A trip, A factory tour, and a lot of fuel.

[KYZRSOSE]

Hello everyone!

I just took my first long road trip with my X. 2,200 miles roundtrip over 4 days from New York, through PA, MD, WV, VA, SC, GA, NC, and back to NY. More a family and friend trip than anything, I had to stop in Greer, SC to visit BMW.

I called the number to reserve my spot on the factory tour before I left, only to be told that production is idled on Fridays (has been for about month, and that it will resume in October.) Since they are idling on Fridays, no tours are scheduled (except private PCD customers.) Even knowing this sad fact, I continued to BMW to visit the museum and hopefully catch a picture of something I shouldn't being seeing yet. While I did not see anything special in the factory or the surrounding areas, what I expereinced while there was amazing.

I arrived to the museum, excited, even as the weather was miserable on Thursday. Its an awesome building, only trumped by the size of the BMW facility in its entirety including the expansion. The way BMW designed the museum is great, a progression through the history of BMW, and the models that are very special (however, no X5's in the museum which I thought was odd since its on the location of the facility that produces them.) What was nice is that when the factory does not perform tours, they have a 8 minute virtual tour which is very in-depth and a great snapshot of what is special about the facility, BMW's processes, and how it all comes together.

So as I exit the virtual tour room, I saw a worker near a mint condition 507, did the usual hello's, etc.., and talked about the E70, etc... When I described my disappointment about the factory tour not running (in a nice joking way) and after 15 minutes, he left me, said "I'll be back," and kind of motioned that he could "do something." Well, to my shock, and after waiting for about 25 more minutes, the PCD folks that were supposed to be there by 1:30, were late, and we went, Bill and I, on my private factory tour. Very very cool.

The PCD folks did eventually catch up to us, but it was cool nonetheless. The actual building process and sequence of an entire of X5 is very impressive. From the Just-in-time inventory (and fines of $1,000 per minute if delayed,) to the process of putting the car at every spot in the most efficient and convenient position for a human to work on it, to the automated stacking of unpainted cars in a robotic garage sorted by invoice date then color.

I want to go back again. Certain things I wanted to share with all of you.
#1 - It was like being a kid in a candy store. Every parts bin I passed, I wanted to ask Bill the guide, "Hey, do you mind if I just grab one for a keepsake?" I walked passed the bin of headlamp switches (all of them - US, UK, etc...) I wanted the rear fog switch - Hey Bill, what is that!? - swipe...
#2 - Ever want to see what a brochure can't show you, go to the factory. See each color, close up, as well as interiors, etc.
#3 - No 2010 production models coming down the pike yet (according to Bill.)
#4 - ActiveHybrid X6's are in full blown production, in the assembly lines, and saw approx. 20 of them complete as well 10 still on the line partially completed (in white, light blue and red.)

My car was a joy to drive. I drove 10 hours straight from NY to Charlotte, stopped twice for gas, bunked for the night and continued onto Greer and Atlanta the next day. From there on the same day at night, drove to Savannah, then to Hilton Head. On Sunday, headed home at night, drove through to NJ on two tanks of gas. The X is sooo comfortable.

She's at the dealer for an oil change, check up, brakes, and some other odds & ends....then prepped for the Fall meet in CT.

Sorry if boring, but I had to share my excitement with other X5 owners and aficionado's.

[GoVols!]

Glad you enjoyed the tour. I also went on a Friday when production was down.

I dont know what Bill told you, but when I was there for my PCD tour at the end of August, the 2010 models were in full production. At least the M versions of both the X6 and X5. Maybe he was talking about the normal vehicles. There were a couple of new colors that I noticed including the lighter blue that you see on 5 series cars. Also saw the new X3 with camo tape over most of it. I asked the tour guide about it and he smiled and kept walking.

There is one X5 in the museum. Its been slightly modified by blunt force and is about two feet shorter than normal.


