Making of a BMW E46 (vid)
 

Pretty sweet to see how the build process starts and ends. The robotics in the auto industry just amazes me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXVgFpHYwFs

Re: Making of a BMW E46 (vid)
 

Sweet!
I love the stacked chassis and rows and rows full of drivetrain.

Re: Making of a BMW E46 (vid)
 

I was thinking that during the first part of the video.
That was a cool video though.

Re: Making of a BMW E46 (vid)
 

i should make subtitles for that video, its pretty good

Re: Making of a BMW E46 (vid)
 

Couple of things stand out to me;

1. When you think about how that thin rolled metal is formed in ways that make it as rigid as it is.

2. There are more "hands on" in the building process than you would have imagined. BMW is considered a "small" car company in comparison to the big names ( Chevy, Ford, Toyota, etc).

3. I remember the first time I went to the Saturn plant in Springhill, TN, I was amazed at how they pre-paint their chassis parts and warehouse them like that also. The dealer places their order, the automated systems pull the correct combination of parts and they all funnel down into the assembly line.

That was a great video though, I've never seen it and I'm a BMW service manager.