How BMWs are made
02-12-2004, 03:57 PM
#12
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Originally posted by S1997
The G35 ought to scare the sox off of the BMW guys.
The G35 ought to scare the sox off of the BMW guys.
Personally, I'd rather have either an IS300 or a 3-series than a G35; the latter's just too big for my taste.
Steve
02-12-2004, 05:26 PM
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Cool but your windows will break down, your HVAC will fail, and your engine will blow. After have two German cars I will never go back. I sware the only people that buy these things are status only, or buy into the lie. If Lexus or Infiniti makes a car that performs well and looks good you can kiss German makes good bye.
02-12-2004, 05:52 PM
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That's awesome Steve, thanks for posting. I actually toured the Munich factory (where I believe this was shot), but this video went into details that weren't on the tour. The scale of some things is amazing- ie the size of those steel drums and the way all the different subsections of the chassis come drop down from various floors onto the lower line, then all of the welding robots simultaneously go nuts on it. Each chassis has a chip on it which automatically tells the robots/people the engine/chassis configuration, color, options, etc. If they build more than one model on a line, they don't build similar models in batches, it's strictly by order number.
Another interesting thing for me (since I work with smaller scale automation in a laboratory) is that not everything works perfectly all the time. The entire line moves as a whole, and if one robot malfunctions or one worker decides to hit the stop button anywhere on the line, the *entire* line stops. This happened several times during the course of my ~45 min. tour.
As someone who loves cars, I found this video to be fascinating and don't understand why this needs to turn into a BMW bash-fest. So you had a bad experience with your VW a few years ago, or you think that only people with small wee-wees buy BMWs. What does that have to do with this video showing how a car is built? I really think this was posted more for general interest and entertainment. No one would argue that a similar tour of any modern assembly facility would be any less interesting.
I can only hope my S2000 will be as reliable as my Z3 has been over the 5 years I've owned it. My '88 Prelude certainly wasn't. And I'm surprised that the same folks who deify the S2000 for being a pure driving experience and put down other cars for being too much about power and amenities often turn around and say there's no reason to buy a 3 series except the badge. I've driven the 325i, TSX, A4, etc. While all are nice and good value, the 325 is light years ahead in terms of steering feel, driver involvement, and communication. Sure there are other good alternatives like the G35 out there, but for some people the 3 series just feels *right*. I really don't see why buying the car that makes you the happiest automatically means that you are a badge conscious snob.
Peter
Another interesting thing for me (since I work with smaller scale automation in a laboratory) is that not everything works perfectly all the time. The entire line moves as a whole, and if one robot malfunctions or one worker decides to hit the stop button anywhere on the line, the *entire* line stops. This happened several times during the course of my ~45 min. tour.
As someone who loves cars, I found this video to be fascinating and don't understand why this needs to turn into a BMW bash-fest. So you had a bad experience with your VW a few years ago, or you think that only people with small wee-wees buy BMWs. What does that have to do with this video showing how a car is built? I really think this was posted more for general interest and entertainment. No one would argue that a similar tour of any modern assembly facility would be any less interesting.
I can only hope my S2000 will be as reliable as my Z3 has been over the 5 years I've owned it. My '88 Prelude certainly wasn't. And I'm surprised that the same folks who deify the S2000 for being a pure driving experience and put down other cars for being too much about power and amenities often turn around and say there's no reason to buy a 3 series except the badge. I've driven the 325i, TSX, A4, etc. While all are nice and good value, the 325 is light years ahead in terms of steering feel, driver involvement, and communication. Sure there are other good alternatives like the G35 out there, but for some people the 3 series just feels *right*. I really don't see why buying the car that makes you the happiest automatically means that you are a badge conscious snob.
Peter
02-12-2004, 06:23 PM
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Wow, that was a great video. It really made the appreciate the hard work and technology that goes into making a car. The end was cool too where they show the people working on the cars in a candid way.