It's the crashed version they used for safety testing. I got a nice picture of it. The whole front end is FUBAR but the passenger cabin looks flawless.

I also very much liked the "Urkel car". Isetta.

[FunfDreisig]

Enjoyed the write up. Its always nice to read first hand reports and insights.

Funf Driesig

[DSE]

Thanks for the post. It is always good to hear when BMW does things right, and the museum sounds cool. I'd be drooling all over a beautiful 507 and some vintage BMW motorcycles.

[cmyX6go]

I'm doing PCD on a Friday in Nov. No plant tours that day. I may have to find Bill

Great write up.

[alexmish]

Thanks much!

How long was the tour of the factory all in all ? I am planning a performance driving school and trying to time it together with the factory and museum... I take it that the museum does not require much time, does it ?

[Naz24]

that sounds like a trip i will have to make. Any pictures?

[KYZRSOSE]

It was great and thanks for the kind words. GoVals, you're correct, there were a lot of M's and ActiveHybrids being built, so those would in fact be 2010's. What I was referring to was the ordinary X's (however, there is nothing ordinary about the regular X's.)

I had so many pictures and thoughts in my head, I forgot about the crash tested X5 that was in museum. I was hoping to see a first run X or LeMans X or a special X build in the museum.

The BMW motorcycles were presented in such a way that every bike is easy to see and the progression of each type of motorcycle through the years is great to see. The Z cars (Z1, Z3, Z4Alpina, Z8) were awesome to see, plus they had a 850ci on the floor as well (it looked like a donated car.)

Naz, unfortunately I did not bring my camera on this trip and my phone is not a great picture taker...plus, they take your camera/phone/etc before the plant tour as they do not allow anything with a lens inside the plant (time for a button camera on my shirt next time...)

Alexmish, the mesuem in its entirety can be viewed in about 30 minutes. If you want to read every plaque and poster, budget a little over an hour. If you want to see every button, detail on each car, and read every plaque and poster, plan on sleeping in the lunch room at the museum. The plant tour however is a different story. It runs apprx. 1.25 hours depending on tour guide, production idling or not, etc. Mine ran about 1.50 hours with only 7 people. I think they try to do 20 people at a time during regular tour hours. If the museum can last a few hours for a thorough walk thru, I can move into the plant for a month and still not be satisifed in seeing everything I wanted to see. At certain times, I needed to catch my breathe over the excitement, even requesting a neck brace to prevent whiplash from turning my head at every corner looking for my next X5 part to steal...(ie. new 3/7 series style taillights)

CmyX5go, I'm very jealous of you. I did not realize the 'whole' BMW thing when I got mine, so I never knew about the PCD experience or Euro delivery options. Now, I want to take my own car to the PCD and have them re-create a new delivery for me (I wonder if I really could do that?...anyone have suggestions on who to contact?) If you PCD on a Friday in Nov, you should be good as the production is starting again in Oct on Fridays. If not, I think they still can arrange a private tour for PCD clients. His name is Bill, early 50's in age, 5'8", a little stocky...very nice guy (with that kind of description, maybe I can join the police force...)

[Jime60]

I'm going to be in Spartanburg around October 12. What number do you call to reserve a factpory tour..or can you do it online?

[cmyX6go]

Originally Posted by KYZRSOSE

CmyX5go, I'm very jealous of you. I did not realize the 'whole' BMW thing when I got mine, so I never knew about the PCD experience or Euro delivery options. Now, I want to take my own car to the PCD and have them re-create a new delivery for me (I wonder if I really could do that?...anyone have suggestions on who to contact?) If you PCD on a Friday in Nov, you should be good as the production is starting again in Oct on Fridays. If not, I think they still can arrange a private tour for PCD clients. His name is Bill, early 50's in age, 5'8", a little stocky...very nice guy (with that kind of description, maybe I can join the police force...)

The PCD confirmation email I received says the plant is closed while I'm there I'm pretty sure they offer a driving school or something - so you can still have the experience.