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      02-16-2010, 04:37 PM   #1
DBFIU
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My visit to the Spartanburg plant.

I've been holding off on writing my story because I've been really busy these past few weeks. But I have to let you all know my experience.

Last month I went on a business trip to Greenville South Carolina. I'm a mechanical engineer that works for a large local OEM in Greenville, I won't say who they are at this point.

So my trip was simple, meet up with another local engineering firm, discuss the details of our project for a few days and go home. I knew there was a BMW Plant in Spartanburg so that was definately in the back of my mind, but I wasn't sure if I would have the time to go on the public tour because of my busy schedule in Greenville.

About 2 days into my agenda, I finally meet up with the local firm. As it turns out, they are located very close to Spartanburg which is a short drive from Greenville.

I pull into the driveway and behold I see the Spartanburg plant from a distance. I was excited to see it from outside, but I had work to do so I just shrugged it off and focused on work.

When I got to talk to the manager of the local firm, he was telling me about all the projects he was contracted to do for BMW's control systems.

OMFG WHAT DID U JUST SAY SRSLY?

I told him, hey; help me out.

He said he would take me on a private tour inside the plant because they have full access to every assembly line.

So on we went after work, he gave me a visitors pass and a painters suit and we started our trip into the paint and bake assembly line.

Holy sh1t? I got to see it all, How they paint, assemble, move, stack, robots weld etc... Everything up close and personal.

I saw the new N55's sitting on engine stands and I also saw twin turbo diesels sitting on stands getting ready to be insterted into the proper vehicle.

I saw X6M's, X3's and X5's and even one 'swirled' body that was top secret.

It was one long continuous orgasm. I was allowed to get so close I could walk passed an N55 and touch it (although I was afraid to lol).

I got to see the Xi drivetrains being inserted into chassis, I also saw where they complete vehicles and inspect for errors.

I did see one X6M that was in the error zone where they found a problem, hood open and hooked up to a computer. I was talking to the operator/inspector and he was super cool (he owns a 335i).

That specific X6M was super custom, blacked out rims, badges removed etc...

It is really hard to collect my thoughts on what I saw, it was only an hour but it so much information to remember.

All I know is, I got to go inside the plant and see it all.

Wonderful experience.

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      02-16-2010, 04:43 PM   #2
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It's too bad you dont have any pictures. Do you have any pictures?
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      02-16-2010, 05:34 PM   #3
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That's awesome! Thanks for sharing - lucky you!
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      02-16-2010, 06:00 PM   #4
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How you explained your experience is what keeps me motivated with my career here in Detroit. I'm 16 years at it and I am always excited to see and develop what will be coming out years down the road.
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      02-16-2010, 06:08 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DBFIU View Post
... Last month I went on a business trip to Greenville South Carolina. I'm a mechanical engineer that works for a large local OEM in Greenville, I won't say who they are at this point.
.... He said he would take me on a private tour inside the plant because they have full access to every assembly line.
... . Wonderful experience.
I did the plant tour at Greer late this January as part of a PCD, and they had the paint shop "papered" off. Although I just took the factory tour in Munich a couple of months earlier, it was a totally different perspective. Cool that you got to see the new stuff, our guide wouldn't say much about it, except to allude it was going on!

pge
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      02-16-2010, 06:11 PM   #6
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I went there when I picked up my car, but unfortunately they were closed for the day. I did go on the same tour you did but it was dark and nobody was there. I'm jealous of your experience. I was still blown away nonetheless.
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      02-16-2010, 06:29 PM   #7
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No pics allowed in the plant... I was there almost a year ago when the X5 and X6M were first announced and there was a mule sitting in the back, if only I could have smuggled one quick pic... Great place, I did the PCD and if you thought the factory was awesome, get some track time in. I am heading back there eventually for the M driving school!!!
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      02-16-2010, 08:04 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Schn3ll View Post
No pics allowed in the plant... I was there almost a year ago when the X5 and X6M were first announced and there was a mule sitting in the back, if only I could have smuggled one quick pic... Great place, I did the PCD and if you thought the factory was awesome, get some track time in. I am heading back there eventually for the M driving school!!!
Yea they have a track but I only use rental cars to get around Greenville

I don't think I will ever drive my 1 up there. Next time I go I will try to take some pictures.
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      02-16-2010, 08:16 PM   #9
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thats awesome!!
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      02-17-2010, 07:51 AM   #10
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A nice perk of the Sandlapper Chapter of the BMWCCA is they rent out the PC track for an autocross once a year. I did it for the first time last year. It's high speed relative to the few other autocrosses I have done. I needed 3rd gear in some stretches (i.e. you can get up to 70mph or a little more). They put cones in to introduce more turns and keep your speed down. If you just drove the track, as I guess they do in schools, I'm sure you could go significantly faster.

