Went on the BMW Factory Tour in SC - Will VW Have a Factory Tour?
06-23-2011, 01:23 PM
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Went on the BMW Factory Tour in SC - Will VW Have a Factory Tour?
For anyone interested in how they actually build higher-end cars, you should go on the BMW factory tour in SC. I went on the tour on Tuesday, and it was phenomenal!
The only thing missing from the tour was getting to see my Q5 in their parking lot; it was safely parked back home in my garage space. I did spot several VW, Audi and MB cars, however, including a Jetta parked right behind the Zentrum.
The tour takes you right through the X5 and X6 build process. Literally, you walk through sparks flying from the welding robots and see the process pretty much from beginning to end including the automated and skilled worker efforts. The new generation X3s are built in a huge new building on the campus while the previous generation X3 - including mine - was built in Austria. The X3 line isn't part of the tour, but you do get to see it going through the paint process right along with the X5 and X6.
The tour lasted 1.5 hours, and Susan our guide did a terrific job explaining the process and answering questions. My old X5 was built there so it was pretty cool to be in the factory that built it - I could almost envision it coming down the assembly line. Reservations are required; there's info at http://bmwusfactory.com/. The cost of admission is very low - $7.00 general admission and only $3.50 BMWCCA members (though nominal, it was sweet since I'm a 15 year member).
By the way, I saw TIME89's post that Audi stops production at some point. They told us on the BMW tour that their SC plant will soon be increasing production - going to 6 days/week from 5 days/week for the X5, X6 and X3.
The new X3 facility is wired with web cams and they are offering the opportunity to actually see the X3 you order being assembled. I would have loved to see my Q5 being assembled. I haven't heard if VW is going to offer tours of the new factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee but it would be a great PR move. I know those on AudiWorld have said great things about visits to Audi in Germany, but I'd settle for VW in Tennessee until I can get over there.
The only thing missing from the tour was getting to see my Q5 in their parking lot; it was safely parked back home in my garage space. I did spot several VW, Audi and MB cars, however, including a Jetta parked right behind the Zentrum.
The tour takes you right through the X5 and X6 build process. Literally, you walk through sparks flying from the welding robots and see the process pretty much from beginning to end including the automated and skilled worker efforts. The new generation X3s are built in a huge new building on the campus while the previous generation X3 - including mine - was built in Austria. The X3 line isn't part of the tour, but you do get to see it going through the paint process right along with the X5 and X6.
The tour lasted 1.5 hours, and Susan our guide did a terrific job explaining the process and answering questions. My old X5 was built there so it was pretty cool to be in the factory that built it - I could almost envision it coming down the assembly line. Reservations are required; there's info at http://bmwusfactory.com/. The cost of admission is very low - $7.00 general admission and only $3.50 BMWCCA members (though nominal, it was sweet since I'm a 15 year member).
By the way, I saw TIME89's post that Audi stops production at some point. They told us on the BMW tour that their SC plant will soon be increasing production - going to 6 days/week from 5 days/week for the X5, X6 and X3.
The new X3 facility is wired with web cams and they are offering the opportunity to actually see the X3 you order being assembled. I would have loved to see my Q5 being assembled. I haven't heard if VW is going to offer tours of the new factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee but it would be a great PR move. I know those on AudiWorld have said great things about visits to Audi in Germany, but I'd settle for VW in Tennessee until I can get over there.
06-23-2011, 01:59 PM
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I have done BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche over here in Europe and they were amazing. Here is a few weeks, I'm going on the Ferrari Factory tour in Italy and whenever I go to pick up my Q5 here in Germany I'm doing the Audi Factory tour.
06-23-2011, 02:44 PM
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06-24-2011, 05:26 AM
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Ferrari only has a museum you can tour. Unless all of that recently changed? My wife and I went to Italy last year and toured the Lamborghini factory. It was AMAZING. I now have so much respect for lambos over Ferrari. I got to meet Valentino Balboni and that totally made my trip.. So worth it and it was cheap,only 37 Euros. The ride to Santa Agata from Modena was beautiful!!!
06-24-2011, 07:16 AM
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Ferrari only has a museum you can tour. Unless all of that recently changed? My wife and I went to Italy last year and toured the Lamborghini factory. It was AMAZING. I now have so much respect for lambos over Ferrari. I got to meet Valentino Balboni and that totally made my trip.. So worth it and it was cheap,only 37 Euros. The ride to Santa Agata from Modena was beautiful!!!
they do I'm already registered to go on the Factory Tour in July.
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