BMW has used a five-and-a-half-week production break at its Leipzig plant to carry out extensive upgrades ahead of Neue Klasse production. To that end, BMW replaced 240 lift tables and installed 160 new robots. BMW has yet to reveal which models it will produce there.
As early as June, BMW announced plans to prepare its Leipzig plant for the Neue Klasse during an extended summer shutdown. The conversion is now largely complete, with the full extent of the work becoming clear for the first time.
According to the Leipziger Volkszeitung, more than 2,000 contractors worked across the 241-hectare site during the five-and-a-half-week period. Vehicle production was halted throughout this time.
Assembly area and body shop
The most significant changes were made in the assembly area, where BMW replaced 240 hydraulic lifting tables to accommodate the underbodies of future vehicles. Swivel hangers and electric overhead conveyors were also renewed or had their suspensions reinforced, primarily to support the increased weight of the Neue Klasse models’ underbodies, which integrate the high-voltage battery and electric powertrain.
In total, around 1,500 tons of steel were removed from the production facilities and replaced with new structures. To test whether the transport systems could handle the heavier vehicles, BMW loaded existing vehicles with sandbags and transported them through the systems.
BMW also carried out extensive work in the body shop, installing and programming 160 new robots. According to the Leipziger Volkszeitung, the decommissioned machines are currently lined up in a hall, dubbed the ‘Terracotta Army’ by employees. Once removed, the space will be used for manufacturing new doors and flaps. A neighboring former storage hall is also being prepared for Neue Klasse bodywork production.
In addition, BMW has adjusted the paint shop, expanding its facilities to accommodate the more robust steel underbody of the new vehicles and to replace older technology.
Overall, BMW has invested a comparatively low three-digit million sum in these latest upgrades. But over the past five years, the carmaker has poured nearly €2 billion into the site, according to its own figures.
i3 replacing i3?
BMW has not yet revealed which Neue Klasse models it will produce in Leipzig. The new BMW i3 entered production at the Munich headquarters earlier this month. Currently, the Leipzig plant produces the BMW 1 Series, the 2 Series Gran Coupé, the 2 Series Active Tourer, and the Mini Countryman, including the electric version.
Producing Neue Klasse EVs would mark a return to a familiar role for Leipzig. From 2013 to 2022, the plant manufactured the former i3, the BMW Group’s first mass-produced battery-electric model. Late last year, works council chairman Jens Köhler also called for Leipzig to play a larger role in future EV production.
It remains unclear which model will eventually take up that role, but BMW has now put the necessary technical infrastructure in place. Depending on the new model’s success, the current i3 may be built at the same site where the ‘old’ i3 was manufactured.