I liked the tour when I did PCD and would like to go back mainly to spend more time in the museum. They let you take pictures in the museum but we had to go through very quickly to stay on schedule.

Jim
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      02-17-2010, 10:07 AM   #11
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Wow, schwingtastic experience, thanks for sharing DBFIU!
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      02-17-2010, 03:42 PM   #12
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Something really neat that BMW does (probably other OEMs for that matter) is fill in certain crevices with gooey wax. It is really nasty looking, they heat up wax and spray it on the inside of the doors to keep certain joints sealed from moisture. The entire building is climate control.

They also have dedicated robots that spray a plastic putty type substance on all external welds, then they bake it and the plastic hardens. You can actually see the plastic type stuff under your wheel wells if you look hard enough. They are very meticulous.

I also noticed that a lot of women worked on assembling interior components because they are 'gentler'. Males tend to be more aggressive when working, maybe its all the testosterone.

Also, the assembly robots are interesting. They work in gangs, one robot helps the other. One robot will pick up an entire underbody (20 feet in the air) and the other 3 will weld all over and then the big guy puts the underbody into a stack.

Doors are funny, they get welded together, painted and then stacked on a completely seperate assembly line. They leave the car conveyor alltogether, but they eventually meet up with the correct VIN and assembled.

Forgot to add, the entire plant is lean. Industrial Engineers will know what I mean. There is barely ANY hardware taking up any space, whatever gets shipped in gets assembled that day. There is no storage and there is no wasting time, they make about 340 cars a shift, there are 3 shifts in a day at full output.
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      02-17-2010, 04:04 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Schn3ll View Post
No pics allowed in the plant...
Yes that is pretty much standard procedure at the auto manufacturing plants that I have toured. No pictures were allowed when I visited the BMW plant in Munich and the Porsche plant in Zuffenhausen. That really sucks not to have pictures, but you can completely understand their view point though.
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      02-17-2010, 04:10 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DBFIU View Post
Something really neat that BMW does (probably other OEMs for that matter) is fill in certain crevices with gooey wax. It is really nasty looking, they heat up wax and spray it on the inside of the doors to keep certain joints sealed from moisture. The entire building is climate control.

They also have dedicated robots that spray a plastic putty type substance on all external welds, then they bake it and the plastic hardens. You can actually see the plastic type stuff under your wheel wells if you look hard enough. They are very meticulous.

I also noticed that a lot of women worked on assembling interior components because they are 'gentler'. Males tend to be more aggressive when working, maybe its all the testosterone.

Also, the assembly robots are interesting. They work in gangs, one robot helps the other. One robot will pick up an entire underbody (20 feet in the air) and the other 3 will weld all over and then the big guy puts the underbody into a stack.

Doors are funny, they get welded together, painted and then stacked on a completely seperate assembly line. They leave the car conveyor alltogether, but they eventually meet up with the correct VIN and assembled.

Forgot to add, the entire plant is lean. Industrial Engineers will know what I mean. There is barely ANY hardware taking up any space, whatever gets shipped in gets assembled that day. There is no storage and there is no wasting time, they make about 340 cars a shift, there are 3 shifts in a day at full output.
BMW's manufacturing process is amazing. My wife and I toured both the 3-series plant in Munich and the Greer plant, and my wife, who by no stretch of the imagination is a car person, was actually intrigued with both plants and was pointing out to me the differences in perspective (Munich is viewed mostly from an elevated walkway and SC you are on the ground, so you're much closer). I thought she was going to be extremely bored, but I think she found it more interesting than I did -- I just was anxious to pick up my BMW 135i, which I hadn't seen since Munich, two months earlier.

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      02-17-2010, 09:42 PM   #15
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Just kidding. Hope I get a chance to visit the plant one day.
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      10-17-2011, 04:31 PM   #16
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Somebody from this forum is going to do the factory tour @ Greer this Thursday Oct. 20

Ron
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