The car factory of the future according to BMW

What immediately strikes you when you walk through the gigantic factory in Dingolfing is the enormous variety of models and variants that run together. From the 4-series Cabriolet with diesel engine to the iX and from the M8 to the new 7-series.

BMW 7 Series between the IX and many other models built in Dingolfing.

The latter is built with a combustion engine, as a plug-in hybrid and as an electric i7. By the end of this year, a quarter of the BMWs made here will be fully electric and that share should have grown to more than fifty percent by the end of 2025. That’s going to be tough.

The differences with the new 7-series are already remarkable. Also in the production of an i7 we see a so-called ‘marriage’, in which the chassis with the powertrain and the body meet and are inextricably united with each other. The battery pack and the electric motors are already incorporated in the chassis.

BMW 7 Series just before the wedding.

Striking, but logical is the lack of a cardan shaft; the front and rear wheels have their own electric motors. Even more striking is the difference in volume of the drive components. What a beast a V8 engine with gearbox and radiator is compared to an electric powertrain!

Dingolfing gets AI

The factory in Dingolfing has gradually been modernized and digitized, but with the arrival of the 7-series, major steps have been taken. Everywhere we see cameras performing quality checks using artificial intelligence (AI). Where most car factories still work with barcodes, here we see employees on the production line with RFID scanners on their wrists, who register which part is mounted on which car.

Smart camera systems and sensors in the production line collect data for evaluation in real time, performed by algorithms and AI. Feedback is sent directly to the employees on the production line via smart devices. The system also records the progress of production and detects any deviations. It is currently being applied in forty different steps of the 7 Series production.

The introduction of the new model also provides new applications for digitization. A new system collects data from various location systems and generates a real-time ‘digital copy’ of the assembly hall. Think of a kind of moving Google StreetView, with which you can virtually walk through the assembly hall. Impressive to see. We see every car and all components. Even the tools used are registered.

Digitization

After the factory tour, we spoke to Milan Nedeljković, who is responsible for production within the BMW AG Board of Management. We ask him what the advantages are of the far-reaching digitization of a car factory. “First of all: never before has production changed as quickly as now. We live in a special time. Digitization and the use of AI offer opportunities for efficiency, but especially also for improving quality control, because people sometimes make mistakes and algorithms can do this better. It also ensures that we can efficiently mix an extreme variety of models and powertrains on one production line.”

Spy image of the new BMW 5-series, which also includes an i5.

New i5 next year

“Of course we are building more and more EVs. Now the iX and the i7 and next year the new i5 will be added. Of all our factories, Dingolfing has transformed the furthest into what we call the ‘iFactory’. Three key words are central to this: Lean, Green and Digital. Cars like the iX and 7 Series are a catalyst for change, even at the factory, with their groundbreaking technology. The innovations are not only in the product, but also in the production. Moreover, digitization allows us to respond much faster to a changing market. We now expect that a third of the 7-series ordered will be an i7, but we have enough flexibility to adjust that. Another good example: it is even possible for the buyer of a new 7-series to make changes to the configuration up to a few days before production!”