Visited Factory in Leipzig

[WSU87]

Finishing a family vacation in Germany I had an opportunity to stop by the Leipzig plant Friday (just happened to be in the "neighborhood") :wink:.
My 135i coupe is being built next week so I checked at the reception desk for a plant tour. I didn't care if the tour guide was speaking German, English, or Swahili...I just wanted to see what was behind the magic curtain. I was thrilled to find out they had a plant tour (in English!) that afternoon so my son and I spent 2 hours in wonderland. The body shop, paint shop and assembly line are as massive as they are impressive, unfortunately they didn't allow cameras inside. I've posted a few pix from the parking lot and lobby.
Since opening in 2005 the Leipzig plant is BMW's most advanced factory. The body panels are trucked in from the BMW plant in Regensburg Germany and other vendor plants. As soon as the body is welded (about 8 hours) it goes on a conveyor system (see the lobby photo) to a holding area for a few hours (or a few days) of storage before being called forward for painting.
The body then rolls on another conveyor--again through the lobby--for up to 16 hours in the paint shop. For efficiency the line is set up for painting up to two body colors during a shift (say, alpine white and sparkling gray) so the painted bodies go back to a mass temporary holding area without being "assigned" to a specific production number.
The car "belongs" to a production number when the painted body gets called up for the assembly line. Because every car is produced for a specific customer order, all of the information for that order is loaded onto an electronic sensor attached to the car for tracking through the 8-hour assembly process (US or Euro spec, right or left hand drive, color of interior, electronic options, type of engine, and so on). The tour guide said about 20% of 1 series production is going to the US market and the vast majority of those are 135s. Because a 135i costs minimum 50K euro ($80K) in Europe, they are very rare here. In fact, about two-thirds of 1 series built for the European market are being built with diesel engines.
Most of the welding and painting is automated, but most assembly is still done by hand. I walked away with a great impression of the quality and craftsmanship we're paying BMW to produce and it makes the few more weeks of waiting a little more bearable.
Cheers,
WSU87

[Omega Man]

Thanks for sharing your trip. Mine is going through the line with yours. I desire the Made in Leipzig badge!! Cool.

[ptack]

Very cool. Did they have a factory outlet store?

[Space gray]

They should bring the 123d here.

[EINS]

Originally Posted by WSU87

Finishing a family vacation in Germany I had an opportunity to stop by the Leipzig plant Friday (just happened to be in the "neighborhood") :wink:.
My 135i coupe is being built next week so I checked at the reception desk for a plant tour. I didn't care if the tour guide was speaking German, English, or Swahili...I just wanted to see what was behind the magic curtain. I was thrilled to find out they had a plant tour (in English!) that afternoon so my son and I spent 2 hours in wonderland. The body shop, paint shop and assembly line are as massive as they are impressive, unfortunately they didn't allow cameras inside. I've posted a few pix from the parking lot and lobby.
Since opening in 2005 the Leipzig plant is BMW's most advanced factory. The body panels are trucked in from the BMW plant in Regensburg Germany and other vendor plants. As soon as the body is welded (about 8 hours) it goes on a conveyor system (see the lobby photo) to a holding area for a few hours (or a few days) of storage before being called forward for painting.
The body then rolls on another conveyor--again through the lobby--for up to 16 hours in the paint shop. For efficiency the line is set up for painting up to two body colors during a shift (say, alpine white and sparkling gray) so the painted bodies go back to a mass temporary holding area without being "assigned" to a specific production number.
The car "belongs" to a production number when the painted body gets called up for the assembly line. Because every car is produced for a specific customer order, all of the information for that order is loaded onto an electronic sensor attached to the car for tracking through the 8-hour assembly process (US or Euro spec, right or left hand drive, color of interior, electronic options, type of engine, and so on). The tour guide said about 20% of 1 series production is going to the US market and the vast majority of those are 135s. Because a 135i costs minimum 50K euro ($80K) in Europe, they are very rare here. In fact, about two-thirds of 1 series built for the European market are being built with diesel engines.
Most of the welding and painting is automated, but most assembly is still done by hand. I walked away with a great impression of the quality and craftsmanship we're paying BMW to produce and it makes the few more weeks of waiting a little more bearable.
Cheers,
WSU87

Thanks for the write-up and pictures!

My dad and I will be in Leipzig next Friday with my 135i to tour the plant. Our reservations are already set.

-Jeff

[Kris]

Love to see more photos!

[ky_soldier]

i went to leipzig in 2004 to see the porsche factory (among other things) and i believe they were just building that one. would love to go back and see it. i did ED in munchen and i absolutely love that factory. best tour i'd ever been on, and i've seen everything from the toyota factory in KY to both Porsche factories in stuttgart and leipzig among others.

[InsaneSkippy]

I really wanted to go to Leipzig while on European Delivery. Unfortunately it just wasn't possible. Looks like it was a blast! Hopefully I can make it there one day to see where my car was born

[WSU87]

They had a small gift shop in the lobby. It was mostly BMW logo clothing, but they had several scale models of the 135. The 1:18 Kyosho is 59 euros. I had to have 1.

[ptack]

But no factory remnants bin, like cars missing a wheel or anything?

[Dr_Jones]

i would take a 123d in a heartbeat over my 135 which is somewhere on the atlantic at present