I Can't See The Roof Either!

I was told the car will be arriving to Brunei around 29th December 2009 just before New Year. That really got my adrenaline pumped and I called my wife and told her that the car is finally here. So we met up lunch together with another buddy of mine, Albert. After lunch, I brought Albert along to QAF showroom (no one was suppose to know it arrived today but anyway I just bring him along). When I reached the showroom, I was greeted by Alex and she show me to my car. And there it is waiting inside the workshop. I can't see the roof either! Yes, I want my first Porsche to be a manual transmission! That is me trying to start the engine! LOL and the damn car just won't start! If you see in between the wipers there is one small tiny red knob. It is a pre-safe system to prevent unauthorise start of engine before PDI (Porsche Delivery Inspection). Alex pulled the red knob and I restart the ignition and the whole engine just scream into action!

Spartanburg is BMW鈥檚 home away from home. The firm鈥檚 factory in the United States directly employs around 11,000 people and supports another 17,000 across South Carolina - accounting for a staggering 1.6 per cent of the state鈥檚 total workforce. Spanning an under-roof campus that measures approximately seven million square feet, BMW鈥檚 Spartanburg facility was constructed in just 23 months. Since its inception, Spartanburg has produced more than 4.5 million cars, earning its place as the global hub of BMW鈥檚 extensive range of X-badged SUVs. That鈥檚 big business for the sprawling plant; of the 2.1m BMWs built around the world in 2018, almost 800,000 were SUVs. Every SUV apart from the X1 and X2 is assembled here, with the factory now producing over 1,400 cars a day. Indeed, this is where BMW will build its new X7 flagship - a car designed to topple the Range Rover and take its crown as the ultimate luxury SUV. The first BMW X model to be assembled in South Carolina was the Mk1 (E53-generation) X5. Widely regarded as the first driver-focused SUV, it made its debut back in 1999 at the Detroit Motor Show.

The current car is far and away BMW鈥檚 biggest-selling X model, too, with more than 30 per cent of the factory鈥檚 output accounted for by various versions of the fourth-generation X5. We were greeted on arrival by BMW Spartanburg鈥檚 vice president of assembly Sherry McCraw, who has worked at the site in Greer, South Carolina, since day one. To give a sense of how the site has grown, she tells us she was one of just 39 employees when the project kicked off in the early nineties. She can鈥檛 put an exact number on how many are still there, but it can鈥檛 be more than a handful. McCraw tells us she started her journey as an 鈥渆ngineer in the finish area鈥? working on the 3 Series, before moving on to the Z3 roadster and X5. She also spent three years at BMW鈥檚 HQ in Munich before coming back, once again, to work in engineering and planning at Spartanburg. X5,鈥?she explains. 鈥淲e talked about producing it for a few years and then it was decided that we鈥檇 build it here. We weren鈥檛 sure whether it would be successful, or if it would be a really great car.

鈥淭hen we started building them - we hadn鈥檛 even finished the factory and the growth was already coming for X5,鈥?McCraw says. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 realise how successful that car would be. Appropriately, BMW had laid on one of the very first X5s for us to try side by side with the latest X7. Built at Spartanburg almost 20 years ago, the early 4.4i V8 with just 220 miles on the clock felt modern and decent to drive even by today鈥檚 standards. Its relaxed engine and lazy five-speed automatic gearbox slushed through the cogs with little sense of urgency, but it was clear that BMW鈥檚 passion for quality has been paramount since the day the production facility opened. 鈥淚n the beginning we had a lot of support from the Munich plant,鈥?McCraw tells us. US and the Germans. McCraw reminisces about how modest the team was when it started out, and how Spartanburg quickly went from building a handful of pre-production models to being a global player in automotive assembly.

In its early days it made the 3 Series and Z3, before switching exclusively to SUVs. 鈥淚 think because we started at such a speed, it almost doesn鈥檛 seem real,鈥?she tells us. Today, BMW鈥檚 Spartanburg facility sends over 70 per cent of its production overseas. The way the place has evolved over the years is more complicated than simply ramping up production to keep up with demand, however. As the cars have become larger and more complex, the assembly systems have had to change. 鈥檝e had to put a lot of ergonomic solutions in place so the person building the car can get inside,鈥?McCraw says. 鈥淭hey need a special kind of seat. The parts are just that much bigger. 鈥淣ow, everything has special parts. There鈥檚 a huge amount of electronics in the door panel,鈥?she tells us, 鈥渁nd the seats are very complicated. We have to develop more systematic solutions for troubleshooting to make sure we know there is a problem.