At Spartanburg. .Do they have separate . .

[akraptor]

Production lines for 35 i and 35 d?

I know people visited the plant. . Did you noticed that?!?

What was the traffic on the production lines?!

Much more 35i's than 35d's?!!? Just wondering . .

[Palbay]

Originally Posted by akraptor

Production lines for 35 i and 35 d?

I know people visited the plant. . Did you noticed that?!?

What was the traffic on the production lines?!

Much more 35i's than 35d's?!!? Just wondering . .

Don't know about specific product mix coming down the line.The Spartanburg Plant has one production line where all models are produced...Z4,X5 and X6.New Assembly Hall that is under construction will build new 2nd Generation X3 and an additional X model I found out about today! Thanks! PalBay

[shenard]

Originally Posted by akraptor

Production lines for 35 i and 35 d?

I know people visited the plant. . Did you noticed that?!?

What was the traffic on the production lines?!

Much more 35i's than 35d's?!!? Just wondering . .

I was there this past Monday and did not see any 35d models on the production line but saw plenty of 35i models and more 50i models. That does not mean they are not making them right now because what I saw while on an hour and half tour was only vehicles from past few days because it only takes them about 2-3 days to build a vehicle and they are building about 600-700/day based on the vehicle count monitors that were hanging all over the place. When I was there the goal for shift "A" was 363 vehicles and the goal from shift "B" was 297 vehicles.

[akraptor]

So there are more Mexicans on shift B. . .

[autodahn]

There is no place on this or any board for that type of comment. When in doubt, don't post.

[DoctaM3]

same line.. pretty sophisticated how each car is made with just in time process. each is coded so the right parts go on the right car. Even the fluids that are added including fuel is coded to the car--each car on the same line... amazing!

[shenard]

Originally Posted by DoctaM3

same line.. pretty sophisticated how each car is made with just in time process. each is coded so the right parts go on the right car. Even the fluids that are added including fuel is coded to the car--each car on the same line... amazing!

It really is amazing. Each section along the way has the parts there just in time for the vehicle being produced and every single part is lined up in perfect order based on the next vehicle in the production line. I was told while at the plant that if a vendor happens to be late with shipment (rarely ever happens) then they have to shut down the entire assembly line to wait for parts and the fines are huge (up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per minute that the assembly line is shut down ).

[xDrive50i]

Originally Posted by shenard

It really is amazing. Each section along the way has the parts there just in time for the vehicle being produced and every single part is lined up in perfect order based on the next vehicle in the production line. I was told while at the plant that if a vendor happens to be late with shipment (rarely ever happens) then they have to shut down the entire assembly line to wait for parts and the fines are huge (up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per minute that the assembly line is shut down ).

Yep, that's why they call it JIT (just in time). They moved away from warehousing to JIT quite a few years ago, so now the suppliers end up doing the warehousing and shipping it JIT.

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by shenard

I was there this past Monday and did not see any 35d models on the production line but saw plenty of 35i models and more 50i models. That does not mean they are not making them right now because what I saw while on an hour and half tour was only vehicles from past few days because it only takes them about 2-3 days to build a vehicle and they are building about 600-700/day based on the vehicle count monitors that were hanging all over the place. When I was there the goal for shift "A" was 363 vehicles and the goal from shift "B" was 297 vehicles.

All right hand drive 35D's are built in germany.

[shenard]

Originally Posted by johnbmw6

All right hand drive 35D's are built in germany.

I was not aware of that but makes sense why I did not see any right-hand drive vehicles at the plant.

[DoctaM3]

Originally Posted by shenard

I was not aware of that but makes sense why I did not see any right-hand drive vehicles at the plant.

Actually, I saw at least 3 RHD vehicles. 2 X5's and an X6 (not not sure its designation). I am not sure about the X6 diesel issue but they DO make right hand drive vehicles in Spartansburg for sure! Unless of course my eyes did decieve me!

[Palbay]

Originally Posted by johnbmw6

All right hand drive 35D's are built in germany.

All X6's for worldwide distribution...right hand,left hand drive,gas and diesel and the new Hybrid and "M" are all made in South Carolina.Not sure if you were referring to just the diesel engine.All the current engines used in production in South Carolina are sourced from overseas.There has been very serious talk of producing engines locally for the plant.There is enough land left on the BMW Campus,even after the current expansion,to accommodate an engine plant.The issue is you need plant volume to be in the 250,000 units per year range to justify the engine plant investment.After adding the new X3 the plant should get close to the bingo volume for the engine plant. Thanks! PalBay

[fijigabe0]

considering the engine choices going into the vehicles that they will build when the new X3 starts production, i can imagine that BMW will only shift production of some of the N52 engines here, because they are projected to go into the new X3, the X5si & Z4 3.0i & 3.0si. however, i don't see the TT3.0 being produced here, because it will only be in about half the vehicle lineup (X3 & X6, maybe Z4), but since it's an "upgrade", it'll probably not make up enough demand to produce them locally.

[akraptor]

A friend of mine just had to pay a bonus of 15k Euros just to get his hands on a 35D. .

PS: I said, a bonus, for the dealer. .in Germany, , Otherwise, no 35D.

PS2: He bought the car for an associate.