kindda boring, but it really shows just how well they make em. Its no wonder why everything else is a Piece of Shi.t! :shakehd:

http://www.hedgpeth.com/mpegs/Making_of_an_E46.wmv

 

ibban#325473852084

 

Like i'll ever stop comming back

 

i never said you wouldn't.

i was just stating the inevitable.

 

lol

 

awesome video. That's deja vu for me- I did that same tour two years ago. We saw everything in that video except for the painting area. Those stamping presses at the beginning are emormous and shake the whole floor. The plant is just behind the main BMW headquarters on the outskirts of Munich. The tour gets right next to those workers, right next to the sparks of those welding robots. Incredible tour. Interestingly, they wouldn't allow us to take any photos on the tour yet they publicly released that video of the whole thing.

if anybody cares, shots from the trip are here: http://imageevent.com/128934/germanytrip

 

hahahaha...thanks man

 

wow, that's an amazing video. maybe we shouldn't ban torq.

 

Thanks for those images..they sure are nice!

Thanks torquie for the manufacturing video. That was entertaining!

 

A friend of mine was a aerospace engineer working for Eurocopter in Munich.

She toured the BMW plant and was horrified at the lack of quality control.

Take it for what it's worth.

Things that seem like high quality actually aren't (eg. any process where a human involved is generally bad)

 

Please refrain from such broad statements. It is entirely dependant on the process and control. In fact, a manual process can provide superior results as machine controls tend to drift. Remember, all race engines are hand assembled for a good reason; to accommodate for variances which a automated process may not see.

I spent all of my business time in the industrial world and have seen the variations in production environments. My job involves industrial measurement and control technology and have seen some horrendous processes in the aerospace community but in general they are well beyond what is required in the automotive market. But they certainly should be considering what is being manufactured.

 

I totally agree with what your saying. I did some work with a lot of machine/rapid prototype shops in Chicago before I moved out to KC.

However, in a mass production setup. I don't believe statistically humans doing the work would be as consistent as the machines. When making a run of a few hundred cars and having the time to to excellent QC, I bet humans shine. But when your mass producing 200k+ cars in the same time frame the humans would have a higher error rate than the machines.

Then the equation of adding more humans to do the work more precisely and QC better comes into play. But when does the cost factor of human vs. machine come in for QC over weigh one another?

So for low production I can agree, but in a mass production environment I can't see it being that way.

I was still very impressed with BMW's production facility. I had no clue they had such a high-tech facility.

 

You need a life dude. There's a whole world out there beyond acl.com.... you should check it out some time.

BTW, nice video

 

There are too many variables to take into account and is heavily process specific dependant. Operator training and commitment are a big factor in manual processes. But if the tolerances are such and the capability is there for an automated process, that is the best decision. The reason for automated solutions isn't for quality, but volume. A machine doesn't go on a strike too.

But there are still some manufacturing processes, even in the automotive world, that are still manual. This is normally because a reasonable automation method has been determined. Often the inspection and assembly of small parts requires manual intervention simply because it is not cost effective to automate. Or in some cases, because the automation failed to maintain a certain quality level, requires manual inspection.

There are just too many variables to make a single statement, it is very application specific.

 

For good quality control, that's where ISO 9000 certification comes in

 

Right, thats what I was saying. With the accuracy and quanity the machines produce, an equivalent human setup would be more expensive.

 

Actually, ISO certification doesn't necessarily spell quality. It just states that you have a defined and documented manufacturing process. You can make a crappy product, but as long as you make the crappy product the same way every time and it follows the documented process, you can be ISO certified.

 

well in the Benz clk 430 the engine is produce by machines but in the CLk 55 the engine is hand built. The cars are basically the same chassis except for the brakes, springs, shocks and engine and tranny....enough to ask for $15K-$20K more than the clk430.

so in this case would the engine in the clk 430 be better than the clk 55 cause it was built by a machine. I tend to think the clk55 engine is better because like somebody mention there is a selected few that strictly build the engine for the 55. I doubt that the people handbuilding the engine would run the risk of being reckless and causing a problem that would clearly point to him or her.

How many of us suffer from the infamous MOnday or Friday car that is clearly slower than the pack...and of course let not get started on the tranny. In Acura's shoes who can they point the finger on such a costly mistake

by the way nice vid, Torq. you're clearly an enthusiast and IMO should be unbanned but stop with the degrading posts of Acuras

 

hahahaha thats funny

 

Takes me back to my days at a Ford stamping plant. Didn't see anything special about BMWs process. Pretty much every mass produced car is put together in that fashion. The presses and welders look very similar to what is used on a Ford Windstar. Those big presses are something to watch.

 

Nice 22 min+ vid.

But what the hell are they saying?

 

damn, i didn't get in before the ban.

 

nice vid...wish I could speak German, though