[jamesfrown]

https://www.motor1.com/news/581431/2...2-made-mexico/

Wow, I'm a little surprised but happy I picked up a 2021 M2C.
Sorry if repost.

[infinitekidM2C]

Mexico2
or
la eme 2

[DanG]

We have known this for months. Nothing new here except that the Mexico plant will supply the world with M2s.

[GTIGUY1992]

If this is concern over perceived drop in quality, I'll drop in my anecdotally worthless 2 cents having worked in automotive OEM/T1 for ~10 years.

VW did the same thing with the GTI at the Puebla plant in MX. Having owned both Wolfsburg (MK6) and Puebla (MK7) GTI's I can say there was no perceivable drop in quality. VW only moved production back because they stopped making the Golf for US markets and consolidated production lines for cheaper retooling in a single location. I'd be more worried if this was a brand new plant BMW was building and the M2 was it's maiden model, but it sounds like they've been churning for a little while now. Pueblas biggest problem was early on and they zeroed it in pretty quick.

Plenty of OEMs have done this before, and many will continue to do so. The fab/stamp/paint/assembly/etc lines are all supplied by the same companies that probably did the Spartanburg plant. When I designed automated machines we sent identical machines to OEM home turfs and offshore facilities alike... In fact the MX plants often got retooled faster due to higher volume. I've toured plants in Chihuahua, Silao, Puebla, etc. and when it came to production areas there was no difference to how the domestic plants I've seen are run/outfitted...

Biggest difference I experienced was the absolutely heavenly aromas that come from the cafeterias lol.

[jamesfrown]

Originally Posted by GTIGUY1992

If this is concern over perceived drop in quality, I'll drop in my anecdotally worthless 2 cents having worked in automotive OEM/T1 for ~10 years.

VW did the same thing with the GTI at the Puebla plant in MX. Having owned both Wolfsburg (MK6) and Puebla (MK7) GTI's I can say there was no perceivable drop in quality. VW only moved production back because they stopped making the Golf for US markets and consolidated production lines for cheaper retooling in a single location. I'd be more worried if this was a brand new plant BMW was building and the M2 was it's maiden model, but it sounds like they've been churning for a little while now. Pueblas biggest problem was early on and they zeroed it in pretty quick.

Plenty of OEMs have done this before, and many will continue to do so. The fab/stamp/paint/assembly/etc lines are all supplied by the same companies that probably did the Spartanburg plant. When I designed automated machines we sent identical machines to OEM home turfs and offshore facilities alike... In fact the MX plants often got retooled faster due to higher volume. I've toured plants in Chihuahua, Silao, Puebla, etc. and when it came to production areas there was no difference to how the domestic plants I've seen are run/outfitted...

Biggest difference I experienced was the absolutely heavenly aromas that come from the cafeterias lol.

The thing that surprises me the most is that an M car would be produced anywhere other than Germany. Were there any others?

[Hankdoll]

Originally Posted by jamesfrown

The thing that surprises me the most is that an M car would be produced anywhere other than Germany. Were there any others?

All the X models are built in US. So X5/X6 M, X3/X4 M I guess.

[KevinC]

Not a rumor, this was announced a long time ago - all G-series 2's, M2 and otherwise, would come from San Luis Potosi.

Would this stop me from buying a car because it's built there? Probably not. But would I prefer it came from the Fatherland? Absolutely. Especially an M car.

SLP has only been open since 2019. That means ALL their workers, aside from a few brought in from Germany to teach/lead, are relatively new and inexperienced. Secondly, suppliers have set up shop locally, as they always do, and THOSE facilities are all new as well. Does that matter? Maybe. Maybe not.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by jamesfrown

The thing that surprises me the most is that an M car would be produced anywhere other than Germany. Were there any others?

The Z3M and Z4M were exclusively produced in Spartanburg, along with the X M models as mentioned.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by KevinC

Not a rumor, this was announced a long time ago - all G-series 2's, M2 and otherwise, would come from San Luis Potosi.

