better outcome than a human factor.

National Geographic Channel made a episode showing the Maserati factory, aswell as ones on BMW,Ferrari, Mercedes,Fored, Chev ect ect

Maserati are not nearly made only by hand, they use lots of robots aswell.

you can see some of the episode here

[SchnellM3]

Beautiful facilities!

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by Walee

So you think BMW made in SA are better built quality than the ones made in US and Germany? After all there are more tests in place than US and Germany? Cheap labour perhaps to do all this?

Labour is not cheaper, steel may be. BMW are hedging their factories against supply or other problems in specific world areas. Shipping is also easier to certain parts of the world.

The South African plant usually wins the annual quality award.
part of it may be that the plant runs slower thus has more time to make sure everything is correct.
In recent years only Leipzig beat the SA factory the year they opened the E90 plant there for a while.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Thanks Jason for posting these great photographs ...

This is one spot on Earth where dreams come to reality fun place to visit whenever one is near by. Not to be missed.

Rolf

[E90Fleet]

In this video of the BMW Mini plant in Oxford one can see a mini being tested in the water chamber and on the test track after production.

look at around 4:45

[E90Fleet]

I know its not BMW, but its very similar to the BMW process and it gives you a good idea what goes on

From about 7:22 you can see the Camaro going through Alignment, Dyno and Water test after production

[Taipei-TT]

I particularly enjoyed the paint shop video....I've always wanted to see where BMW applies all that orange peel on our babies!

As for the hood cutline...call me a fan...I'm really getting into it for some reason! F32, where are you baby?

[summall]

Amazing. Scary thing is, I saw more robot than human in the first 2 videos. Judgment day is for real ...

[JUSKIDN]

Im wondering if they make certain lines on certain days or what? or does each line have its own assembly area?

[JUSKIDN]

go to you tube and watch the video about the Lamborghini factory in Italy. It shows all the different stages the car goes through during manufacturing and its all put together by hand. The painting is by a person too not robots. Even the leather interior is stitched by little old Italian ladies at the factory. So Paying those high dollar prices may seem worth it to some......not so much.

[MaestroAl]

Originally Posted by JUSKIDN

Im wondering if they make certain lines on certain days or what? or does each line have its own assembly area?

I think there must be different slots on different days. Some people are getting quite short delivery dates for new orders whilst those ordering stuff like the 30D M Sport are getting really long delivery dates and, to quote my dealer, "330D M Sport production is at capacity at the moment" ... which implies that it's not just "capacity" in the factory, but there are a limited number of slots for each model or something

[elistan]

Has it been determined what this box, behind the right rear wheel, is for? I've read a) it's where the lead-acid battery goes, and b) it's where cabin air exits when the climate control is pulling in outside air.

[LousyShot]

You're correct, it's the battery box.