[eleven]

Hi ppl,

My friend just came back from the BMW Driving School in South Carolina and one of the instructors said that all US BMW's will be built in the SC factory except for the M's beginning for MY 2009.

True or false?

Thanks in advance.

[BMWMC]

Negative, Negative. I work at the SC factory and all we build is X5/X6, Z4's. Z4's next generation will be built elsewhere and next generation X3 will be built here in SC.

[AdamJ]

Originally Posted by BMWMC

Negative, Negative. I work at the SC factory and all we build is X5/X6, Z4's. Z4's next generation will be built elsewhere and next generation X3 will be built here in SC.

[yoyeewee]

No No No

[CalRick]

All US SAV's will be built there - X3,5,6's.

[BK]

According to other posts here and on "rumor mill" sites, BMW AG supposedly has been giving this some thought -- adding the 3 and 5 to the list of models built in SC. I thought the new Z was going to built in Germany again.

EDIT - I see BMWMC mentioned that rumor about the Z.

[KL2DC]

Originally Posted by BMWMC

Negative, Negative. I work at the SC factory and all we build is X5/X6, Z4's. Z4's next generation will be built elsewhere and next generation X3 will be built here in SC.

[crazyeyeskilla]

Let's hope the sedans stay in Deutschland!

[slubu]

They wouldn't sabotage their #1 ED model...

[stickypaws]

Originally Posted by eleven

Hi ppl,

My friend just came back from the BMW Driving School in South Carolina and one of the instructors said that all US BMW's will be built in the SC factory except for the M's beginning for MY 2009.

True or false?

Thanks in advance.

MY2009?? There's no way the factory could get ready to build "all US BMWs" in that short of time. Nor could they even have the capacity. Me thinks your friend makes nonsense talk and/or misunderstood the instructor.

[chaz58]

News flash:

Your 3er BMW came from South Africa, not SC or Germany

Unless of course you got a wagon, or if you did ED you may have gotten lucky with a Munich car.

[BK]

^^ Regensburg DE for me. At least when I bought, the SA cars weren't going to the US Has that changed?

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by BK

EDIT - I see BMWMC mentioned that rumor about the Z.

Not a rumor. Fact.

[Palbay]

Originally Posted by BK

According to other posts here and on "rumor mill" sites, BMW AG supposedly has been giving this some thought -- adding the 3 and 5 to the list of models built in SC. I thought the new Z was going to built in Germany again.

EDIT - I see BMWMC mentioned that rumor about the Z.

The new Z will be built in Germany.The last SC built Z left the factory a couple of weeks ago.Constant talk of building more BMW's at the SC Plant.The weak US dollar is killing BMW on all the cars they import to the US.After 2nd Gen X3 is up and running in SC the Plant volume would be approaching 250,000 cars per yr...assuming current volumes hold and the 2nd Gen X3 sells at a pace at least equal to the old model (100,000+/-).The 3 Series continues to come up in talk about being built in the US because it's the highest volume US seller and BMW has the most to gain financially by building it in the US.More likely in the near term for the SC Plant will be an X4 model based on the 2nd Gen X3 platform.Basically the X4 would be to the X3 like the X6 is to the X5.BMW Senior Management is very pleased w/ the way the X6 turned out.....and want to replicate that "coupe" look through more of the product line.The SC Plant Campus has room to build an engine plant on the property.There has been serious talk about building engines in the US as well.The Engine Plant is very expensive depending on how much casting is actually done on site.The SC Plant would need to be safely approaching 300,000 vehicles per year in production before the engine plant would begin to make sense.Thanks PalBay

[simp0man]

...

[aus]

There were some reports of the 3 series eventually coming over here when the dollor was around 1.67/Euro in order to help keep costs in line with the US economy. The sinking dollar has killed many European manufacturers.

[mwarsh1]

My Car Was Made In Germany And Not South Africa!

[jmonier]

Originally Posted by chaz58

News flash:

Your 3er BMW came from South Africa, not SC or Germany

Unless of course you got a wagon, or if you did ED you may have gotten lucky with a Munich car.

That's a gross exaggeration. For years a certain percentage of the 325 (and recently 328) sedans came from South Africa but more came from Germany. Until recently all 330 (and then 335) sedans and all coupes came from Germany. There has been some indication recently that some of these may come from South Africa as well but I'm not sure about that.

[stressdoc]

BMWs are equally good whatever factory they are built at. The Rosslyn RSA factory received the JD Power Gold award for best factory in 2001. The Spartanburg factory is outstanding. Prejudice against a car based on the country the factory is in is just plain ignorant.

[Bimmerista]

opc orn:: popcorn::figh ting0040:

[Bimmerista]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

BMWs are equally good whatever factory they are built at. The Rosslyn RSA factory received the JD Power Gold award for best factory in 2001. The Spartanburg factory is outstanding. Prejudice against a car based on the country the factory is in is just plain ignorant.

+1

Otherwise no one should buy Camrys or Corollas, or RX330s.

[souldriven]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

...Prejudice against a car based on the country the factory is in is just plain ignorant.

agreed.

A day after 9/11 we should be more reflective of how national biases can warp minds.