Our Blog - BMW Factory, Greenville, SC

We were driving from Atlanta (where we had flown to from visiting with Susan's mom) to Raleigh and decided to stop by Greenville, South Carolina to do a tour of the BMW factory there. BMW cars have been sold in the US since 1956 and manufactured in the United States since 1994. It was the fastest factory start-up in automotive history—a record 23 months from site groundbreaking to first car produced. The plant employs more than 11,000 people to produce the X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7 models. The plant in SC has the highest production volume of any BMW plant worldwide. On the BMW website, it says that in July, over 26,000 new BMWs rolled off the assembly line.

We took a tour that walked through a part of the assembly line for the X3 and X4 models. She mentioned that all of the BMWs created here were ordered (so not "stock" cars built). While we didn't get to see the body shop (that tour is only Tuesdays and Thursdays), the body shop is 100% automated and takes all of the sheet metal and forms the body of the car. It then goes through the painting shop, where the cars are "dipped" to coat it with anti-corrosive layers and then the paint/primer, and finally the clear coat. They are painted with the doors on the car so that there can be no difference in paint shade between the doors and the rest of the car. No pictures were allowed (sorry), but it was actually a pretty interesting tour so I do recommend it for anyone able to swing through that part of South Carolina (book online .. the 2-hour tour must be booked a couple months in advance).

They also have a nice museum at the visitors center and we looked through it while waiting for the tour.

They have a variety of cars on display, and I will give a few details on a couple of them.

This is the Ihle DIXI from 1930, which is a modified racing roadster. This was produced from 1930 to 1934 and is the 2nd BMW model to be created.

This is a model 319 from 1934. There were 5 different body versions and this model was only produced from 1934 to 1937.

This one is really cute ... the Isetta was produced from 1955 to 1962 and was originally designed by an Italian manufacturer. It was retooled by BMW to provide low-cost transportation and is one of the most beloved "micro-car"s of its time. The two rear tires are closer together than the front tires, and there is a single door in the very front.

This is the first BMW vehicle ever produced at this assembly line, a 318i that rolled off the line on September 8th, 1994. It is signed by more than 700 associates that were involved in the production.

A new car, the 2019 BMW i8 Roadster, which is a hybrid sports car with a scissor door design.