BMW plant in Berlin

BMW plant in Berlin
legal form	BMW-Motorrad main plant
founding	1969
Seat	Berlin , Germany
Number of employees	2,000 employees ; 72 trainees
Website	www.bmw-werk-berlin.de

The BMW plant in Berlin is the main plant of the motorcycle division of the vehicle manufacturer BMW in Berlin in the Spandau district .

history

Aircraft engines

In 1928 the Siemens & Halske company set up an aircraft engine factory in the Haselhorst district of Berlin and manufactured radial engines there. In 1936, the business branch was spun off from Siemens as Brandenburgische Motoren Werke GmbH (Bramo). BMW bought Bramo in 1939 and manufactured aircraft engines such as the BMW 132 , a nine-cylinder radial engine for the Junkers Ju 52 / 3m, on the site until the end of the war .

motorcycles

In 1949 the production of motorcycle parts for the Munich main plant began. When, at the end of the 1960s, the increasing production figures of the motor vehicle division in Munich made it necessary to relocate motorcycle production, the choice fell on the Berlin supplier plant. In 1969 the final assembly of the BMW R 60/2 started in Spandau. In 1969 400 employees produced 30 motorcycles of the / 5 model series every day .

The Spandau plant is also an important supplier for BMW's car production. Since 1979 all brake discs for all BMW car models have been produced there.

Between 1999 and 2003 the Berlin plant expanded its production capacities. In 2003 the new assembly hall 7 opened and a year later the new paint shop with an automated paint shop. On November 30, 2011, the plant received the Ludwig Erhard Prize for comprehensive corporate quality.

In December 2012, BMW acquired a 39,000 square meter neighboring area from the project development company DIBAG Industriebau as an extension area. The preparations for the demolition of the unfinished “Spandauer Tor” located on it on the street Am Juliusturm began at the end of 2012. With this, the Berlin production site was further expanded. In 2015, the BMW Group announced investments of over 100 million euros in the plant. Investments focused on expanding the paint shop and a new logistics center. This was fully commissioned in 2018 and covers an area of 30,000 m² on two levels, which are directly connected to the two-storey assembly halls.

production

2000 employees in the motorcycle manufacturing sector assemble up to 800 machines every day. The plant has a total area of 220,000 m² and is divided into the business areas of mechanical production, engine assembly, welding, paint shop, vehicle assembly, quality management, brake discs and logistics .

The yellow "C-hooks", which slide on two floors on a rail system through the two assembly halls and on which the motorcycles go through the various production steps, are optically particularly characteristic of BMW motorcycle production. Most motorcycle production is done by hand. Even the stripes on the motorcycles are still hand-painted. Most motorcycle parts are manufactured and assembled in the factory, but the chassis is supplied externally.

Anniversaries

Three years after the start of production, the 10,000 motorcycle was delivered in Berlin in 1970. In 2001, the millionth motorcycle was produced.

Ten years after the one millionth motorcycle, the two millionth rolled off the assembly line on May 6, 2011, a BMW R 1200 GS K25 with a special paint job.

In 2019, BMW Motorrad production in Berlin celebrated its 50th anniversary and at the same time the three millionth motorcycle rolled off the assembly line.