Would this stop me from buying a car because it's built there? Probably not. But would I prefer it came from the Fatherland? Absolutely. Especially an M car.

SLP has only been open since 2019. That means ALL their workers, aside from a few brought in from Germany to teach/lead, are relatively new and inexperienced. Secondly, suppliers have set up shop locally, as they always do, and THOSE facilities are all new as well. Does that matter? Maybe. Maybe not.

They have been producing M340i for a while now there without any issues as far as I'm aware, so it should be fine I think.

[Poochie]

It's not a rumor, its been true; BMWs are now assembled in Mexico.. 😗

Not that there's anything wrong with that..

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by jamesfrown

https://www.motor1.com/news/581431/2...2-made-mexico/

Wow, I'm a little surprised but happy I picked up a 2021 M2C.
Sorry if repost.

FWIW, we've known this for years, or rather March 2019 to be exact (https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...hp?t=1592650):

Originally Posted by ynguldyn
March 2019

• First news about the next (G87) M2: production 12/2022-03/2029, likely in Mexico.

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by chris719

The Z3M and Z4M were exclusively produced in Spartanburg, along with the X M models as mentioned.

If I remember my Spartanburg history. The first car they produced was the 318i.

Then the Z3, Z3M, X5....

[GoneIn4Secs]

Originally Posted by Hankdoll

All the X models are built in US. So X5/X6 M, X3/X4 M I guess.

Those are M suv

[GoneIn4Secs]

If i was in teh market for g87 it would prob prevent me getting a year 1 release, sadly this wouldve been true of it was german made as well

[GTIGUY1992]

Originally Posted by KevinC

SLP has only been open since 2019. That means ALL their workers, aside from a few brought in from Germany to teach/lead, are relatively new and inexperienced. Secondly, suppliers have set up shop locally, as they always do, and THOSE facilities are all new as well. Does that matter? Maybe. Maybe not.

They've been building the 3 series there for 3 years. I don't personally see that as a green workforce, especially if you saw the revolving door that is Spartanburg the last 2 years, and they manage just fine...

Your second point is not completely accurate in my experience. All the major suppliers might have support facilities near the plant for quick technician onsite times & to have critical spare parts storage close by, but beyond that there no way you're going to convince me Fanuc, Bosche, Hanwha, etc. are building their machines off-site. Also in my experience, when ramp up of a new site happens, there are *far more* than a few people brought over from corporate and other plants. In fact most big OEMs have dedicated teams just for this that are flown over for months and stay until all machines pass on-site runoff, while I've seen embedded engineers that stay with a plant for 1 year+.

That said, would I bet a paycheck on the quality of a first year new generation build at a plant that's never built M cars before? Nope, no way. But in my experience that would hold true even if this car was being built across the Rhine or in Spartanburg.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by GTIGUY1992

They've been building the 3 series there for 3 years. I don't personally see that as a green workforce, especially if you saw the revolving door that is Spartanburg the last 2 years, and they manage just fine...

Your second point is not completely accurate in my experience. All the major suppliers might have support facilities near the plant for quick technician onsite times & to have critical spare parts storage close by, but beyond that there no way you're going to convince me Fanuc, Bosche, Hanwha, etc. are building their machines off-site. Also in my experience, when ramp up of a new site happens, there are *far more* than a few people brought over from corporate and other plants. In fact most big OEMs have dedicated teams just for this that are flown over for months and stay until all machines pass on-site runoff, while I've seen embedded engineers that stay with a plant for 1 year+.

That said, would I bet a paycheck on the quality of a first year new generation build at a plant that's never built M cars before? Nope, no way. But in my experience that would hold true even if this car was being built across the Rhine or in Spartanburg.

Good points, though I don't think it matters if they are making an M car. There shouldn't be much difference in assembly. They are already churning out 240 and 340s.