BMW Halts Building ICE Engine in Munich-Germany :  Are we no longer able to obtain Munich-made BMW engines?

In November 2023, BMW ended production at its internal combustion engine plant in Plant 1 on the grounds of its Munich headquarters. The extremely shocking news of the disappearance of the locally-proud Made in Germany engine spread throughout Munich, and local newspapers reported it all at once.

The V8 is made by Magna Steyr

For over 60 years, it has a history of manufacturing in-line 4-cylinder, 6-cylinder, V-8, and V-12 engines for BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce, which symbolize sporty and powerful driving. The engine factory has come to an end.

Approximately 1,200 employees were engaged in engine assembly work at the factory, producing more than 2,000 engines a day, but the factory was renovated and a line for new models was set up, and the factory was now engaged in engine production. It is said that other employees will also be reassigned.

The i4 is already manufactured at the first factory in Munich, but in addition to that, the new platform “Neue Klasse”, which made its world premiere at the IAA Mobility Munich held in September, is a familiar model. The 3 Series format EV sedan and sporty EV SUV are scheduled to be manufactured at the company’s main plant as the i3 series. In the future, V8 engines will be manufactured at Magna Steyr in Austria, and non-V8 engines will be manufactured at Hams Hall in the UK.

BMW Halts Building ICE Engine in Munich

Development and production of internal combustion engine models continues

There are many avid collectors not only in Munich, but also in Japan and all over the world who seek out “Made in München” vehicles, but as engine production has already ended, the M New models such as the 3 and 4 Series models are no longer available with Munich engines.

Although production of the internal combustion engine in Munich has ended, BMW continues to develop and manufacture gasoline and diesel internal combustion engine models, adding hybrid and electric vehicles to offer customers a wide range of mobility options. It is called Teyuku.

M models, which are powerful EVs that are comparable to internal combustion engines, created by BMW M, have been announced one after another and are receiving high praise. However, for 60 years, the engine production line at the Bayerische Motoren Werke -Bavarian Engine Factory has been visited every day by local skilled masters who took great pride in their work and painstakingly made engines. Now that everything has come to a complete halt, I feel an indescribable sadness and loneliness, even though times are changing.

EV infrastructure has improved

BMW will invest approximately 400 million euros (approximately 65 billion yen) in its electric vehicle sector by 2026, and has set a goal of making over 50% of its total shipments BEVs by 2030. The company plans to release six new models within the year.

On the premises of BMW’s headquarters factory in Munich, numerous buildings and multi-storey parking lots have been demolished and large-scale construction work is underway, with construction progressing at a rapid pace in preparation for the construction of a production line for new models. There is. Furthermore, the FIZ Research and Development Center site in the northern part of Munich is currently being expanded to accommodate EVs. EV motors have been manufactured at the Di golfing factory since 2013.

Thanks to government subsidies, the number of electric vehicles BEVs, PHEVs, HVs driving in Munich has increased dramatically over the past few years compared to before. Although the infrastructure has improved considerably and a large number of charging stations have been installed, there is still a shortage of charging stations compared to the number of vehicles.

There are few single-family houses in Munich and other urban areas, and old apartment blocks are densely packed together, so there is a shortage of parking spaces, and parallel parking on the street is, and has always been, the standard. Efforts are being made to create charging spot spaces from the already insufficient on-street parking spaces, but no fundamental solution has been reached.

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