BMW Group Plant Munich completes a major readiness milestone for its next vehicle generation, with new body shop and assembly equipment installed and successfully put through a full “Common Function Test”.
The test ran every production system in dry cycles without parts, allowing planners and technicians to check timing, handovers and automation step by step before any physical vehicles enter the line.
BMW said the process led to confidence that the machinery and workflows would operate as intended.
BMW Group Plant Munich chief Peter Weber said: “Just in time for the holidays, we have reached an important milestone: All manufacturing technologies and equipment are ready to go, and we are already training our associates for production of the BMW i3. We are taking major strides towards production of first pre-series vehicles, which will then come completely from our plant.”
BMW i3 assembly currently takes place at the nearby Research and Innovation Centre, but that work relocates to Plant Munich in January. BMW said the move allows the plant to continue intensive testing of the full production system with all technologies in place, ahead of the first pre-series vehicles.
Series production of the new i3 is scheduled to ramp up in summer 2026, with BMW also pointing to the second half of 2026 as the broader start window for volume output.
The company said the overhaul aligned with its iFACTORY approach, with the new body shop and assembly line digitally planned and built from the start. It added that existing press and paint shop installations are also linked into the BMW Group’s Virtual Factory, enabling earlier virtual testing before on-site commissioning.
BMW said roughly a third of the site was remodelled in 18 months, including new assembly, logistics and body shop buildings, while still producing up to 1,000 3 Series and 4 Series vehicles a day.
